Virginia hoists the National Championship Trophy, will hold onto it for Missouri until next year

Mid-April is rounding into view. The confetti has fallen and Virginia is walking away with a national title. You know what that means...

The end of the college basketball season is a tough one for many schools whose main focus is the two big revenue sports. Yes, we love our baseball and softball squads, but it’s hard to beat the prospect of seeing your school’s two biggest (in terms of media coverage) teams reaching the pinnacle of college sports on some sort of national stage. With One Shining Moment echoing in our ears, we’re now about four months away from football and six from the return of basketball.

Still, it’s never too early to start thinking about next year. At least Joe Lunardi doesn’t seem to think so.

I’ll save you a click if you just want the main question answered. No, Missouri is not on this list — not in the field of 64 or in any of the “last few out” groups. I think that’s a bit silly, though the entire exercise could probably fall under that category. Missouri returns most of its best players, will benefit from the addition of two four-star recruits and quite possibly could be welcoming their best overall player to the floor.

In looking even further ahead then next year, even more news came down the pipeline yesterday about one of Cuonzo Martin’s biggest targets in the 2020 class.

[Cam’Ron Fletcher discussed the increased attention from Kentucky after they saw him during the season and broke down his official visit to Michigan State.

Kentucky: “I’ve been talking to coach (John) Calipari. He’s been telling me that he wants me to come on a visit to see if they will offer. He told me to just keep playing how I’m playing.

Michigan State: ”I visited Michigan State on an official visit. It was a really fun visit and I really enjoyed myself. They told me to keep playing, don’t stress and don’t try to commit too early. I really like Michigan State, I was keeping up with them in the Final Four. I talk to Cassius Winston,Gabe Brown, I talk to a couple of players.”

It’s not exactly great news for the Tigers. They’ve got the benefit of being the home school, Martin knowing Fletcher’s high school coach and having one of his old teammates (freshman Mario McKinney) on the roster. However, it appears Michigan State has been in good position for a while, and its trip to the Final Four won’t hurt matters.

It’s still too early to call it quits though. With the conclusion of the college basketball season, plans for 2020 and beyond are already taking shape...

Yesterday at Rock M

• Missouri Hoops Player Review: KJ Santos
• RMN Bracket Contest Winner + a Championship Game LiveThread!

More Links:

• Per usual, Gabe offers up his Monday Morning Thoughts over at PowerMizzou ($$).
• The Mizzou men’s golf team set a record on the first day of its own invitational, shooting 27-under par as a team in the first two rounds. They’re currently in second place behind Texas Christian.
• At the Post-Dispatch, Dave Matter answered questions from around the Mizzou beat, including where Cuonzo Martin and Barry Odom rank in the SEC coaching hierarchy.
• At The Athletic (subscription needed), only two Mizzou players were picked in a seven-round mock draft. That wouldn’t be a good weekend for Mizzou football, though it does include Drew Lock going early.
• Speaking of Tigers that could be drafted, SB Nation released a WNBA mock draft on Monday. Check here to see if the Mayor of Columbia made it.