Missouri landed a stud in Michael Porter Jr. How the heck do you set expectations?

Hey, don’t know if you heard, but Michael Porter Jr. committed on Friday. Oh, you did? Cool. Just wanted to make sure. Anyway, now we begin the seven-month process of trying to figure out how the hell to set expectations, both for an other-worldly talent like Porter and a team that just added the best freshman in the country but otherwise still won just eight games last year.

For help with the former, we turn to Dave Matter’s weekend piece at the Post-Dispatch, in which he attempts to piece together the 12 most high-profile recruits Mizzou has landed. Considering recruiting has only been a truly national industry for about 20 years, that’s a tricky thing to do, but his top five sounds about right: Steve Stipanovich, Derrick Chievous, Anthony Peeler, Kareem Rush, and Linas Kleiza.

Combined, these five averaged 12.7 points per game during their respective freshman campaigns, shooting 51% from the field and grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game. That would be solid ... though honestly, that might qualify as “below expectations” for MPJ. None of these five incredible players were top-2 recruits.

Perhaps more noteworthy: While Kleiza signed for a team that had already experienced recent success, the other four all reported to teams that had been somewhere between mediocre and decent the year before. Mizzou improved by 12 wins in Stipanovich’s first year, by two in Chievous’ first year, and by 10 in Peeler’s first year. (The undersized Tigers regressed by two wins during Rush’s freshman campaign.)

More Basketball Links

• As things currently stand, Jontay Porter is leaning toward remaining a 2018 recruit instead of reclassifying for 2017.
• The KC Star’s Alec Lewis talked to Kentucky fans this weekend to get a feel for what it’s like to root for one-and-dones.
• The Trib’s Joe Walljasper found himself out of practice when it came to reporting on good Mizzou Basketball news.

More Links:

• Kim Anderson told media he wanted to coach again, and he didn’t have to wait long for that chance. He’s back in the MIAA as Pittsburg State’s head coach. (PSU athletic director Jim Johnson used to work in administration at CMU.) Good luck to him and the Gorillas.
• Streak’s over. Mizzou Baseball lost to Arkansas on Friday to end its long winning streak, won on Saturday (Michael Plassmeyer and TJ Sikkema led the way), then lost a tight one on Sunday (a comeback fell just short) to drop its first series of the season. An impressive job, though, of getting this series in between the raindrops.

• Mizzou Softball also dropped a series this weekend, albeit on the road to No. 7 Texas A&M. The Aggies romped to an 8-0 win on Friday, Mizzou responded with a 5-1 win on Saturday, and A&M scored the final six runs in a 7-3 win on Sunday. Mizzou’s now 18-13 for the season, 1-4 in the SEC (all five games against top-10 teams). Next up: a mid-week trip to Wichita State.

• Mizzou Men’s Swimming and Diving finished ninth in the NCAAs. Senior Fabian Schwingenschlogl came up just short in his efforts to defend his 100m breaststroke title, and Carter Griffin and Michael Chadwick ended their respective careers on high notes.
• Good lord, the SEC is tough in tennis. Mizzou dropped a 4-2 series to No. 24 South Carolina on Friday, then got swept by No. 1 Florida on Sunday.
• Mizzou Women’s Golf finished sixth in the LSU Tiger Classic.
• Mizzou women’s basketball took another step forward in 2016-17.