Happy Easter, Rock M Nation

I’m going to keep this brief since it’s a holiday for a lot of people, and even if you aren’t religious you still get to celebrate the holiday, right? So enjoy your Sunday if you’re hunting easter eggs, going to church, or just sitting and watching playoff hockey and basketball (or baseball too I guess).

We’ll start with the bad news.

:( Mizzou Basketball loses out on it’s recruiting target:

This was always a possibility, Oregon and Mizzou were named as Williams top two. And if you’re looking at depth, Oregon had a lot more minutes available at the wing position. With Paul White and Ehab Amin graduating, and Louis King testing the NBA Draft waters, and only one true wing signed for next year, Oregon’s need on the wing was much larger than Missouri’s. They have VJ Bailey and Will Richardson who are more combo guards, but the wing position is wide open.

The Tigers, meanwhile, have Torrence Watson, Mark Smith, Mario McKinney, and Javon Pickett all coming back next year. Williams was more likely going to be placed for a bulk-share of his minutes at the four, moreso than the three. And while I think the fit would have been really good it was clear to see his path blocked a little moreso than in Oregon. So Mizzou still needs a high rebounding athletic swing forward. Someone capable of playing minutes at the four but comfortable on the wing.

It will be interesting to see if they pivot back to Myron Gardner or continue to hunt the transfer market.

While Mizzou Baseball has largely been trending upward this season, they took it on the nose against 6th ranked Georgia.

Mizzou Baseball gets swept by #6 Bulldogs

The Tigers dropped their SEC record to 7-10-1, and overall to 26-15-1 after their loss on Saturday to Georgia. From MUTigers.com, Head Coach Steve Bieser was disappointed:

“It really was. It was a frustrating weekend. You’re not going to win many ballgames with just one hit. I thought our pitchers battled out there on the mound. TJ (Sikkema) didn’t have his best stuff today, but he really battled. Cameron (Dulle) then kept us in this ballgame with great relief work.”

They’re off until Tuesday when they face the Missouri State Bears.

Meanwhile, the other diamond sport had a much better go recently.

MIzzou Softball completely sweep of Texas A&M

After the sweep Mizzou Softball improved to 10-8 in conference play, and 27-18 overall. The sweep was the first of an SEC opponent at Mizzou Softball Stadium. Head Coach Larissa Anderson’s thoughts from MUTigers.com:

“The game gets easier when you score early,” Coach Anderson said. “The pitchers don’t squeeze the ball, and the defense has confidence in itself to make plays. This team is really confident right now, and their confidence grows when they have all of these fans packing the ball park. Great series win for us as a team.”

The ladies are off until Tuesday when they take on SEMO at home.