FOOTBALL
Missouri will host a group of prospects on Saturday for their spring practice. Included among that group will be two out-of-state targets, two in-state targets, and a fast rising, in-state prospect:
- Buford picked up an offer from Missouri back in November. He did visit Tennessee back in February where he received an offer from the Vols. Otherwise, it's been pretty quiet on the recruiting front for the Detroit area product. Buford also has offers from Purdue, Pitt, Indiana, Michigan State, Miami, LSU, and Auburn.
- Missouri extended an offer to Johnson back in October and they'll get a chance to make their impression this weekend. The three-star prospect has taken recent visits to Georgia Tech, Florida State, Alabama, and Michigan State. Johnson has made a few trips to Florida during the fall and they appear to be a heavy contender right now.
- Heismeyer has been on campus numerous times already, most recently for their junior day back in early February. He's been making the rounds, taking recent visits to Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss, K-State, Indiana, Michigan, and Michigan State. Missouri is making the Francis-Howell product a priority in their 2020 class, so getting him back on campus is significant.
- Frenchie attended Night at Zou back in July, where he told us that he loves Missouri and has always been a fan. The three-star prospect has picked up new offers from Tennessee, Western Michigan, Purdue so far this year and just recently visited Illinois last weekend.
- Walters doesn't have an offer from Missouri, yet. We wouldn't be surprised if that changed this weekend. The St. Louis product has seen his recruiting stock rise with recent offers from Baylor, Indiana, TCU, Minnesota, and Iowa State.
- Mizzou offered Norris yesterday. The Tigers really liked him at camp last summer. Put him on the "possible early commitment list." We'll try to get in touch with him over the next few days, but a local kid that gets his first big offer from Missouri is definitely a guy you should keep an eye on.
BASKETBALL
So the season is done (Cuonzo Martin said they wouldn't play in the CBI) and now the attention is going to turn to recruiting. We'll be seeing what we can find out before next week's Chamber and hope to have a little better idea of where things stand.
As of right this second, Missouri has one scholarship available (that will probably change, we'll have more on that in a minute). We know the Tigers are looking at three players for sure:
Truthfully, the only one that makes much sense to us is Gardner. We just don't see the need for another shooting guard, unless someone from the current backcourt leaves. They'll have Dru Smith, Javon Pickett and Mark Smith (we think those are the starters and they're not going anywhere), then Xavier Pinson, Torrence Watson (both of whom indicated to @mitchell4d last night they were excited about next season and gave no indication they wouldn't return) and Mario McKinney. Where's the playing time there? If you're adding a guard, it's a role player. So maybe McNeil makes some sense in that he's a shooter off the bench, a specialty player. He may not have other high major options where he's more than that. Beverly probably does.
The main intrigue in recruiting this spring will be about what happens when guys start to transfer, coaches start to get fired, etc. You'd have to be not paying attention to not at least consider that KJ Santos might move on after this season. Not saying he will, but he barely got off the bench in the last four games even at times when Missouri was desperate for bodies because of foul trouble. Again it's possible he could stay and improve a ton, but if you're looking at transfer possibilities, he certainly has to be the top one.
Cuonzo has shown over the last few years that he's not afraid to capitalize on situations at other schools. In that light, keep an eye on Texas A&M. It was reported two days ago by the Houston Chronicle that Billy Kennedy is done at A&M, though there has been no official word. If that's true, Kobe Brown probably bears watching. Missouri recruited him and got a visit out of him and most think the Tigers finished second to A&M so they could get re-involved if Brown wants to look around. Have also heard they could check into Tyreek Smith if he becomes available, but there isn't the connection that is there with Brown so on the surface that seems less likely.
Beyond that, who knows what will come available via the coaches getting fired/transfer/grad transfer market? But Missouri is likely to be involved. It always is.
Another thing to watch in the offseason could be the coaching staff. First off, sorry to offend some people, but it's fair to wonder about the future of Michael Porter Sr. There were two main reasons he got the job and those two reasons are not here anymore (again, nothing official on Jontay Porter as of now, but it is widely accepted he is going pro). Not sure how it would happen (I would assume it would be presented as a resignation by Porter to pursue other interests), but there's definitely a possibility he isn't on staff next year. We'd probably say it's more likely he leaves than stays.
What about Chris Hollender and Cornell Mann? Both could be guys whose names pop up for head coaching jobs this offseason. Mann was mentioned with Detroit and some schools up in that region last year. We'd expect the same thing to be true this year. Hollender is a guy who could get some run as a candidate as well. Not saying they're all leaving, but the world of assistant coaches is wild. Odds are Martin is replacing at least one assistant and maybe all three. So that's something we'll follow.
That's all we got for now.
Missouri will host a group of prospects on Saturday for their spring practice. Included among that group will be two out-of-state targets, two in-state targets, and a fast rising, in-state prospect:
- Buford picked up an offer from Missouri back in November. He did visit Tennessee back in February where he received an offer from the Vols. Otherwise, it's been pretty quiet on the recruiting front for the Detroit area product. Buford also has offers from Purdue, Pitt, Indiana, Michigan State, Miami, LSU, and Auburn.
- Missouri extended an offer to Johnson back in October and they'll get a chance to make their impression this weekend. The three-star prospect has taken recent visits to Georgia Tech, Florida State, Alabama, and Michigan State. Johnson has made a few trips to Florida during the fall and they appear to be a heavy contender right now.
- Heismeyer has been on campus numerous times already, most recently for their junior day back in early February. He's been making the rounds, taking recent visits to Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss, K-State, Indiana, Michigan, and Michigan State. Missouri is making the Francis-Howell product a priority in their 2020 class, so getting him back on campus is significant.
- Frenchie attended Night at Zou back in July, where he told us that he loves Missouri and has always been a fan. The three-star prospect has picked up new offers from Tennessee, Western Michigan, Purdue so far this year and just recently visited Illinois last weekend.
- Walters doesn't have an offer from Missouri, yet. We wouldn't be surprised if that changed this weekend. The St. Louis product has seen his recruiting stock rise with recent offers from Baylor, Indiana, TCU, Minnesota, and Iowa State.
- Mizzou offered Norris yesterday. The Tigers really liked him at camp last summer. Put him on the "possible early commitment list." We'll try to get in touch with him over the next few days, but a local kid that gets his first big offer from Missouri is definitely a guy you should keep an eye on.
BASKETBALL
So the season is done (Cuonzo Martin said they wouldn't play in the CBI) and now the attention is going to turn to recruiting. We'll be seeing what we can find out before next week's Chamber and hope to have a little better idea of where things stand.
As of right this second, Missouri has one scholarship available (that will probably change, we'll have more on that in a minute). We know the Tigers are looking at three players for sure:
Truthfully, the only one that makes much sense to us is Gardner. We just don't see the need for another shooting guard, unless someone from the current backcourt leaves. They'll have Dru Smith, Javon Pickett and Mark Smith (we think those are the starters and they're not going anywhere), then Xavier Pinson, Torrence Watson (both of whom indicated to @mitchell4d last night they were excited about next season and gave no indication they wouldn't return) and Mario McKinney. Where's the playing time there? If you're adding a guard, it's a role player. So maybe McNeil makes some sense in that he's a shooter off the bench, a specialty player. He may not have other high major options where he's more than that. Beverly probably does.
The main intrigue in recruiting this spring will be about what happens when guys start to transfer, coaches start to get fired, etc. You'd have to be not paying attention to not at least consider that KJ Santos might move on after this season. Not saying he will, but he barely got off the bench in the last four games even at times when Missouri was desperate for bodies because of foul trouble. Again it's possible he could stay and improve a ton, but if you're looking at transfer possibilities, he certainly has to be the top one.
Cuonzo has shown over the last few years that he's not afraid to capitalize on situations at other schools. In that light, keep an eye on Texas A&M. It was reported two days ago by the Houston Chronicle that Billy Kennedy is done at A&M, though there has been no official word. If that's true, Kobe Brown probably bears watching. Missouri recruited him and got a visit out of him and most think the Tigers finished second to A&M so they could get re-involved if Brown wants to look around. Have also heard they could check into Tyreek Smith if he becomes available, but there isn't the connection that is there with Brown so on the surface that seems less likely.
Beyond that, who knows what will come available via the coaches getting fired/transfer/grad transfer market? But Missouri is likely to be involved. It always is.
Another thing to watch in the offseason could be the coaching staff. First off, sorry to offend some people, but it's fair to wonder about the future of Michael Porter Sr. There were two main reasons he got the job and those two reasons are not here anymore (again, nothing official on Jontay Porter as of now, but it is widely accepted he is going pro). Not sure how it would happen (I would assume it would be presented as a resignation by Porter to pursue other interests), but there's definitely a possibility he isn't on staff next year. We'd probably say it's more likely he leaves than stays.
What about Chris Hollender and Cornell Mann? Both could be guys whose names pop up for head coaching jobs this offseason. Mann was mentioned with Detroit and some schools up in that region last year. We'd expect the same thing to be true this year. Hollender is a guy who could get some run as a candidate as well. Not saying they're all leaving, but the world of assistant coaches is wild. Odds are Martin is replacing at least one assistant and maybe all three. So that's something we'll follow.
That's all we got for now.
