UPDATE: Called after 77 votes. Booker wins it surprisingly easily, 57%-42%. Booker moves on to the Elite Eight for the second time in his lifetime, and he'll face an Elite Eight newbie, either Doug Smith or Anthony Peeler.
One round is (mostly) in the books for Mizzou 25, the tournament to decide the best, most influential, most likable Mizzou athlete of the past 25 years! We still have some business left to take care of in the Spider Burke region, as Mark Atkins and Matt Pell are only separated by 2 votes (as of 7:26am). Until the vote margin is 4-5 (or until tomorrow morning, whichever comes first), the poll will remain open. So vote if you haven't. VOTE OR DIE!!!!!! (Pell won.)
Mizzou 25 is set up in four 8-athlete regions: the Norm Stewart Region (basketball), the Larry Smith Region (football), the Joann Rutherford Region (all sports), and the Harold "Spider" Burke Region (fan favorites). To see where the bracket currently stands, click here.
Here are the Norm Stewart Regional Semifinal matchups:
3/14: Derrick Chievous vs Melvin Booker
3/15: Anthony Peeler vs Doug Smith
Let's get to it!
Derrick Chievous vs Melvin Booker |
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1984-88 |
1990-94 |
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Stats 84-85: 13.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.4 APG 85-86: 18.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.4 APG 86-87: 24.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.9 APG 87-88: 23.4 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.6 APG Record: 82-49 NCAA Tourney Wins: 0 |
Stats 90-91: 8.3 PPG, 3.5 APG, 2.2 RPG 91-92: 11.6 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.8 RPG 92-93: 15.8 PPG, 3.7 APG, 4.3 RPG 93-94: 18.1 PPG, 4.5 APG, 3.8 RPG Record: 87-37 NCAA Tourney Wins: 4 |
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| Michael Atchison: "A notoriously quirky 6’7" forward from New York City’s Jamaica, Queens, neighborhood, Derrick Chievous was nearly as famous for always wearing a Band-Aid as for being one of the great pure scorers in Mizzou history. Chievous began filling the hoop from the moment he set foot on campus, scoring a freshman-record 32 points against Arizona just one month into his career. As a sophomore, he led the Tigers in scoring with 18.8 points per game, and his season total of 640 points was then the second most in school history. Chievous elevated his game as a junior, earning first team All-Big Eight and second team All-America honors, leading the conference in scoring, guiding the team to a league title, and showing a remarkable ability to get to the free throw line (for his career, he made more free throws than any other Tiger attempted). His season total of 821 points remains a Missouri record, and his three-year total of 1,879 made him the Tigers’ all-time scoring leader with a full season left to play. All-Big Eight again as a senior, Chievous scored a career-high 42 points in a win over Virginia Tech. He closed his career with 2,580 points (still first by a huge margin), 979 rebounds (then second, now fourth), and a career 19.9 points per game average, second only to Willie Smith." | Michael Atchison: Little fanfare accompanied Melvin Booker’s arrival in Columbia. Norm Stewart discovered the unassuming point guard from Moss Point, Mississippi, while recruiting a more heralded peer. Good thing he did, because Booker spent the next four years maximizing his ability as well as any player in the Stewart era. A starter as a freshman, Booker deferred to Doug Smith and Anthony Peeler on the court. But he began to come into his own as a sophomore, averaging 11.6 points and 3.9 assists. With Peeler’s departure after the 1991-92 season, Booker assumed leadership of the team. His 15.8 points per game led the club in his All-Big Eight junior season. But it was Booker’s remarkable senior season that sealed his place among Mizzou’s all-time greats. His averages of 18.1 points and 4.5 assists per game do not begin to tell the story. On his way to becoming the Big Eight Player of the Year and a second team All-American, Melvin Booker imposed his will on each game, hitting every clutch shot in a season that saw the Tigers go a perfect 14-0 in the Big Eight and advance to within one game of the Final Four. Though his career began in virtual anonymity, it ended with Booker ranking among the greats in Missouri Tiger history. | |