So there were a few grumbling complaints about The Chamber last week. So let's start with some real talk. Friend of The Chamber Andy McCullough had some thoughts on sportswriting he shared with us last spring. Andy covers the Dodgers for the LA Times and has previously covered the Mets and Royals. He said sometimes you leave the park after a game and you know your story isn't great. "Sometimes the best you can do is to get it done and know you get another chance tomorrow."
The Chamber likes this advice. Sometimes there's a Chamber just because there is supposed to be a Chamber. Between football and hoops there might by 30 commitments in the course of the year, which is one every 15 days. So they're not all gonna win Pulitzers (let's be honest, none of them are going to win Pulitzers). Deal with it.
BASKETBALL RECRUITING
We're gonna start with basketball recruiting because that's what most people are more interested in right now (this isn't a guess, we've got analytics and such that tell us that). First, want to catch you up on the recent news:
Mizzou targets in 2019 Rivals150
Signees and targets in 2018 Rivals150
Podcast with Eric Bossi
If you read and listen to those things, you'll have a pretty good picture of what's going on. But we don't have a lot of faith in all of you and we know that will take too much time for some of you, so we'll hit some highlights here.
Let's talk about the Godfather of 2018 recruiting stories. That, obviously, is Courtney Ramey.
We waited all week to use that clip for this part of the Chamber. Because never has a clip been more apropos for a situation. Here's what's gone on with Ramey's recruitment:
Last fall, Missouri was out of this. Not like maybe he's not coming. Like full on, he wasn't going to go to Missouri. Missouri knew this. Other coaching staffs knew this. We knew this. It was not in doubt. For anyone that wants to pretend that was just confusion or misinterpretation, it really wasn't. Ramey wasn't coming and Missouri knew it. So they started recruiting other players.
And then suddenly mid-season, it was communicated to Missouri that they weren't out and that it would be fantastic if Missouri were to recruit Courtney Ramey. And so they did.
Missouri is not alone in this situation. The same thing happened at Louisville.
Chris Mack got the job. One of his first calls (and maybe his very first call) after getting it was to check on Courtney Ramey. And Mack didn't really get much of a response so he went to a press conference and mentioned Courtney Ramey and said he could mention him because Louisville wasn't recruiting him.
Couple things on that:
1. It wasn't a lie. At that time, Louisville really wasn't recruiting him.
2. Even if it was a lie, to me, so what? I've seen Mizzou fans up in arms about this, but the rule is that you can't discuss a player publicly other than to say if you're recruiting him or not. So Mack didn't break that rule. The rules are in place to make sure you aren't saying things that give you a recruiting advantage (like "Man, Courtney is a hell of a player and his skill set is exactly what this team is missing and we could really use him.") That's not what Mack said. What advantage would it possibly give Louisville for Mack to say publicly "we aren't recruiting him."
So anyway, Mack said that and it was true...and then it wasn't. Similar to the Mizzou situation, from what I've been told, Ramey's camp reached out to Louisville and said "You're not recruiting him? Why not?" And so they did.
Just when I thought I was out...
So it's Mizzou, Louisville, Texas and Oklahoma State. Those seem to be the four in contention. If you asked the four coaching staffs a week ago, I think at least three (and possibly all four) of them would have thought they were the leader. Nobody knows.
The longer this goes on, the better it is for Louisville, in my opinion. If it ends soon (especially before Ramey and Mack have a chance to talk in person), it's better news for Missouri and Texas. A few days ago we probably would have handicapped Oklahoma State in the top two, but that's the name you hear the least out of the four right now.
So the upshot? We don't know. The coaches don't know. You guys don't know. Nobody knows. We'll know when we know.
Outside of Ramey, we know Evansville transfer Dru Smith is visiting next weekend. Other than that? Don't know a lot. Theoretically, the Tigers could take Smith and Ramey and be full up. Cuonzo Martin said yesterday his current intention is to use all 13 scholarships. He also said he's targeting guards and wings. All along, we've thought Mizzou needs a guy who can play down low (not necessarily a 6-10 back to the basket guy, but at least a guy who can play forward). It doesn't look like that's part of the plan.
The reason is simple. Martin appears to be transitioning to positionless basketball. That's a phrase that got popular during Villanova's run to the national title this year. Basically, all it means is "We have five guys that can shoot." Most teams don't. Villanova was impossible to guard because even the power forward and the center could step out and hit a 22 footer. You can't double team or help off anyone. So if that's the goal, it makes sense to have a roster overloaded with guards and wings and make the one through four more or less interchangeable. And that appears to be Missouri's plan.
The AAU circuit really kicks off this weekend in Dallas. We won't be there, but we will be in Indianapolis with the Under Armour and Nike circuits next weekend. We'll definitely be able to get a good idea of who Mizzou's top priorities are by the end of April.
The Chamber likes this advice. Sometimes there's a Chamber just because there is supposed to be a Chamber. Between football and hoops there might by 30 commitments in the course of the year, which is one every 15 days. So they're not all gonna win Pulitzers (let's be honest, none of them are going to win Pulitzers). Deal with it.
BASKETBALL RECRUITING
We're gonna start with basketball recruiting because that's what most people are more interested in right now (this isn't a guess, we've got analytics and such that tell us that). First, want to catch you up on the recent news:
Mizzou targets in 2019 Rivals150
Signees and targets in 2018 Rivals150
Podcast with Eric Bossi
If you read and listen to those things, you'll have a pretty good picture of what's going on. But we don't have a lot of faith in all of you and we know that will take too much time for some of you, so we'll hit some highlights here.
Let's talk about the Godfather of 2018 recruiting stories. That, obviously, is Courtney Ramey.
We waited all week to use that clip for this part of the Chamber. Because never has a clip been more apropos for a situation. Here's what's gone on with Ramey's recruitment:
Last fall, Missouri was out of this. Not like maybe he's not coming. Like full on, he wasn't going to go to Missouri. Missouri knew this. Other coaching staffs knew this. We knew this. It was not in doubt. For anyone that wants to pretend that was just confusion or misinterpretation, it really wasn't. Ramey wasn't coming and Missouri knew it. So they started recruiting other players.
And then suddenly mid-season, it was communicated to Missouri that they weren't out and that it would be fantastic if Missouri were to recruit Courtney Ramey. And so they did.
Missouri is not alone in this situation. The same thing happened at Louisville.
Chris Mack got the job. One of his first calls (and maybe his very first call) after getting it was to check on Courtney Ramey. And Mack didn't really get much of a response so he went to a press conference and mentioned Courtney Ramey and said he could mention him because Louisville wasn't recruiting him.
Couple things on that:
1. It wasn't a lie. At that time, Louisville really wasn't recruiting him.
2. Even if it was a lie, to me, so what? I've seen Mizzou fans up in arms about this, but the rule is that you can't discuss a player publicly other than to say if you're recruiting him or not. So Mack didn't break that rule. The rules are in place to make sure you aren't saying things that give you a recruiting advantage (like "Man, Courtney is a hell of a player and his skill set is exactly what this team is missing and we could really use him.") That's not what Mack said. What advantage would it possibly give Louisville for Mack to say publicly "we aren't recruiting him."
So anyway, Mack said that and it was true...and then it wasn't. Similar to the Mizzou situation, from what I've been told, Ramey's camp reached out to Louisville and said "You're not recruiting him? Why not?" And so they did.
Just when I thought I was out...
So it's Mizzou, Louisville, Texas and Oklahoma State. Those seem to be the four in contention. If you asked the four coaching staffs a week ago, I think at least three (and possibly all four) of them would have thought they were the leader. Nobody knows.
The longer this goes on, the better it is for Louisville, in my opinion. If it ends soon (especially before Ramey and Mack have a chance to talk in person), it's better news for Missouri and Texas. A few days ago we probably would have handicapped Oklahoma State in the top two, but that's the name you hear the least out of the four right now.
So the upshot? We don't know. The coaches don't know. You guys don't know. Nobody knows. We'll know when we know.
Outside of Ramey, we know Evansville transfer Dru Smith is visiting next weekend. Other than that? Don't know a lot. Theoretically, the Tigers could take Smith and Ramey and be full up. Cuonzo Martin said yesterday his current intention is to use all 13 scholarships. He also said he's targeting guards and wings. All along, we've thought Mizzou needs a guy who can play down low (not necessarily a 6-10 back to the basket guy, but at least a guy who can play forward). It doesn't look like that's part of the plan.
The reason is simple. Martin appears to be transitioning to positionless basketball. That's a phrase that got popular during Villanova's run to the national title this year. Basically, all it means is "We have five guys that can shoot." Most teams don't. Villanova was impossible to guard because even the power forward and the center could step out and hit a 22 footer. You can't double team or help off anyone. So if that's the goal, it makes sense to have a roster overloaded with guards and wings and make the one through four more or less interchangeable. And that appears to be Missouri's plan.
The AAU circuit really kicks off this weekend in Dallas. We won't be there, but we will be in Indianapolis with the Under Armour and Nike circuits next weekend. We'll definitely be able to get a good idea of who Mizzou's top priorities are by the end of April.
