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1. Tramaine Isabell is transferring again.
There was a fun hour or so on the Mizzou Internet yesterday, between when Isabell’s availability was made known...
Drexel's Tramaine Isabell will graduate and transfer, per release. Averaged 21.0 PPG. Immediately eligible.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 4, 2018
*cough* well we can certainly think of a school that could use extra backcourt help... https://t.co/r6jxGBlJFN
— ROCK M NATION (@RockMNation) May 4, 2018
...and SOURCES shot down any sort of fun rumor.
While an Isabell storyline might be intriguing, a source tells me there is no interest to bring him (back) to Mizzou.
— Sam Snelling (@SamTSnelling) May 4, 2018
After a huge junior season at Drexel, Isabell was last seen tossing his name into the NBA draft pool; he evidently got negative feedback (and with his height, that’s not surprising), so now he’s taking a different route to raise his stock a bit.
Having him return to Mizzou — which could indeed still use ball-handling help for 2018-19 — after transferring during the Kim Anderson era would be a hilarious, strange, circuital story. It’s also apparently an unrealistic one. But we had that hour.
2. Mizzou Baseball could really use a win this afternoon
After losing Game 1 of its series against No. 20 Georgia by a 10-6 margin on Thursday, the Tigers lost 5-3 last night after allowing runs in the top of the eighth and ninth.
With their RPI, they are still in comfortable shape for an NCAA Tournament bid, but an SEC Tournament bid? Kind of dicey at the moment.
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The top 12 teams get into the conference tournament, and at 9-14, Mizzou has now fallen into 13th, a half-game behind 12th-place Tennessee. There are still series left against South Carolina and the Vols, so there’s time to get some work done here, but ... yeah. A win today (first pitch: 2 pm CT) wouldn’t be the worst idea.
3. Ditto for Mizzou Softball
My assumption heading into the Tigers’ three-game home series with No. 4 Florida was that there would be one blowout loss and two pretty competitive games. If they could take one of the competitive ones, they’d be in very good shape for a conference tournament bid.
Last night, they did not. Florida scored two runs in the sixth to take a 4-2 win in the first game of the series.
Thanks to an Ole Miss upset win over No. 6 Georgia, there’s now an even tighter logjam in the Race For Not 13th Place
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Only 13 SEC teams play softball, so only one misses the tournament. Right now, Mizzou is a half-game up on both Mississippi State (which has two games left against No. 8 Tennessee) and Ole Miss (ditto, but with Georgia). Kentucky also knocked off No. 12 South Carolina yesterday to give itself a bit of space in the race. (Good lord, this conference is loaded.)
This is playing out like a relegation race in soccer! Mizzou can still get in without taking one of the next two games (today and tomorrow at 2 pm CT), but the Tigers would be leaving their fate in someone else’s hands.