Nothing happened yesterday, don’t worry, we’re going to focus on the future!

Nothing really happened yesterday.

Don’t worry about it Mizzou fans, I’m sure something will happen today. But let’s talk about the few things that DID happen!

• Mizzou Basketball hosted Rivals #90 player in the 2019 class, E.J. Liddell from Belleville West HS in Illinois. He’s one of their top targets and it should be a fairly heated battle between Mizzou and Illinois for his talents. He recapped his visit to PowerMizzou:

"It went well,” he told PowerMizzou.com. “I liked it. I talked to all the coaches. Got to see the campus, seeing where the players stay. I had a great time.”

I’d quote more from the article, but it’s behind a paywall, and if you aren’t paying for PowerMizzou these days what are you even doing with your life?

Seriously, Liddell is one of Mizzou’s top target’s for the class, and they’ve already deployed both Jeremiah Tilmon and 2018 commit Javon Pickett (both St. Louis Metro Easters) in making sure Liddell knows how much Cuonzo Martin and company want him on board.

Mizzou Football made absolutely no other headlines other than sending out an offer to 4-star TE Luke Ford from Carterville, IL:

Ford has Crystal Ball picks to Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alabama so the competition should be heated.

• Mizzou Football hosted 2019 DE Marcus Hicks from Wichita over the weekend and he also had a good time. He recapped his visit to Sean Williams at PowerMizzou.

That’s IT! Nothing else happened!

• Oh, I guess we should mention Mizzou DE Nate Howard was arrested late Wednesday night by MUPD, something about Mushrooms and Marijuana. Nothing more to see here...

Ok, obviously this is a big deal and we should all be concerned about Howard and his future at Mizzou, especially considering he was probably expected to be a major contributor this upcoming season. Howard is facing a felony charge from the MUPD likely stemming from his possession of the mushrooms, a controlled substance. A couple thoughts...

1. I’m fairly anti-drug war so from that standpoint I find it ridiculous the amount of money the state will be spending to potentially prosecute Howard for what amounts to a personal amount of natural substances. If you click on the Wiki article in the post from yesterday you can find out just how NOT harmful mushrooms are. This isn’t a diatribe to support the legalization of anything, but we need to start thinking about how to decriminalize so many drugs to keep people out of jail for such minor offenses.
2. But they are illegal, and Howard... and for that matter, all student-athletes, should know better. If you are going to drive, first make sure your plates are registered. Then, make sure you aren’t toting around any controlled substances. Last, IF you have any controlled substances in your car... maybe keep them out of plain view.
3. I’ve no idea of the football impact of whether Howard will remain on the team or not. He’s currently suspended indefinitely, and the charges will have to be reduced to a misdemeanor for him to even rejoin the team. Needless to say, it’s not looking good. But this leave Mizzou a little extra thin at a position they weren’t exactly brimming with proven depth. It’s certainly something to keep an eye on early in camp.

More Links:

• Former Mizzou Hooper Trayvon Bryant accepted an assistant coaching position with the Brooklyn Nets yesterday. Pretty cool for Trayvon.

• HammerAndRails, Purdue’s SBN site, is looking for content just like we are and decided to jump on some previews of upcoming opponents on the season. Check out their Know Thy Opponent on Missouri.
• Give a listen to Mark Kim as he helps preview the Mizzou Football season on the Two Stripes podcast: