Cuonzo Martin

[ozark trout fisher]

 

Porter hasn't played a minute yet. I admit, however, that I was wrong with my predictable skepticism. 

Also, and here's the thing that hasn't been mentioned or been around the BB program: Hope and  a good measure of excitement. 

That alone is worth a lot to us fans and the university itself.

 

Agreed on all counts.

[stlfisher]

4-5 star center Jeremiah Tillmon from East St. Louis asked for release from his LOI to play for Illinois.  Cuonzo Martin is from East St. Louis.

I would say the odds are in our favor he winds up at Mizzou.

 5 star Kevin Knox is set to visit April 8 and 9. That is a tougher sell, but hard not to think about the possibilities.

Incredible.  The Mizzou momentum is off the charts.

 

[joeD]

Deep breaths. Easy. 

Lets let things play out.

Okay. 

Man, this could be AWESOME!

[Al Agnew]

The recruiting reporting services now have Tilmon about an 80% chance of ending up at Mizzou.  Of course, when you're talking about 17-18 year old kids with all the big name schools in the country chasing them, that means exactly nothing.  He had tweeted to the effect that he was for sure still going to Illinois about two days before he asked out of his LOI.  Perhaps part of the reason he apparently changed his mind was that Walton and Hughes announced they were transferring in the meantime, which opened up two more scholarships at Mizzou.

[ozark trout fisher]

Mizzou is in an interesting spot right now. As far as returners, you have a core of Phillips, Barnett, and Puryear. If you are Cuonzo those are the guys you want to do absolutely everything in your power to insure don't transfer. I think Phillips for sure is all in, and I have no reason to think that Barnett and Puryear are not. Those three are legitimate power conference starters, and will get big minutes regardless of who gets added to the program in the coming weeks. 

Obviously Hughes and Walton are gone, to the surprise of exactly no one following the program. Hughes in particular has been gone since December when Willie Jackson transferred. He already quit once mid-season before being convinced to finish the year out. I think there will probably be one more transfer, but not many more than that. Mizzou has to protect their APR and a vast exodus would not allow that. I have no information on who (if anyone) will still leave but I'd say three guys to watch would be Jacoby Kemp, Mitchell Smith, and Jordan Geist. I'd like for Geist to stay on as he is tough and scrappy, everyone needs a guy like him even if it's only for 8-10 minutes/game. Cullen Van Leer probably should consider a transfer, but I doubt he does. He will stay and have a vastly reduced role on a team that will outgrow him. I don't mean to be harsh, but that is very likely the reality. If he is okay with that, more power to him. If he can improve his shot he could at least be a spark plug guy, and get 7-8 minutes/game. 

The two we know are coming in are CJ Roberts and MPJ. We all know about MPJ, but Roberts can be either a PG or a 2-guard, but is probably better off the ball. He will be a four-year guy, likely a very good player, but I don't know how ready he'll be as a freshman. He'll get minutes, but I'd expect him to have trouble displacing Phillips or maybe even Geist right away. 

Then there is Knox/Tilmon/Harris. Mizzou needs to make a huge impression on Knox this weekend, as he has schools like Duke and Kentucky that are after him just as hard as us. I think we have a real chance, and him combined with MPJ and Roberts probably makes this a tourney team. But don't count on it. I think Tilmon will either end up at Mizzou or SLU. Hopefully it's the former. Harris is another player like Roberts who has a high ceiling, but probably won't impact the team a ton next year. He is a true point guard, and at most would be Phillips primary backup next season.  I do think there is a very good chance he ends up at Mizzou, especially if we see another guard transfer.

Bottom line: Mizzou is 1-2 big acquisitions from being a plausible NCAA tournament team next year. You have to maximize MPJ's time on the roster. Whether it's Knox, Tilmon, or a grad-transfer, I think we see at least one more very high-profile addition. And the possibility of the top recruiting class in the nation with both Tilmon and Knox, as well as Harris, remains. At that point you might be talking about a team that can not only make the tourney but do so as a top-4 seed. It's still a bit unlikely to play out that way, but it's not an insanely improbable scenario at this point. 

[Al Agnew]

I agree with almost everything you said.  The only possible quibble I have concerns Vanleer.  If the guy wants to continue to play at Mizzou, he needs to really, really work on his shot.  If he can be a 40% 3 point shooter, he could really contribute on a team like Mizzou can potentially be.  And I think he has the desire to work hard on it.  Remember Matt Lawrence?  That's who I see as an example of the ceiling on Vanleer.  By his senior year, Lawrence was a starter and an excellent shooter who didn't hurt them on defense that much because he was a smart player.  Vanleer is a smart player who knows what to do on the court, even though, like Lawrence, he's not athletically gifted.  He's never going to be able to create his own shot, nor defend the quickest guard on the other team, but neither could Lawrence.  It all depends upon whether Vanleer can make open shots.  He has the form, but his footwork hasn't always been that great.

I can't see Geist transferring and having to sit out another year.  Smith is still an unknown, since he didn't see enough playing time before getting injured last year.  Seems to have the talent, needs more strength.  Kinda hope he stays, but wouldn't be surprised if he leaves.

[stlfisher]

 

Deep breaths. Easy. 

Lets let things play out.

Okay. 

Man, this could be AWESOME!

You're right Joe. Impossible not to get excited about the possibilities, but lots still needs to happen. This just feels different....so unlike MU of the last few years.

[Quillback]

Better info here concerning Mizzou hoops than I can find in the media. 

[stlfisher]

4 star point guard Blake Harris commits to MU. If we get Kevin Knox..holy cow.

[ozark trout fisher]

 

4 star point guard Blake Harris commits to MU. If we get Kevin Knox..holy cow.

If Mizzou gets either Knox or Tilmon, that really fills the last big hole on the roster.

Get both and well, who's to say what might happen? 

When he got hired,  at first I thought Cuonzo was a massive  upgrade, but still just sliiiiiiightly disappointing after all that Tom Crean talk. All he's done in the weeks since then is drastically raise the talent level on the roster. He is seriously threatening to get Mizzou to the top half of the SEC in Year 1. After 3 years of being dead last, that would be incredible. 

So he is well on his way to proving that initial skepticism was unfounded. 

Here is the only potential problem: if we now "only" double the win total and go, 17-15, and, like 7-11 or 8-10 in conference, that will now officially be disappointing. Even though given the past few years it should be a huge success.

Oh well, high expectations are usually a good problem.