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Retention rates for Missouri's recent recruiting classes haven't been very good

Here are today's Mizzou Links.

Mizzou Tigers pennant What's On

The baseball winning streak is over.

MUtigers.com: @MizzouBaseball Drops Opener to Auburn, 11-9

The Trib: Missouri baseball team drops opener against Auburn

The Missourian: Auburn baseball shuts down Missouri in a sloppy, high-scoring matchup

Gadbois can run

The Trib: Gadbois is MU's blur on the bases

Jake Ring, by the way, leads the SEC in stolen bases on the men's side, too. Oh yeah, and Paige Lowary's got pretty big goals.

Mizzou Tigers pennant Mizzou's 2014 signing class might be more damaging than 2012

The Trib (David Morrison): Stat Spotlight: Roster Retention for SEC teams

So which class, statistically speaking, has actually been the most damaging for Missouri?

2014, the only one in which the Tigers have a below-average retention rate when it comes to the rest of the SEC, but just barely.

Currently, Missouri has 22 of 28 players (78.6 percent, the average is 79.1) on campus and on pace to finish their eligibility from that class. Greg Taylor could make that rate 82.1 percent, as well, if he gets here as planned this summer.

Other than Taylor, though, Lawrence Lee got kicked off the team, Andy Bauer was forced to retire from the sport, Thomas Richard and Mike Fairchild left the team and Darnell Green never showed up.

Similarly, if Clay Rhodes doesn't return to the team, the 2013 class will drop to 57.1 percent retention (12 of 21), below the league average of 58.8.

We talk a lot about how much Missouri has lost from its 2012 class, but David Morrison's latest suggests that a different class has been abnormally shaky compared to the rest of the SEC ... and it's the one that came on the heels of the 2013 run to the SEC title game. Gary Pinkel always did have a strange relationship with recruiting and success. Going simply by success on the field, this should have been one of his best, deepest classes, but it's thinned out a bit. Meanwhile, the 2005 and 2010 classes, which came on the heels of either disastrous (2004) or mediocre (2009) seasons, were program saviors of sorts.

Of course, there's another trend that might -- might -- be worth noting. If the 2013 class indeed ends up below-average from a retention standpoint, that would mean that Missouri's first three recruiting classes after the SEC move could all end up either at SEC averages or below them from a retention standpoint. I'm not sure if that means anything or not, but I guess it could considering Missouri's program has been built more around depth and development than star power.

More on the Spike Lee Mizzou joint

The Trib: Lee's film is worth seeing, even if it's only a piece of the picture

The Maneater: L’Damian Washington and Marvin Foster respond to ‘2 Fists Up’

Mizzou Tigers pennant Meanwhile...

Olympic Wrestling

Post-Dispatch: Area wrestlers eye Olympics

With that championship, Cox also earned a spot in the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held Saturday and Sunday at the University of Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

This weekend’s winners will represent the United States in the Olympic Games this summer in Rio de Janeiro.

"It would mean the world to me," Cox said of the Trials just a few days after winning in New York City. "That’s something I’ve always wanted. As a kid, you know, you dream of that ... The thing about wrestlers is, there is no professional, there’s no national wrestling league or anything like that. You go to college and then your time’s kind of up, so this is really it."

Basketball camp

MUtigers.com: @MizzouHoops Summer Camps Open for Registration

Track & Field

MUtigers.com: @MIZ_TrackField Ready for Competitive Field in Georgia

Swimming & Diving

MUtigers.com: Former @MizzouSwimDive Swimmer Bouchard Qualifies for Canadian Olympic Team

Cheerleading