As we hit the back half of portal season, the MizzouToday staff is here to catch you up on all you might have missed this week, share our insights and notes about where Missouri sits as we approach the end of the year. This week’s Friday File looks at who Missouri is talking to, who’s been visiting and some football and basketball notes.
We have to talk about quarterbacks first. From what I’ve heard, there’s really no momentum with Cal’s Fernando Mendoza at this point, and now that Maalik Murphy is locked in at Oregon State, the Tigers are putting all their eggs in the Beau Pribula basket.
Pribula finished up his visit at Missouri and went straight to Iowa for another. There’s also some buzz for him around UCF, Ole Miss and Indiana. He got to the UCF campus for a visit on Friday, and is going to rush to a visit at Ole Miss over the weekend, but I haven’t heard anything about a visit to Indiana yet. We heard from sources he was in Iowa City for less than 24 hours, but that may have been because he had to rush to get all of these trips in.
The whole point of Pribula going into the portal while Penn State was still in the playoffs was to lock up a spot while spots were still available, so I expect his decision to come pretty quickly.
There’s supposed to be a dead period for visits after Sunday through the end of the year, so if Pribula doesn’t get to Indiana right away, I expect that means Mizzou is into his final four, but being the first visit probably isn’t the spot the Tigers want to be. You want to be the last team in his ear and hopefully with the most info about what other teams offered, so we’ll just have to wait and see where he ends up.
With the Tigers adding Ahmad Hardy, I think the running back room, receiver room and linebacker room are all done, unless there’s another unexpected exit in these last few days.
Even with wide receiver Courtney Crutchfield officially entering the Portal on Thursday, I don’t expect the Tigers to go back to the well for more receivers. The Tigers believe in the young, highly-regarded guys in that room and more space for them to flourish isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But holding that offensive line together upfront is still a question. The Tigers are losing three starters in Marcus Bryant, Cam’Ron Johnson and Armand Membou, and without proven or experienced linemen in the wings, it’s imperative to add veteran bodies to that group. Hardy’s numbers are impressive, but he will need an SEC-level o-line to keep those stats churning out at the highest level.
Missouri hosted Wake Forest right tackle transfer Keagan Trost, who is entering his seventh and final season of college football. He was a 70-grade in all three categories for offensive linemen according to PFF, and his addition would be important due to the misses the Tigers saw throughout the transfer portal. The program is also awaiting a decision from Michigan center transfer Dominick Giudice, who could plug in at a guard spot or fill in at center as Connor Tollison returns from knee surgery.
Safeties are probably done in this Portal window as well after the Tigers got Mose Phillips yesterday. That could change if someone the Tigers expect to just slot in as the third starter pops up late. Losing Devin Turner kind of ended that mindset from what I’ve heard, however. Now, the third spot is expected to be a competition between the new additions: Phillips and Santana Barner and Trejan Greco and Caleb Flagg.
It would behoove the Tigers to continue looking to add another body to the defensive back room with multiple years of eligibility, if that’s at cornerback or safety. After Missouri made multiple runs at safeties leading up to the Early Signing Period, it’s a position group to watch in the second signing period in February or the second transfer window.
The other freshmen are coming along well enough to have rotational spots against better opponents.
Peyton Marshall is going to play regularly. Marcus Allen is one of the best defenders on the team and T.O. Barrett has become a rotational guard who gets a few minutes in somewhat odd situations. Trent Burns is apparently dealing with some lingering issue according to Gates. Who knows what’s really going on there, but I don’t think he’s physically ready to battle down low with post players on better teams, so I don’t expect we see him any time soon.
For now, it looks like the Starting 5 is locked in with Ant Robinson, Tony Perkins, Tamar Bates, Mark Mitchell and Josh Gray. I would expect it to stay that way as conference play begins.
Luci Milkovic is out of her boot and warmed up with the team before Thursday’s game. I think she’s basically back and good to go at this point, though she hasn’t played since Nov. 15.
Freshman Londyn Oliphant hasn’t been on the bench the last couple of games. She apparently suffered a concussion during practice and is working her way back from that. I won’t ever try to predict a concussion return timeline, but it shouldn’t be too long.
Finally, freshman Ma’Riya Vincent, who has missed the whole season so far recovering from an ACL injury, was doing straight-line sprint work during practice this past week. Straight-line work is the first thing you’re able to do after a UCL injury. But, that’s still a good sign that she’s getting work done and is taking steps toward returning to the court.
TRANSFER PORTAL
With eight days of the Portal left, the Tigers continue to reach out and set up visits with a number of players as they try to lock up lingering needs.We have to talk about quarterbacks first. From what I’ve heard, there’s really no momentum with Cal’s Fernando Mendoza at this point, and now that Maalik Murphy is locked in at Oregon State, the Tigers are putting all their eggs in the Beau Pribula basket.
Pribula finished up his visit at Missouri and went straight to Iowa for another. There’s also some buzz for him around UCF, Ole Miss and Indiana. He got to the UCF campus for a visit on Friday, and is going to rush to a visit at Ole Miss over the weekend, but I haven’t heard anything about a visit to Indiana yet. We heard from sources he was in Iowa City for less than 24 hours, but that may have been because he had to rush to get all of these trips in.
The whole point of Pribula going into the portal while Penn State was still in the playoffs was to lock up a spot while spots were still available, so I expect his decision to come pretty quickly.
There’s supposed to be a dead period for visits after Sunday through the end of the year, so if Pribula doesn’t get to Indiana right away, I expect that means Mizzou is into his final four, but being the first visit probably isn’t the spot the Tigers want to be. You want to be the last team in his ear and hopefully with the most info about what other teams offered, so we’ll just have to wait and see where he ends up.
With the Tigers adding Ahmad Hardy, I think the running back room, receiver room and linebacker room are all done, unless there’s another unexpected exit in these last few days.
Even with wide receiver Courtney Crutchfield officially entering the Portal on Thursday, I don’t expect the Tigers to go back to the well for more receivers. The Tigers believe in the young, highly-regarded guys in that room and more space for them to flourish isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But holding that offensive line together upfront is still a question. The Tigers are losing three starters in Marcus Bryant, Cam’Ron Johnson and Armand Membou, and without proven or experienced linemen in the wings, it’s imperative to add veteran bodies to that group. Hardy’s numbers are impressive, but he will need an SEC-level o-line to keep those stats churning out at the highest level.
Missouri hosted Wake Forest right tackle transfer Keagan Trost, who is entering his seventh and final season of college football. He was a 70-grade in all three categories for offensive linemen according to PFF, and his addition would be important due to the misses the Tigers saw throughout the transfer portal. The program is also awaiting a decision from Michigan center transfer Dominick Giudice, who could plug in at a guard spot or fill in at center as Connor Tollison returns from knee surgery.
Safeties are probably done in this Portal window as well after the Tigers got Mose Phillips yesterday. That could change if someone the Tigers expect to just slot in as the third starter pops up late. Losing Devin Turner kind of ended that mindset from what I’ve heard, however. Now, the third spot is expected to be a competition between the new additions: Phillips and Santana Barner and Trejan Greco and Caleb Flagg.
It would behoove the Tigers to continue looking to add another body to the defensive back room with multiple years of eligibility, if that’s at cornerback or safety. After Missouri made multiple runs at safeties leading up to the Early Signing Period, it’s a position group to watch in the second signing period in February or the second transfer window.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
It seems like Annor Boateng has shuffled to the back of the rotation a little earlier than expected. I was assuming he would lose the starting spot when we got to conference play and didn’t expect him to start either rivalry game, but when he didn’t get many minutes in the cupcake non-cons after the Border War, it became clear his development hasn’t come along quite yet. He’s an abundantly talented athlete, but Dennis Gates always talks about how everyone has a different development timeline when he’s asked about Boateng.The other freshmen are coming along well enough to have rotational spots against better opponents.
Peyton Marshall is going to play regularly. Marcus Allen is one of the best defenders on the team and T.O. Barrett has become a rotational guard who gets a few minutes in somewhat odd situations. Trent Burns is apparently dealing with some lingering issue according to Gates. Who knows what’s really going on there, but I don’t think he’s physically ready to battle down low with post players on better teams, so I don’t expect we see him any time soon.
For now, it looks like the Starting 5 is locked in with Ant Robinson, Tony Perkins, Tamar Bates, Mark Mitchell and Josh Gray. I would expect it to stay that way as conference play begins.
WOMEN’S HOOPS
Just a couple of injury updates here for the women:Luci Milkovic is out of her boot and warmed up with the team before Thursday’s game. I think she’s basically back and good to go at this point, though she hasn’t played since Nov. 15.
Freshman Londyn Oliphant hasn’t been on the bench the last couple of games. She apparently suffered a concussion during practice and is working her way back from that. I won’t ever try to predict a concussion return timeline, but it shouldn’t be too long.
Finally, freshman Ma’Riya Vincent, who has missed the whole season so far recovering from an ACL injury, was doing straight-line sprint work during practice this past week. Straight-line work is the first thing you’re able to do after a UCL injury. But, that’s still a good sign that she’s getting work done and is taking steps toward returning to the court.
