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BASKETBALL RECRUITING
We'll start here because it's the hot topic these days. The transfer portal is active both ways. Let's start with a little bit of a recap on where things stand:
Ronnie DeGray entered the portal on Thursday. That followed Mohamed Diarra entering on Tuesday. That leaves Missouri currently with 11 players on scholarship for next season.
That list currently includes Kaleb Brown, Mabor Majak, Nick Honor, Noah Carter, Sean East and Aidan Shaw returning from last year's roster. Is that a guarantee? Of course not. The only thing we know in college sports these days is that every player is a free agent every single year and anything can happen. We believe Majak is a prime candidate to return to walk-on status next season. He came as a walk-on. Missouri only had 12 players on scholarship last year, so he got one for last year. But if they need one for next year, this is the most logical place to get one. The list also includes junior college transfer Curt Lewis, high school signees Jordan Butler, Anthony Robinson and Trent Pierce and incoming transfer John Tonje.
Not included on the list for the time being are Kobe Brown and Isiaih Mosley.
Missouri is hopeful to cautiously optimistic that Brown will be back for another season. It is not a guarantee. He has not said anything since the end of the season. The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft is April 23. I honestly don't know whether Brown qualifies as an underclassman. Technically he isn't, but he does have a year of eligibility remaining due to the COVID rule. So I would guess to be eligible, he has to declare at some point before then. I would think he would, which will allow him to go through the draft process. Most mock drafts have him somewhere in the back half of the second round. I did get word from a colleague that covers the NBA earlier this week that his viewpoint was Brown is a very likely candidate to get a two-way contract in the NBA next year. That would mean a guaranteed salary of $508,000. Couple of things on that: First of all, it's just one person saying it. That doesn't mean it's a lock by any means. But it is someone who covers the NBA, knows NBA people and talks to them. Second, even if Kobe feels certain he would get that contract, it doesn't necessarily mean he would leave. Just like not knowing if he will get that contract doesn't guarantee he will stay. Dennis Gates was on 810WHB yesterday and said that he's in regular contact with Kobe, but it basically comes down to the family needing to weigh all of his options and make a decision. When that will happen, I don't know. The deadline to withdraw from the draft and return to school is 4 p.m. on June 12.
*With Mosley, we believe things are a little more clear. More and more, we're of the opinion that if Mosley returns to Missouri next year, it wouldn't be on a scholarship. We are definitely leaning toward Mosley not being on the roster next year at this point in time.
*One thing that leads us to believe that is the Tigers' pursuit of Caleb Love. We are confident that Missouri has been in contact with Love since he entered the portal earlier this week. We have attempted to reach both Caleb and his father, but neither has returned messages (this isn't surprising; most transfers don't). There was a report earlier this week that Love had spoken with Indiana and there is "mutual interest." We assume that's true, but don't really view the Hoosiers as the major competition right now. The other schools we've heard some talk of with Love in checking around are Memphis, Louisville, Michigan, Arkansas and Alabama. There are certainly more than that, those are just the ones we've heard from people we tend to believe. Missouri is going to be involved. They are going to have a good shot to land him. It is not a sure thing because nothing is ever a sure thing until it happens.
*The other major transfer target right now is Western Kentucky big man Jamarion Sharp. Sharp has both entered the portal and put his name in the draft. He doesn't appear in any mock drafts at this point, so the NBA seems unlikely, but it's there as an option. Memphis was involved last year here and is likely to be involved again. He's been contacted by MANY schools:
From everything we're hearing, Missouri has an excellent shot here. We know that a lot of you feel burned by what happened last year. You can believe what you want, but the smoke last year wasn't created out of thin air. It was definitely expected Sharp would reunite with his junior college head coach, Kyle Smithpeters. WKU stepped up and put together a package to keep him last year. With Rick Stansbury out, that is not expected to happen this year. Sharp is expected to play somewhere else next season. We'd put Missouri as the likely leader right now, but again, nothing is done until it's done.
*There are certainly other transfers Missouri is in contact with. You can keep up with everything that's happening with Mizzou and the portal in our transfer tracker. But if we're handicapping it today, the best case scenario for Mizzou is getting Kobe Brown to return to school, adding Love and Sharp and converting Majak to a walk-on. That would put Mizzou at the 13 scholarship limit and a probable top 25 team entering the season. We believe that is Plan A. If any of those things don't happen, you adjust from there.
*The only high school prospect really in play for Missouri in 2023 would be North Carolina four-star Jarin Stevenson, who is currently a 2024 prospect. There's been talk that he will reclassify to 2023. We reached out to him last night to ask where things stand and he told us "It is still a possibility but there is a higher chance I stay in high school." So for now, we're expecting Stevenson to remain in the 2024 class. One source we checked with said that's probably the right move for him because he's skinny and needs to add some weight and muscle before playing college ball.
*This situation will continue to change pretty much daily. We're following everything that's happening and will keep you up to date.
