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MU BB team expects '1 or 2 more pieces' from portal - link
Posted on: May 13, 2024 at 09:09:01 CT
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Mizzou men's hoops team expects to add '1 or 2 more pieces' from transfer portal
Eli Hoff 2 hrs ago
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Dennis Gates easily could be mistaken for Commissioner Jim Gordon.
You can almost picture him standing on the rooftop of a Gotham City building, a jacket fluttering in the wind, gazing upward into the swirling darkness of a cloudy night.
“Wait for the Bat Signal,” he says, projecting coy confidence as he refers to the floodlit Batman insignia used to summon the superhero in DC comics. “The Bat Signal will let you know.”
But Gates, Missouri’s men’s basketball coach, isn’t talking about stopping the Joker’s latest stunt or the Riddler’s newest scheme. He’s talking about the transfer portal and the picture — him pumping his fist in a Mizzou basketball conference room — he posts on X, formerly Twitter, right before a player commitment is announced.
Gates expects to be firing up his Bat Signal this week, and maybe even one more time after that, as Missouri wraps up its offseason business in the transfer portal.
“I think we’re one or two more pieces away,” Gates said at MU’s “Come Home Tour” caravan stop in St. Charles, “and we’re definitely still continuing to recruit. It’s not over until our summer session really starts.”
He wasn’t naming names when it came to who might still be joining the Tigers’ roster ahead of the 2024-25 season, but it seems as if a post presence will be the target.
Of the positional priorities Gates outlined earlier in the offseason, there’s only one still unfilled.
“We still need to throw that ball to a veteran (with his) back to the basket and continue to build on that,” he said of what he’s looking for.
Along with the expectation that a commitment will be coming soon, Gates has something else in mind: “I’m expecting to have a piece that allows us to compete in the SEC,” he added.
Could that mean a player with Southeastern Conference experience?
Josh Gray, a 7-foot center who started his career at Louisiana State before switching to South Carolina, still is in the transfer portal. He’s considered one of the better post players still available at this stage of the offseason — and while he wasn’t dominant with the Gamecocks, he would add experience to a group of MU centers that now only includes two incoming freshmen.
Those two young players, Peyton Marshall and Trent Burns, are highly rated recruits but likely will need some time to settle before they’re able to hold their own effectively against SEC-caliber post players. Adding a veteran post player would allow that duo to develop more gently and give new assistant coach Rob Summers, a 7-footer himself, another piece to work with as he focuses on the Tigers’ frontcourt.
Center is a position that is somewhat open to interpretation as far as play styles go. Gates and Mizzou could wind up deploying some lineups that don’t rely on a traditional center, instead opting for more mobility, shooting and perimeter presence.
Or the Tigers could ask their centers to offer just that.
“We watch the NBA, and everything trickles from the very top,” Gates said. “You watch the NBA game, most post players — you don’t see a (Shaquille O’Neal), a low-post dominant player like David Robinson. You don’t see that. The evolution of college basketball is because of the impact of the NBA.”
And speaking of the Joker: “And when you have a three-time MVP (Nikola) Jokic who’s bringing the ball up the court, who’s shooting 3s, it evolves and trickles itself down all the way to the elementary-school level,” he added.
The college basketball offseason, from a player-acquisition standpoint, is in its waning stages. The transfer portal is closed, which means players no longer can enter.
But those who entered before the deadline can take as much time as they like when it comes to picking their next program. Many players took care of that quickly, but those who are more deliberative or who waited to see what the rest of the landscape would involve are very much in play.
That’s what will allow Mizzou to make its final add or two before beginning summer practices.
“You have to understand the new climate of college sports as: The portal closed — that doesn’t mean it’s ending recruiting,” Gates said. “It just means the portal closes, and kids still have to find a home. There’s a lot of kids out there who are looking for a home. Columbia, Missouri, is a great home for your future.”
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/mizzou-mens-hoops-team-expects-to-add-1-or-2-more-pieces-from-transfer-portal/article_5e7098b4-1079-11ef-af17-ab398ab41dbc.html
Eli Hoff 2 hrs ago
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Dennis Gates easily could be mistaken for Commissioner Jim Gordon.
You can almost picture him standing on the rooftop of a Gotham City building, a jacket fluttering in the wind, gazing upward into the swirling darkness of a cloudy night.
“Wait for the Bat Signal,” he says, projecting coy confidence as he refers to the floodlit Batman insignia used to summon the superhero in DC comics. “The Bat Signal will let you know.”
But Gates, Missouri’s men’s basketball coach, isn’t talking about stopping the Joker’s latest stunt or the Riddler’s newest scheme. He’s talking about the transfer portal and the picture — him pumping his fist in a Mizzou basketball conference room — he posts on X, formerly Twitter, right before a player commitment is announced.
Gates expects to be firing up his Bat Signal this week, and maybe even one more time after that, as Missouri wraps up its offseason business in the transfer portal.
“I think we’re one or two more pieces away,” Gates said at MU’s “Come Home Tour” caravan stop in St. Charles, “and we’re definitely still continuing to recruit. It’s not over until our summer session really starts.”
He wasn’t naming names when it came to who might still be joining the Tigers’ roster ahead of the 2024-25 season, but it seems as if a post presence will be the target.
Of the positional priorities Gates outlined earlier in the offseason, there’s only one still unfilled.
“We still need to throw that ball to a veteran (with his) back to the basket and continue to build on that,” he said of what he’s looking for.
Along with the expectation that a commitment will be coming soon, Gates has something else in mind: “I’m expecting to have a piece that allows us to compete in the SEC,” he added.
Could that mean a player with Southeastern Conference experience?
Josh Gray, a 7-foot center who started his career at Louisiana State before switching to South Carolina, still is in the transfer portal. He’s considered one of the better post players still available at this stage of the offseason — and while he wasn’t dominant with the Gamecocks, he would add experience to a group of MU centers that now only includes two incoming freshmen.
Those two young players, Peyton Marshall and Trent Burns, are highly rated recruits but likely will need some time to settle before they’re able to hold their own effectively against SEC-caliber post players. Adding a veteran post player would allow that duo to develop more gently and give new assistant coach Rob Summers, a 7-footer himself, another piece to work with as he focuses on the Tigers’ frontcourt.
Center is a position that is somewhat open to interpretation as far as play styles go. Gates and Mizzou could wind up deploying some lineups that don’t rely on a traditional center, instead opting for more mobility, shooting and perimeter presence.
Or the Tigers could ask their centers to offer just that.
“We watch the NBA, and everything trickles from the very top,” Gates said. “You watch the NBA game, most post players — you don’t see a (Shaquille O’Neal), a low-post dominant player like David Robinson. You don’t see that. The evolution of college basketball is because of the impact of the NBA.”
And speaking of the Joker: “And when you have a three-time MVP (Nikola) Jokic who’s bringing the ball up the court, who’s shooting 3s, it evolves and trickles itself down all the way to the elementary-school level,” he added.
The college basketball offseason, from a player-acquisition standpoint, is in its waning stages. The transfer portal is closed, which means players no longer can enter.
But those who entered before the deadline can take as much time as they like when it comes to picking their next program. Many players took care of that quickly, but those who are more deliberative or who waited to see what the rest of the landscape would involve are very much in play.
That’s what will allow Mizzou to make its final add or two before beginning summer practices.
“You have to understand the new climate of college sports as: The portal closed — that doesn’t mean it’s ending recruiting,” Gates said. “It just means the portal closes, and kids still have to find a home. There’s a lot of kids out there who are looking for a home. Columbia, Missouri, is a great home for your future.”
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/mizzou-mens-hoops-team-expects-to-add-1-or-2-more-pieces-from-transfer-portal/article_5e7098b4-1079-11ef-af17-ab398ab41dbc.html
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MU BB team expects '1 or 2 more pieces' from portal - link - Tiger_1995 MU - 5/13 09:09:01
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