Mizzou Sanity: Basketball recruiting

Showing posts with label Basketball recruiting. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Mizzou Links, 10-3-07

So Mutigers.com is telling me that Gary Pinkel will be on ESPN's College Football Live today at 2:30...guess I'll try to DVR that...

Ha! I've been joking that, while there's no way I can go to the Gator or Holiday Bowls (come on, Cotton), it doesn't matter because we're going to the Fiesta. Well, someone agrees with me now. JINX.
Atchison will love this...after taking a look at the topsy-turvy weekend that was the September 29 slate of games, Dave Matter attempts a Big 12 Power Poll...Boss Style. If Dave was a Friend of Sanity before, he's a BFF of Sanity now...oh, and he's got some NU-MU quotes as well.
The Missourian has a nice "Martin Rucker coulda gone pro but didn't, and boy has that worked out great" story. The Post-Dispatch contributes a "Rucker is quite a ham" article as well. And then Mike Dearmond has to go pee on our parade by reminding us that Jeff Wolfert has been far from automatic this year. Thanks, Mike. Though he does redeem himself slightly with a summary of MU's 5 best wins over NU. Strange that there's a huge gap between 1978 and 2003...wait a second...oh yeah...
Graham Watson discusses the Big 12 on her blog.
Last football link: Sunday Morning QB looks at the box scores and reminds us not to get too carried away by South Florida (massively outgained by WVa, which is fine, only it's not a great sign that USF is actually the 6th-best team in the country), Wisconsin (the just-win magic is going to run out at some point), or USC (they outgained Washington 460-190 and lost their #1 slot in the AP poll to an LSU team that looked like ass against Tulane for 30 minutes).

Non-football links...

One of Rivals.com's national b-ball recruiting guys takes a look at Mizzou's completed 2008 class. He basically says what we already knew...that these aren't the elitest of elite recruits, but they could be absolutely perfect for Mike Anderson's system. We shall see. The Trib has a nice Keith Ramsey write-up...and Steve Walentik attempts his own 2008 class review on his blog...
Three Mizzou Soccer players--Kat Tarr, Kristin Andrighetto, and Kari Adam--received Of the Week awards for last weekend's efforts...
Finally, here's the official release for tonight's Mizzou Volleyball game in Boulder...it's live on Fox Sports MW tonight at 7:30, by the way. Woohoo. I'll have to pry the remote away from my wife--she loves Mizzou Volleyball, but she LOVES Bionic Woman...on the other hand, that's what DVR is for. It's time for MU to make a move...they rarely play well in Boulder, but CU's usually better than this.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Mizzou Links, 10-2-07

We'll see how well I can do Links with a cat lying on my left arm...could be interesting...

It must be Tuesday...we've got the official MU-NU release, and we've got Media Day quotes! Just about everybody's healthy (including Danario Alexander), the guys have been studying up, Mizzou's at its highest poll position since 1998, Carl Gettis has passed Hardy Ricks, a sellout is a given...it's all starting to come together. Dave Matter has more on Alexander's wrist and the Big 12's North Revival...and of course even more notes on his blog.
If you're dying for even more quotes, here's a Pig Brown chat transcript.
Like some Mizzou commentary? It's Like Father, Unlike Son! And Graham Watson's Tuesday Musings!
The Missourian repeats what's already been said on here...it's probably for the best that we didn't play on Saturday...too many crazy things happened. It also has a nice story on Pinkel's cameo visit at the Columbia Youth Football League.
Speaking of nice stories, here's probably the best read of the day: Mike Dearmond's "Pinkel is a Changed Man" feature. Graham Watson has a nice Chase Daniel feature as well.
Next week's MU-OU game was apparently knocked out of the 2:30 time slot by...ATM-Tech? It's now got a quite strange 5:30 kickoff. I realize OU lost and all, but that's still a strange move. I mean, OU and MU are the two highest-ranked teams in the conference right now. And if I manage to get down to that game, that will prevent me from going to my favorite BBQ restaurant in the world after the game...BOO!
Biggest non-football news: Mizzou Soccer has moved up to #15 in one poll, #16 in another...and #6 in another! It goes without saying that that's Mizzou's highest ever position in any poll.
It appears that Mizzou's 2008 basketball recruiting class is now full, as JUCO forward Keith Ramsey has committed.
And speaking of Mizzou basketball, I didn't realize that next Friday's (10/12) Mizzou Madness is both a Men's Basketball even and a Women's Basketball event. Pretty cool, I guess.
Finally, Mizzou Softball opened its fall schedule by decimating Jefferson College and Butler County CC. Not exactly the roughest of competition, but hey...

Friday, September 28, 2007

Mizzou Links, 9-28-07

Hopefully recruits the family atmosphere that has gripped the Mizzou Football locker room, and hopefully they like what they see. "I love you, Tony..." Weird.
The Trib has the official story on Gilbert Moye's fight. The matter's being handled internally apparently...no idea what kind of punishment there will be.
Mike Dearmond says 'hola'. Because Mizzou's on siesta. Get it? Funny stuff here from a relatively crazy guy...
Graham Watson pulls a Gabe Dearmond and breaks out the mailbag. And just for fun, so does SI's Stewart Mandel. Somehow Texas Tech isn't the most one-dimensional team in the country this year. Louisville has 'em beat in a major way.
In case you haven't read enough about it at Mizzou Sanity (and trust me, you've got a couple more days of it coming), PowerMizzou samples from the 'Flea Kicker' chapter of Todd Donaho's MizzouRah! Memorable Moments in Missouri Tiger Football History. It never gets any less aggravating.
With the 2007-08 basketball recruiting class taking shape, Inside Mizzou takes a look at a 2009 kid, St. Louis' Richard Anderson.
Fresh off a 42-18 season and a hosted regional, Mizzou Baseball has been rewarded with a Top 20 recruiting class.
And finally, proving once again that I have a super-low batting average when it comes to knowing what will become a huge story and knowing what should become a big story but won't, the Mike Gundy story still has legs.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Mizzou Links, 9-25-07

Dave Matter's got some notes about MU/NU, Jeremy Maclin and Mike Gundy. And then he's got a little more about Gundy on his blog, as does the Missourian. I'm a bit surprised by the amount of coverage this is getting...if Mike Leach had gone off like this, everyone would have just said, "Crazy Cap'n Mike is at it again!" and that would have been the end of it.
So apparently Bob Davie posts on Tigerboard...he rightly gets lacerated by Stewart Mandel for bitching and moaning that "I think there ought to be an NCAA rule -- 25 times a game you have to put two backs in the backfield." Yeah, Bob...tell that to Florida, kinda sorta the defending national champion.
Mike Dearmond has a blurb about Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week Jeremy Maclin. And speaking of the Dearmonds, PowerMizzou has a little Like Father, Unlike Son action for you.
It's Mid-Major Monday over at Sunday Morning QB. Poor Iowa State...
Also blogging at the Trib: Steve Walentik, with more from his interview with Kareem Rush. Walentik also links to this Big 12 Shootaround at the Dot Com. I was a bit taken aback when I realized that Richard Roby still has eligibility left. He has to be CU's all-time leading scorer by now considering he's averaged 15+ PPG for 9 straight years.
Inside Mizzou catches up with Mizzou commit Laurence Bowers.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Mizzou Links, 9-24-07

After everybody writes and writes on Sunday, the Monday links seem to always be pretty thin...oh well...

Dave Matter empties the notebook on Mizzou football. He's guessing the MU-NU game will get the 8:15pm ESPN slot when announced later today. I cannot put into words how fantastic that would be. Lots of other interesting notes as well...including a bit about the apparently thin-skinned Mike Gundy.
The Missourian has hopped on the "Bring On the Huskers!" article bandwagon...
Graham Watson plays Monday Morning QB. And speaking of which (sort of), Sunday Morning QB has an entertaining wrap-up...
Mutigers.com has gameday features on Pig Brown and Steven Blair.
In basketball recruiting, Inside Mizzou has the inside scoop on Eshaunte Jones. Meanwhile, Gabe at PowerMizzou has a quick blurb about Kim English's visit to Cincinnati.
Good results for Mizzou Soccer this weekend. With their play dedicated to Meggie Malm, Mizzou whooped #19 California on Friday, 4-0, then took out TCU on Sunday, 6-2. I should probably mention that, due likely to the success of Dave Matter's football blog (and Steve Walentik's basketball blog, for that matter), the Trib has also set up a Soccer blog run by Ryan Nilsson. He has lots of quotes about Malm and a wrap-up of the TCU game. Looks like a promising site. Meanwhile, the Missourian has a feature on freshman Michelle Collins.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Mizzou Links, 9-13-07

We've got basketball recruiting news! I'll let Atchison go more in-depth on this guy, but Laurence Bowers is on-board. Meanwhile, the pursuit of Notre Dame Prep's Kim English is on.
Speaking of basketball, Mizzou will have a public workout at 10am this Saturday...I tend to avoid these due to the occasional outbreak of stupid optimism on my part.
On to football. Martin Rucker has been disgustingly good so far this season, and Mike Dearmond takes note. Mike D. also says, "Hey MU fans: cheer up!"
It's the latest "Cut to the Chase"! Love these things...Matter also has his latest Power Poll.
Interesting stat from the Trib: "When leading by eight or more points, the defense has allowed 5.9 yards per carry. With a 7-point lead or less, the average shrinks to 3.1." Sounds about right. The Post-Dispatch looks into the defense's struggles as well.
Graham Watson hands her keyboard to a WMU writer.
It's a family conflict!!
Despite the fact that I will be forever bitter about the phantom holding call and the 2006 loss to Iowa State (and trust me, I latch onto bitterness for long periods of time...ask me about the 1998 basketball loss at OU--the one where Brian Grawer got the tying 3-point play, only Johnnie Parker dunked the ball home and negated the basket--at your own risk...and yes, I just spent five minutes digging up that article...), I actually feel a bit sorry for Iowa State fans at this point. They're staring down "the suck" at the moment, and it's not going to be a pretty 3 months...
What's the perfect remedy for a team that just got some horrible injury news? UMKC! Mizzou Volleyball smoked the always-horrid 'Roos, finishing a sweep with a 30-8 win in Game Three. OUCH. Mizzou had 5 errors the entire match. More on this one later.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Mizzou Links, 9-5-07

Not surprisingly, Pig Brown was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. Yeah, if you don't win the award after the game he had, you'll never win the award.
Dave Matter goes 'inside the numbers' on Ole Miss.
I've always admired Gary Pinkel's tenacity and sense of stubbornness, and those are good qualities to have...as long as your will eventually results in better play. Pinkel says nothing's going to change in the running game. That's fine...as long as the results get better.
Not to be confused with The Beef's Monday Musing(s), Graham Watson has...Tuesday Musings.
The Missourian continues its trend of unique features with a look at deep snapper Stephen Blair.
It's just about official...Turner Gill's Buffalo Bulls will be coming to Columbia in 2008. The Georgia series was a neat thought, but apparently it was as much an Internet rumor as anything else. The discussion for that ended a long time ago.
General admission seats are available for MU-NU. Not for long.
Sunday Morning QB discusses the impending beating of Jimmy Clausen.

And since I said I'd look at other sports as well...

In the words of Gabe Dearmond...folks, I think this guy's gonna be a Tiger.
The Trib takes a look at the MU Volleyball loss that I still have yet to write about. What a strange loss.
MU Soccer is pulling its usual early-season run...though this is a better start than normal. After defeating #20 Illinois, Mizzou has moved into the Top 25 at #23. Sophomore Michelle Collins was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week as well.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

While out and about earlier today, I caught the beginning of Soren Petro’s show on WHB in Kansas City. For those who don’t know him, Petro is the best thing going in sports talk – smart, opinionated, exceptionally well-informed, and steadfastly opposed to engaging in fake controversy. On a day when there’s much to talk about – the Chiefs’ quarterback battle, the Royals’ blowing a lead last night, Michael Vick’s guilty plea, the renewed possibility that the Nashville Predators might relocate to KC – do you know what he led with?

Marcus Denmon – the best basketball player in the city – has committed to Missouri.

His words, not mine. That’s awfully high praise, especially considering that Travis Releford, a Kansas commitment and an elite national recruit, is in the same class in the same town, and Michael Dixon, a prime point guard prospect from Lee’s Summit, is just a year behind.

Petro indicated that Releford will be a fine complementary player as a collegian, but he predicted stardom for Denmon because of his blinding quicks and his ability to dominate a game with the ball in his hands. Petro says that Mizzou is getting a physical ballplayer, who despite less-than-imposing size, can get into the lane and finish. Petro said Denmon is perfectly suited for Mike Anderson’s relentless style of play.

Petro also labeled this as something of a statement moment for the Missouri program, because it’s proof that Anderson is fulfilling his stated goal of locking down the state’s best talent. Now, I think that overstates the case a bit – it looks like the Tigers will be shut out in St. Louis this year, where there are two or three elite-level prospects, and MU also targeted Releford – but it’s still a cogent point. Denmon and Steve Moore – two homegrown talents – have a shot at being cornerstones of Anderson’s first big recruiting class at Missouri, and most indications are that Mizzou sits in good shape with Dixon and St. Louis big man Tyler Griffey, two highly regarded prospects in the class of 2009. To get where he wants to be, Anderson needs for the state’s best talent to grow up thinking of Missouri as a destination location.

It’s a long way from last week’s doom and gloom, huh?

Mizzou Links, 8-21-07

Here's Mike Dearmond's story about Marcus Denmon's commitment. Seriously, we've now got commits from a skinny, 6'1 PG and a skinny, 6'2 SG...playing fast doesn't even cover what Anderson's trying to do here.
MU soccer starts its exhibition season tonight by hosting Indiana. Bryan Blitz begins his 108th season as MU soccer coach...they're picked 8th in the Big 12.
Meanwhile, MU gymnastics welcomes a stud transfer...former Columbia native--and now former Ute--Sarah Shire.

And since there really was no MU football news yesterday, here's a look at the Big 12 South..

Here are some stats from OU's rainy Saturday scrimmage. Yeah, if it weren't confirmed before, it pretty much has to be confirmed now that Sam Bradford is the starting QB. When one guy completes 70% of his passes with 4 TD's and the other two guys combine for a 33% completion rate with 1 TD and 1 INT? Yeah, game over. In all, the offense torched the defense in this one...wonder if OU fans are fretting about their defense? Probably not.
So Limas Sweed sprained his wrist, Jordan Shipley has a gimpy hamstring, and now Billy Pittman has a sprained shoulder. Lucky for UT, there's not an Ohio State hanging around the beginning of the schedule this season...they can take their time getting these guys healty.
Fox Sports and CFN's Pete Fiutak has an Oklahoma State preview up. There's no question that they'll be much improved over last year, but...a road schedule of Georgia, Troy, ATM, Nebraska, Baylor, and Oklahoma? I think they're going to be pretty hot stuff this year, and I have them going 8-4. Ouch.
MySA.com says ATM's not satisfied with just beating Texas this year. They want more. Well...good luck. With the only road schedule tougher than OSU's--Miami (FL), Texas Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska--they'll do well to go 8-4 as well.
Double T Nation takes a look at Tech's secondary. They've got some experience and play-making ability, and they're going to need it...their front seven isn't going to be too hot.
And finally...poor Baylor. Rumor has it Guy Morriss has sold his house in Waco. Best to get a jump on that, I guess.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Marcus Denmon commits, Zaire Taylor arrives

Here's a little pick-me-up after the disappointment of losing Scott Suggs. Marcus Denmon, a lightning-quick 6'2" scoring machine from Kansas City, has committed to Missouri's basketball team. Scout and Rivals both have stories. Denmon joins Miguel Paul (who is similar in size and style) and Steve Moore as early Tiger commitments for the class of 2008. Getting Paul and Denmon in the same class confirms what we already know about Mike Anderson: He wants to play fast. With three scholarships left to give, look for Mizzou's staff to target one bigger wing player and two more interior athletes. I suspect that one (and perhaps two) of those remaining three scholarships will be filled with junior college prospects.

And history's worst-kept secret was revealed when Zaire Taylor, a 6'4" guard who spent two seasons at the University of Delaware, enrolled at Mizzou this week. Taylor will practice with the Tigers this season, and will have two years of eligibility remaining, starting with the 2008-09 campaign. Reported to be a stellar defender, he'll give Missouri an experienced backcourt presence after Stefhon Hannah and Jason Horton play their final seasons this coming winter.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Mizzou Links, 8-17-07

Pop quiz (hot shot): so it's about 6:45 on Thursday evening...the wife and I have finished dinner and are trying to figure out what to do with our evening (other than watching Scrubs reruns). The wife says "Hey...what night is the volleyball Black & Gold Game? That sounds like fun." What curse word immediately erupts from my mouth?

a) The f-bomb.
b) The s-word.
c) The good old reliable G-D.
d) All of the above, plus random grumbles throughout the rest of the evening.

If you said (d), you are correct, sir!

That's right, after promoting the volleyball team almost daily for most of the last week or so, I got my evenings (or weeks...or months...something) mixed up and missed last night's Volleyball Black & Gold Game. Luckily, over 1,000 people weren't idiots and showed up for a good time. Looking at the relatively confusing box score (players played for both teams), it appears Na Yang (41 kill attempts, .190 kill %) and Julianna Klein (36 attempts, .278) were the main focus of the offense, while freshman Weiwen Wang (30 attempts, .367) and Amanda Hantouli (20 attempts, .700!!) had the best evenings. The two setters--returning starter Lei Wang (31 assists, 5 digs) and JUCO transfer Luiza Jarocka (28 assists, 4 digs) had extremely similar evenings.
Oh, and for the record, one's attack % (or kill %) is (Kills - Attack Errors)/Attempts. For example, Na Yang had 14 kills, 6 errors, 42 attempts. (14-6)/42 = .190. I only explain this because it took me a while to figure it out. However, from the pop quiz above you can see that I'm slow sometimes.
In non-volleyball news (if there is such a thing), Jeff Ermann has some fantastic analysis of the Scott Suggs commitment to Washington. Fluky circumstances (i.e. a decade-long relationship with Romar) doomed Mizzou...it always seems like the fluky circumstances work against Mizzou, doesn't it? Oh well, I guess. Anderson will come through in the long-term, I'm relatively confident in that...
Oh yeah...football. Dave Matter has a good article about defensive backups and their last attempts to prove themselves, and he comes through with two solid practice reports. So does Gabe Dearmond, while Graham Watson fits everything into one report. She also comes through with a solid Martin Rucker feature. Great expectations indeed.
Finally, I always feel a bit uneasy when I agree wholeheartedly with Jason Whitlock, but...I agree wholeheartedly with Jason Whitlock regarding the Rutgers lawsuit (I have no opinion on the Ball State issue...hadn't even heard anything about it). Granted, he's much more of an ass in saying it than I would be, but nonetheless...this lawsuit is late and crazy...and Rutgers completely forfeits the high ground. A shame.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Mizzou Exchange: Jeff Ermann of Inside Mizzou

I think this post makes today officially the busiest day ever for Mizzou Sanity. Go us.

Jeff Ermann is the current proprietor of Scout.com’s Inside Mizzou site. He has done a tremendous job in the last few months of making IM a valuable source for Mizzou insider info. He was gracious enough to exchange a few e-mails with me. Here’s the latest Mizzou Exchange!

The Boy: We'll start with a pretty easy two-parter: For those who have not been paying attention, how long have you been at the helm of Inside Mizzou, and how long have you been entangled in the web that is Mizzou Sports (as a fan, writer, etc.)?

JE: I've been the Publisher of Inside Mizzou Magazine and InsideMizzou.com for about five months. A few years prior to that, I covered the Mizzou hoops team for the Columbia Tribune. It was the 2003-2004 season. Quin and Co. were ranked in the top five nationally in the pre-season. I thought I was going to be at the Final Four Final Four. We all know how that went. I didn't even get to cover the NCAA tournament! A trip to watch an NIT game in frigid Ann Arbor, Michigan, was my consolation prize.

TB: I suffered through that season just the same, only I didn't have to go to Ann Arbor (or, to be honest, even watch much of the NIT game at all). I think I win that battle!

2004 was a demoralizing year all-around for Mizzou athletics--for men's basketball and football in particular--and I think you're seeing some of those scars reemerge when it comes people's predictions for the 2007 football season. They don't trust that Mizzou won't choke again like they did in 2004. The perception of Gary Pinkel's program as a whole continues to be affected by the all-around disappointment of 2004.

Which leads us somewhat into our first topic: football recruiting. Taking a macro look at the situation, one sees that Mizzou has improved from year to year all but once under Pinkel, and the facilities continue to see massive upgrades. Despite that, recruiting hasn't really improved in terms of rankings and in-state gets--in the case of in-state recruiting, it's actually regressed.

However...every class that Pinkel and Co. bring in seems to be more athletic than any previous one. They seemed to get whichever MO kid they wanted in 2003 (sans Laurence Maroney) and 2004, but those classes have arguably been less successful in terms of star power and athleticism than the 2005 class (which came on the heels of the 2004 disappointment) and--to the extent that can be measured at this point--the 2006 class. It's hard to adequately (and subjectively) compare recruiting classes at this early a stage, but there definitely hasn't been as strong a correlation between the # of top MO kids signed and the overall quality of the class as one would have thought.

So I guess I have two questions for you at this point: 1) What do you feel are the major causes of the downgrade in Mizzou's in-state recruiting, and 2) How much do you feel this matters?

JE: Here's my stance on the in-state recruiting: Everyone wants to keep the best talent at home. That's not just Mizzou; it's every school. But people tend to be parochial and also have attachments to local players and schools.

The real question is, how many guys during Pinkel's tenure have left the state and become stars? I'm not talking about highly rated recruits he didn't get, I'm talking about players who then panned out in college as big-time players. Laurence Maroney is one ...

So in short, I guess I'd say it's a tad overrated. There is a lot of good talent in the state, don't get me wrong. But you want to get good players, regardless of where they come from. There's a saying that goes, 'It's not the players you miss on that hurt you, it's the ones you do get who can't play.'

St. Louis clearly does not consider MU the home school. The players there seem to favor the Big 10, Notre Dame, etc. I'm certain MU would like to do better there and the staff is trying to address it (they did already get a commitment from '09 standout Sheldon Richardson). But sometimes with the major city and the state school, problems arise or a relationship just gets stale. Being that close together, people are bound to find things they don't like. It's like family, only with family you are going to work it out regardless.

This is a phenomenon I'm very familiar with, being a Maryland basketball fan. The Terps have had cool relations with locals, and have had to watch players like Rudy Gay, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley leave the area in recent years. Like Mizzou fans, it's a major issue for Terps fans.

Mizzou is getting good players and better athletes than before, like you said. If the staff can make a big dent in Texas, that would certainly help ease the pain of not getting every top in-state kid -- and then some.

TB: We are on exactly the same page then. It's funny that you brought up Maryland--I've used that example before, but only for Durant and 'Melo...I hadn't even made the connection that Gay and Beasley were also from that area. And it's got to severely irk Maryland fans that Beasley chose to play at K-State, of all places. At least the other three chose major programs.

Sticking to in-state recruiting for a moment...by my unofficial count (feel free to add whoever I'm missing), Mizzou has potential offers out to three uncommitted Missouri kids: OL William Cooper (Hayti), DE Aldon Smith (Raytown), and DE James Moore (St. Louis). Of that bunch, who do you see committing to Mizzou? And going beyond those three kids, in your opinion, what other Missouri kids are the most likely to receive an offer?

JE: Yup, Gay and Beasley too. Of course, there is a lot of off-court baggage with some of these guys. Maryland doen't 'play the game' as much as some schools. The Terps also missed on five (five!) local McDonald's All-American's this past year. Anyways, I won't bore you with my Maryland anguish.

As far as the in-state kids, I think Mizzou has a good chance with Aldon Smith. Smith might be the most physically gifted player in the state this year. He has been overlooked a bit but now is racking up some offers and is sure to get more major schools. He would be the first priority in my opinion. He does like Mizzou, but is going to go through the process before making a decision. It would be painful to see him end up at Nebraska.

Between the kids Mizzou from whom Mizzou has gotten verbals and the kids who've committed elsewhere, there honestly aren't a lot of must-get kids other than the one I mentioned. Locally at Rock Bridge, quarterback Jake Morse and receiver Chase Meijia could play their way into offers with strong senior years.

TB: My dad worked in College Park for a few years, and I own a "Fear the Turtle!" shirt, so I don't mind discussing the Terps. But I do suppose we're here to discuss Mizzou...

Sadly, at this point I've found it's a relatively accurate practice for in-state recruiting predictions to just look at where the kid is from and, disregarding any and all interviews and statements, make the prediction based on that. If they're from rural MO, Mizzou has a good chance (then again Tyler Compton is from Bonne Terre, and he's going to NU). The KC area (sans Grandview), Mizzou has a good chance. From StL? Chances are iffy at best. I hate to over-generalize, but it seems Mizzou continues to fight an uphill battle against perception in St. Louis, and I'm not sure what will change that.

I thought the quotes from Robert Steeples' Mizzou visit a couple months ago (to paraphrase the DeSmet DB: "I didn't expect Mizzou to be that nice...in StL, everybody looks down on Missouri football") were amazingly revealing. His teammate, Wes Kemp, pretty much admitted that it would take one major StL kid going to Mizzou to open the floodgates...then proceeded to commit to Wisconsin. Parkway West's Blaine Gabbert (the #1 player in the state by all accounts) visited Mizzou eleventy billion times and became close friends with Mizzou commit Andrew Jones...then committed to Nebraska and attempted to get Jones to do the same.

I realize that we're both in agreement that this entire in-state recruiting issue doesn't matter as much as some would like to think it does, but...the best-case scenario for Mizzou is still an even playing field in St. Louis. Is this current disconnect fixable, or are the causes too deeply rooted? I know that Norm Stewart and Larry Smith had iffy relations with certain StL schools and coaches, but...they're not here anymore. Obviously the best possible solution to what ails Mizzou in the department of StL recruiting is winning, but...Mizzou has improved every year but one in Pinkel's tenure. Any recruit who visits—and most St. Louis kids visit at some point at least once—sees strong facilities, a good family atmosphere, and continued improvement. And yet they continue to choose even a program like Minnesota over Mizzou. Steeples might have been over-generalizing with his comments, but maybe he wasn't.

Before I move past in-state recruiting (and I promise I will shortly), I need to ask...can Mizzou bridge the gap in St. Louis? And if they can...is there any way to catch up permanently, or will the same crack begin to form the next time Mizzou has the inevitable less successful season?

JE: You're right Bill. it is a situation that needs to be worked on. There's one magic cure: Win, and win big.

You have to keep in mind that while we all are pro-Mizzou, these in-state kids have not grown up watching an overly impressive MU program. There have been a few good years, but overall Mizzou's win-loss record during the span during which, say, the last six graduating high shool classes have grown up, does not compare with those of some of the programs that come here to recruit -- Notre Dame, Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska, etc.

The first thing kids want these days in terms of football programs is playing time early. Then they want to win. If Mizzou can put together a big year this year and continue its momentum, that will heal some of the STL recruiting malaise for next year and for the future. Everyone loves a 'name-brand' program. Win and they will come.

P.S. Nice use of eleventy-billion.

TB: That's not even a real number. Yet.

You mentioned 'name brand' programs...that brings me to my next thought: is it actually possible for Gary Pinkel and Mizzou to make the jump in recruiting success and stay there? I posted recently about the ‘cycle’ that seems to follow most mid-rung, non-‘name brand’ schools—in general, recruiting successes are tied directly to a mid-rung team’s success in a given season, and sustained recruiting prowess—and a break of peaks-and-valleys cycle—is extremely difficult to come by.

Am I totally off-base with this? Do you think a breakthrough ’07 season would be enough to buy Pinkel and Staff a few years of recruiting success even if there’s a step backwards in 2009 after Chase Daniel graduates?

To break into ‘name brand’ status, it seems like you’d need a number of things in place: a great coach (who wants to stay at your school), an energetic coaching staff (to beat people on the recruiting trail year after year), a rock-solid commitment from your athletic department (to pony up the cash to keep the great coach and continue keeping up with the facilities arms race), and a strong, dedicated fanbase (as your ‘name’ grows, your stadium grows, your ticket prices go up, and your fans have to keep filling the bigger, more expensive stadium). Does Mizzou have that?

JE: I think Mizzou does have that. Of course, not to be redundant, but they need to do it on the field. Pinkel needs this to be his breakthrough season. Also, assuming Daniel doesn't leave early, you should have two good-to-great years in a row coming up.

I think the fans are dedicated enough to sustain success. Mizzou had 17 losing seasons in 19 years and the fans kept coming in good numbers. It would be nice to see the program play against more 'name' teams, but that doesn't seem to be in the plans for the time being.

The facilities get rave reviews from all of the recruits I speak with.

You're right, it is quite difficult to sustain that name-brand status. Mid-level teams fail at it a lot more than they succeed. But like I said, it never hurts to have that signature player like Daniel, you've got the facilities and an improving inroads into texas, now you need to put together two very good years.

TB: You’re definitely right on with the ‘signature player’ thing. Mizzou had one named Brad Smith for a few years, and the draw of playing with him him immensely helped recruiting...at first. Brad did, however, show how a ‘signature player’ can backfire if his results don’t coincide with the potential everybody saw initially. For whatever reason—Pinkel’s coaching, Brad’s own limitations (my guess), luck—the Brad Smith era didn’t live up to expectations (though it filled 30 highlight reels), and I think Mizzou and Gary Pinkel are continuing to pay for that...and will do so until they have a breakout season.

And yes, that breakout season really needs to come this year. As I’ve said on the blog before, another 8-4/7-5 year puts Gary Pinkel firmly in Glen Mason Territory, where he’s not a failure as a coach, but he’s not exactly a success either. He’s in limbo—constantly threatening to either break through or fall apart and get fired and doing neither—and that’s not a pleasant place to be. We only have to hope for the best for another month, though—the season’s finally right around the corner.

Switching topics now...on to basketball recruiting. Mike Anderson inherited an interesting scenario when he took the Mizzou job. There was hardly any recruiting for him to do in 2007—which hurt a little because a coach’s recruiting grace period (where recruits believe he’ll lead his team to a championship) starts immediately and doesn’t normally last more than 2-3 years. However, after not having much work to do in 2007, Anderson and staff have a seemingly infinite number of scholarships to fill for 2008. So far they have a Truman Patriot on board—PF/C Steve Moore—but there are plenty more slots to fill. How big a splash do you see Mike Anderson making in 2008?

JE: That's the eleventy-billion dollar question, Bill.

Mizzou is in with LOTS of kids right now, but it's incredible how wide-open it all seems to be. There are precious few who you can point to and say you'll be truly surprised if they don't come to MU. Marcus Denmon is one -- the shooting guard from Hogan Prep. Keith Ramsey, a 6-8 juco forward, told me last week that MU is his favorite. He'd be a good get.

After that, it's a lot of kids who like MU, but of whom you can't exactly say MU is definitively the favorite. They're casting a wide net, which is good. The playing time is the best thing they have going, because the program's prestige isn't where it was a few years ago. Mike Anderson's name still carries a lot of weight in Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama, but the top guys down there are very hard to pull away from the SEC.

The big fish is Scott Suggs, the 6-6 guard from St. Louis. He is the top guy on the board. We were able to get the latest news on Suggs last week, but I can't give away all of my good stuff! *cough*InsideMizzou.com*cough*

(Note: between the time it took for us to finish this Exchange and me to get it posted, Suggs committed to Washington. Damn.)

TB: Yes, feel free to pimp out your site as much as possible here. We've been impressed with how coverage there has improved on seemingly a month-to-month basis lately. Keep up the good work.

And speaking of coverage...you broke the Miguel Paul story a couple weeks ago. This kid came out of nowhere a while back, and now he's the first high school point guard commitment of the Mike Anderson tenure. One thing that always held Quin Snyder back was his inability to develop a strong point guard. Wesley Stokes didn't really develop too much, which led to his emergency recruitment of Ricky Clemons. After all the dust had settled there, he got Jason Horton, who was supposed to be a big-time player, but it really hasn't happened. From what you've seen in Paul, do you see him as someone who can quickly contribute and develop (a la Keon Lawrence) or someone who'll start slow and improve incrementally every year?

JE: I have not seen Paul in person, but I have seen tape and heard the reviews, and I think he'll be able to contribute right away. He's very fast and quick, is a natural scorer and is an extremely hard worker. The first thing he did the morning after getting home from the 18 hour drive from Columbia to Florida is get back in the gym. He takes 5,000 jumpers a day and runs like a maniac. I think MU found a hidden gem here.

TB: The jumpers habit is a very good one. Lots of point guards are strong scorers in high school because they're so quick that they can get layups whenever they like. Good point guards have to have at least a somewhat capable jumpshot to be truly effective--that skill seems to have eluded both Stokes and Horton.

I think we're approaching the 3,000-word mark here overall, so I guess that means we should wrap up. On to the last topic...same as the first one: Football. I was up in Chicago last weekend, and a Mizzou buddy of mine asked me, "So are we really actually going to be good this year? Should I really get my hopes up?" My answer to him was the same it's been every year that he's asked that question--"Of COURSE! This year's going to be great!" I can't help myself, though that optimism is usually countered nicely with extreme doubt the week of a game. It's obvious that this is Gary Pinkel's best shot at a 10-win season, even better than the now-infamous '04 campaign. Will they actually get it done, or is an 8-4 season and a trip to Glen Mason Territory more likely?

JE: That's the big question. I'd like to say they'll get it done, and I think they can, but things are going to need to fall into place perfectly. The big questions are:

1. Will the defense be improved significantly? WIth an above average defense, this becomes a possible juggernaut of a team.

2. Will other teams have figured out how to slow MU's offense. After what the Tigers did last year, it's safe to assume many a defensive coordinator spent many hours in the film room this summer game-planning agaist them.

3. Will the team bring it on a consistent basis and avoid the sort of letdowns that have occurred too often. They say they have, and they seem very focused right now.

There's not question this is the best shot MU has had at a 10-win type of season in many years. To give away a secret, I picked the entire schedule in our upcoming magazine, and the only loss I had was at Oklahoma. That, of course, would be a dream season.

So, to summarize, I'm slightly on the fence, but leaning more toward the side that says this will be the breakout year everyone is expecting.

TB: I'm glad to see you make predictions like me. Back when The Beef and I were doing Tigerboard Radio, I always made the super-optimistic prediction...that way I could say I called it if it actually happened. Granted, that means my predictions are usually (okay, always) horribly inaccurate, but hey...one of these days...thanks again for doing this, Jeff!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Mizzou Links, 8-14-07

Another scrimmage down...the #1 defense more than held its own against the #1 offense, though the #2 D didn't fare quite as well...Marcus Woods got hurt...Danario Alexander is unbelievable...et cetera. Here are the articles:

Mutigers.com has full stats and some Pinkel video.
The Missourian focuses on the defense.
Dave Matter focuses on the offense in his article and...pretty much everything on his blog.
Mike Dearmond focuses on Danario Alexander. Seriously, does anybody in the conference have a better #4 threat (after Franklin, Coffman, Rucker) than him? A better #5 threat than Jared Perry? Good heavens...
Graham Watson focuses on the lack of depth. Come on, Graham! Don't be such a buzzkill! Just kidding. Sort of. That's obviously an issue, but...well...at least we know the 1st-string depth on defense is pretty strong. We didn't necessarily know that a couple weeks ago.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Mizzou Links, 8-1-07

Woohoo, Football Fan Day is around the corner...which means two-a-days are right around the corner...which means September 1 is right around the corner...woohoo...
PM has the Like Father, Unlike Son Camp Edition...meanwhile, Dave Matter previews Texas Tech, and the KC Star posts a few more previews: Baylor (pressure's on for Morriss...though personally, I think the window for a Baylor bowl was '05-06...window's now closed), Kansas (pressure's on for Mangino...and apparently he eats when he's under stress...sorry, that was rude), Kansas State (Ian Campbell is badass), and Mizzou (defense = key).
Meanwhile, Inside Mizzou's got the Scott Suggs Scoop.
Pat Forde has a somewhat interesting, somewhat worthless article about how tough being a QB is. I only mention it for the "There is James Bond calm, Spock intelligence, Chuck Norris machismo and Clint Eastwood charisma packed into every play" passage. Interesting writing there, Pat.
Also at the Worldwide Leader...I don't know when I went from hating Steve Spurrier to liking him...the change happened overnight...but now that I like the OBC for whatever reason, I can really really enjoy quotes like this now:
"Yeah, again, I don't like to talk much about other teams' players," Spurrier said. "[Kentucky QB Andre Woodson is] obviously a good player. I really admire what Kentucky did last year, go 8-5 and win the bowl game. We thought we did something big beating Clemson, then Kentucky beat them also. Anyway, Clemson was a pretty good team. They were a good team. At one point the year they were a dang good team. I don't know exactly what happened to them, but they didn't finish very well."
God bless ya, Steve.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Mizzou Links, 7-31-07

Dave Matter decides that Baylor deserves some coverage too. Plus, he covers #11-13 in his Top 25 countdown.
Meanwhile, Matter's basketball counterpart at the Trib questions Dickie V's talent evaluation...blasphemer...
Congrats to Tim Jamieson, ABCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year! Needless to say, I strongly agree with this selection. Mizzou wasn't supposed to do anything this year.
Good luck to the 6 Mizzou swimmers (Bennett Clark, Bryan Difford, Jill Granger, Colleen Gordon, Lori Halvorson, and Jill Bastien) competing at the US National Championships. The competition starts today at IUPUI (Go Ooo-wee-poo-wee!).
Tyler Wilson, Mizzou's new #1 QB target, will decide on a school before his season starts. Meanwhile, a "top JUCO forward" names Mizzou his favorite.
And finally, this is a bit insane. As The Beef put it to me last night, Minnesota is now on the other end of a Herschel Walker deal. The Celtics are now a contender in the East, but their window of opportunity is about two years, max. Meanwhile, they traded away every single building block of the future. Knowing how much he liked Al Jefferson, I figured Bill Simmons would be pretty upset by all this...he's not. I realize that the NBA's different--trading away your future in a sports like MLB, with no salary cap, wouldn't make much sense--but in the NBA it's really really hard to build a young nucleus and keep all the cogs for years at a time thanks to the luxury tax and relatively short rookie contracts. Still, though, this deal would make me QUITE queasy if I were a Celtics fan. Ray Allen's got 1-2 years left in him and Pierce has about 165,000 miles on his tires (though he's somehow only 29).

Monday, July 30, 2007

Mizzou Links, 7-30-07

Dave Matter discusses Chase Daniel and ranks the Big 12 teams, bottom to top. Meanwhile, on his blog, he mentions the latest round of Big Ten Expansion talk (he's taking it a wee bit less seriously than I did this weekend).
More bad recruiting news: Bonne Terre's Will Compton followed Blaine Gabbert's lead and committed to Nebraska last week. Leading to this recruiting year, we were hoping that the MU staff's tight relationship with Gabbert would lead to a chain reaction of commits from the top recruits in the state...but it looks like MU will only land 1 of Rivals' Top 5 in the state. One more reason to win and win big this season, eh?
Meanwhile, on the basketball recruiting front, Jeff Ermann at Inside Mizzou takes a look at the current 2008 recruiting board.
The Jets are happy with Brad Smith's progress at WR, so they're breaking him in at QB now. Very good for Brad...and for The Beef, whose Jets are 2nd to only Mizzou in his heart (unless the Jets are 1st?).
Speaking of former Tigers, Garrett Broshuis blogs! (Since the article didn't actually provide a link, here it is.)
Too bad skeet shooting's not a varsity sport...we'd sooooooo have ourselves a conference title!
Rest in peace, Mel Sheehan, Mizzou AD from 1972-78.
And finally, the University of Toronto's mascot? The Varsity Blues! That's fantastic! Now I really hope the Big Ten targets them for expansion!

Friday, July 27, 2007

Mizzou Links, 7-27-07

I just finished watching a nice Jim Riek feature on Kim Anderson and his summer basketball camp. Of course Riek couldn't resist mentioning Anderson getting passed up for his 'dream job.' I mentioned to my wife when it was over that I just wasn't sure Anderson could recruit at a D-1 level. We'd have ended up with a lot of likable, hard-working teams who played the game the right way...and went 16-14 every year. Her response? "Didn't Mizzou do that anyway, only without being likable and hard-working?" Touché.

And yes, Jim Riek is still running the show...he's looking good at age 113.

Here's some more inside recruiting news...on location with Gabe Dearmond in Orlando! Care to live more in the future tense? Here's Jeff Ermann looking at another 2009 prospect.
In more Big 12 football news, Dave Matter looks at season #2 for Ron Prince and Dan Hawkins and also writes a feature on OSU's Martel Van Zant.
In light of the Post-Dispatch a) not sending anybody to Big 12 Media Day and 2) burying a story about Mizzou being North favorite deep inside the recesses of the sports section, Graham Watson responds to the latest "Post-Dispatch hates Mizzou" talk. This is what's great about blogs...you get much more immediate responses to issues.
I decided to head on over to the Dallas Morning News this morning to see what they had to say about Big 12 football...they always seem to have pretty good coverage of Big 12 activities...and here's what I found. 1) Baylor and Notre Dame will play in Arlington in 2012. That's a great game for Baylor...now they have five years to make themselves competitive. 2) Big 12 coaches discuss the new "kickoff from the 30" rule. 3) The future of OSU LB Chris Collins is in jeopardy. You'll recall that he ended up at OSU because they were willing to take a chance on him after 2004 sexual assault charges. 4) The Cotton Bowl wants to be part of the BCS. So, I'm sure, does the New Mexico Bowl. Like I said, great detail from the DMN.
And finally, rest in peace Skip Prosser. You learn just how tight the basketball community is by reading some of the hundreds of quotes from fellow coaches. Anybody that ever talked to him is very torn up by this. My condolences to Prosser's family and the Wake Forest community.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Mizzou Links, 7-26-07

Apologies for Blogger's continued weirdness...if the page doesn't load right, hit refresh. If it still doesn't load right...well...guess you shouldn't be on the Internet anyway.

If football recruiting's your thing, Inside Mizzou's got some strong subscriber-only content right now, including an article about another strong Class of 2009 MO QB. Lots more if you're a subscriber. Speaking of paying for recruiting news...if basketball recruiting's more what you're looking for, it's paying off to be a PowerMizzou subscriber right about now.
More Media Day(s) coverage: Dave Matter tells Mizzou, Welcome to the Jungle. We like to say that Mizzou crumbled under expectations in 2004, but...well, they were only picked 2nd in the North in '04. First place is a whole new bag. Cross your fingers. Meanwhile, Iowa State's looking for a "quick turnaround". Good luck with that. And finally, one day after comparing Gene Chizik to Bob Stoops, Dave Matter compares Ron Prince to...Quin Snyder. Ouch. No word on whether Prince has a 500-page player development book for each player. Speaking of Big 12 North foes, the KC Star has more on Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas...plus a nice story about Martel Van Zant, the deaf DB Mike Gundy brought to Media Day.
Finally, Jim Caple has a fantastic look back at "Homer at the Bat", one of the greatest Simpsons episodes ever...and the last time major league baseball got the nation's attention (in a positive way) without using HGH. Sorry, that was rude. Anyway, god bless the Springfield Mystery Spot...

Monday, July 2, 2007

Free hoops recruiting bonanza

New InsideMizzou publisher Jeff Ermann has been doing a bang-up job in his short time there, and he's offering loads of free stories this week to entice you to check the site out. There's a veritable cornucopia of information on 2008 and 2009 Tiger hoops targets, including

Fort Wayne, Indiana shooting guard Eshaunte Jones, a combination of Michael Jordan, Chuck Norris and Bill Brasky, according to his AAU coach;
DeMarcus Cousins, a 6'9" super prospect from Birmingham, who sounds like a one-and-done player to me;
Kansas City point guard Michael Dixon, one of the elite players in the class of '09, who says “If I had to say, I’d probably say Mizzou was my favorite;"
Shaquille Johnson, the Florida combo guard who recently visited Columbia;
California guard Michael Snaer, a recent attendee at Mike Anderson's camp;
Kansas City scoring guard Marcus Denmon, a Keon Lawrence clone who says that Mizzou tops his list;
St. Louis big man Tyler Griffey, perhaps the top in-state post prospect since that kid who went to Carolina; and
Zaire Taylor, the Delaware transfer who appears likely to take the Tigers' sole available scholarship for the 2007-08 season.

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