We start with non-basketball news...in case you missed the FanPost below, we have indeed hired a new football assistant. Here's Josh Henson's official mutigers.com bio, along with a write-up from The Trib.
I'm worried that expectations on Henson's recruiting ability have begun to take a Brian Coulter-esque turn. We could certainly get better at closing the deal with recruits, and if he's we're able to go in and steal even one major recruit a year from the OK/TX/AR/LA corridor, that would be great. But a) he's been selling LSU Football for the last few years, so just because he's played a part in Top 10 classes doesn't mean he's been responsible for those kids' interest in LSU--he's just been good at helping to seal the deal with kids who already liked LSU quite a bit (I mean, Quin Snyder was considered the best recruiter in the country when he came here from Duke...just sayin'); and b) Gary Pinkel has professed an intense dislike for a--holes. I'm just not sure what the ceiling for a Missouri recruiting class is when we're not necessarily willing to play the game with a lot of higher-ranked kids.
(I'm not saying that in a bad way--I love that Pinkel is able to maintain pretty high standards in the realm of "not being an a--hole" and still put a good product on the field.)
That said, Henson was also a pretty strong recruiter at Oklahoma State, helping them not to Top 10 classes but to Top 25-30 classes. I think he can make a strong difference on 2-3 kids a year, and for that alone he's probably a good hire. Plus, I'm obviously not against the whole "moving from LSU to Missouri as a seemingly lateral move" when it comes to improving Mizzou's cachet as a big-time program.
And while we're talking football, PowerMizzou's got a look at what's in store for the 2010 class on the offensive side of the ball.
More MU-KU links!
- The Trib: Mr. Big Shot strikes again for Missouri
- The Trib: Tiller never quits
- The Missourian: Tigers rebound again on biggest stage
- The Missourian: Lil Wayne OKs Tiger fans rushing onto Missouri basketball court (good to know)
- KC Star: Fresh off KU win, Missouri aims to take shot at Big 12 title
- Post-Dispatch (Jeff Gordon): Nobody's doubting Mike Anderson now
- Post-Dispatch: Missouri Tigers restore roar with comeback win over KU
- Post-Dispatch: Nolan Richardson on Missouri Tigers basketball
And for the record, like Lil Wayne and Martin from Upon Further Review, I was completely okay with the way the court was rushed Monday night. Heading into the game, I was firmly against it. The whole idea of rushing the court is so tired and pointless at this point. When our fans rushed the court after beating Gonzaga a couple years ago (or freaking Virginia back in 2002), it actually took away some of my enjoyment of the win. BUT...
...winning a game like that, in your biggest moment of a surprisingly good year, against your biggest rival no less, is what rushing the court is for. When it's premeditated--like when Miami fans rushed the court after beating Wake Forest by 30 or whatever--it's silly and pointless. But when you make a last-second shot, after coming back from down 11 with 8 minutes left, against your biggest rival, and the players rush the crowd first? A-OK. I agree that rushing the court has jumped the shark, and if they completely ban it, I'm okay with that. But in the meantime, Monday night was an exceptional situation.
If you're in a podcastin' mood, check out The Trib's weekly edition with Joe Walljasper and Steve Walentik. Not surprisingly, Mizzou's two wins over Top 25 teams are the main subject. And then there's Mike DeArmond's "vlog"...
Finally, Leo Lyons' Planet is dead. Long live Leo Lyons' Planet.