Rally for Rhyan games = wins, so shouldn’t we make ALL games RFR games?!?

I mean, it just seems logical, right? RIGHT?!? Tell me otherwise.

Anyway, I don’t know about you all, but I’m so excited for February 8 against Arkansas. It’s such a wonderful event, and Mizzou Arena should be loud and packed, and it’ll be great to see.

In case you are not familiar with why this game came to be and why it’s so important, here’s the details: Brad Loos was a former Tigers’ assistant coach under Kim Anderson when his daughter, Rhyan, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma at age 5. To help raise money for pediatric cancer research, the Loos family started the Rally for Rhyan fund. While Rhyan has now been cancer-free for almost three years, the fight still goes on. With the $500K raised since its inception, the Loos family has been able to fund three pediatric cancer trials, and hope to continue to fight to stop pediatric cancer with your help.

Thomas Huitt-Johnson of Fan Sided site Trumans Tales, wrote a post this week detailing the history of the Rally for Rhyan games, of which the Tigers remain undefeated. Here is some game history:

• The Tigers defeated Tennessee in the inaugural Rally For Rhyan game 75-64 on Feb. 13, 2016. The win broke up a nine-game losing streak that season for Kim Anderson’s team, and raised $50,000. 2016 post from Alec Lewis (The Maneater)
• In 2017, the Tigers defeated Arkansas 83-78. That game put to a halt to a 13-game losing streak for Mizzou, and the Tigers knocked off an eventual NCAA Tournament team with an inspired effort to grab their first conference win that year. Mizzou (6-16, 1-9 SEC) were led in points by Jordan Barnett’s 17. KJ Walton, Kevin Puryear, and Cullen VanLeer also had double figures. According to reports, $54,000 was raised at the game. 2017 gamers from Edward Redler (KOMU) and Bill Connelly (Rock M Nation). Photo Gallery (PowerMizzou)
• In 2018, the Tigers faced off against Mississippi State in a matchup where both teams were trying to claim a late-season victory to add to its tournament resume. Missouri won the game in overtime 89-85 after a 3-point shot from Kevin Puryear with 10 seconds left gave the Tigers the win. $60,000 was raised at the game. 2018 gamers from Dave Matter (STL Today/NCAA.com) and Alec Lewis (Missourian)

• And in 2019, last year, Mizzou downed Vanderbilt 77-67 to win its fourth-consecutive event, and raised $55,000 for cancer research. They were led by strong performances by their three-man freshmen class, with Jeremiah Tilmon scoring 19 points and nabbing 8 rebounds in 35 minutes. 2019 gamers from Anne Rogers and Dave Matter (STL Today), and Brendan Lavell (Rock M Nation)

Here’s hoping Jeremiah is back for this year’s game, since historically it’s been a good one for him.

To the links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate introduced to our new Special Teams Coordinator, Erik Link, and it seemed to be a kinda mixed bag on his 4-year results as STC.
• Sam covered the new commitment of Memphis TE, Gavin McKay.
• Josh covered the SECOND commitment, former Boise St commit, Chance Luper.
• Sam shared a new FanPulse and confidence in Coach Martin’s team is reaching unappealing depths. You know who has NOT lost confidence in Cuonzo?!? THIS GIRL.

It’s true.

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More Links:

Football

• PowerMizzou (free): Gabe and Mitchell put out a new episode of their PowerMizzou Podcast talking with Tim Sullivan from Hokie Haven about the commitment of transfer WR, Damon Hazelton, Jr. Gabe interviewed Mizzou coach David Gibbs for a pretty cool piece about how he got to see the start of the legend of Mahomes. Pete Scantlebury wrote about changing the Mizzou recruiting profile in his new Voice of the Fantlebury post.
• PowerMizzou/Rivals: Sean Williams of Rivals had a piece recapping Chance Luper’s official visit (subscribers). He also covered the McKay commitment and the Luper commitment (free), while Gabe also provided an updated unofficial 2020 scholarship chart.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave combined both commitments into one post.

• Saturday Down South: Michael Wayne Bratton covered the commitment of McKay and Andrew Olson covered the commitment of Luper.
• Drink and his staff have some new visitors from East St. Louis this weekend, including Keontez Lewis, a 3-star WR, 2022 DB Lamarr Box and DB Ahmad Robinson. UPDATE: Eddie Watkins, 3-star OLB from Alabama is taking an official this weekend and Daine Hanson, DE/WR from LeGrange, Illinois will also be in town.
• Coach Drink, Gibbs, and Walters made a trip back to Duncanville to see Ennis Rakestraw, who was a recently on campus.
• Working hard in the weight room!

Men’s Hoops

• STL Today: Dave Matter held his regularly scheduled weekly chat, focusing mainly on hoops & football. Interesting tidbits of the chat: one commenter thinks Drink is building a MAC team, and another said during the UGA game, he thought we should just discontinue Men’s Hoops altogether. I don’t know about you all, but these are very rational statements.
• KC Star: Souichi took a look at the Tigers’ offense and examined the “four factors” studied by KenPom to determine Mizzou’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Columbia Missourian: Briar Napier wrote that, like his namesake, Kobe Brown is growing into a jack-of-all trades. This is a good read.
• Truman’s Tales/FanSided: Rilee Stapleton wrote about the Studs and Duds of the Georgia game. Thomas Huitt-Johnson published a piece on Mizzou’s steal rate, which is among the tops in the SEC.
• Love to watch it again, guys!

Women’s Hoops

• Columbia Missourian: Briley Eilers previewed the Tigers’ game with Kentucky, a rematch of last years’ SEC Tourney quarterfinal.
• Another night, another loss against a ranked team, this time against #13 Kentucky. The Tigers were led by a 17-point/9 rebound showing by freshman star Aijha Blackwell, but couldn’t do much else in the 62-47 final box score.
• Kentucky Gamers provided by Eli Lederman (PowerMizzou), Owen Krucoff (Columbia Missourian) and MUTigers.com.

• Several players wore yellow Kobes (I tried to identify the exact style but failed) in the game, and honored Kobe, Gigi, and the other victims of the horrifying helicopter crash with notes on their sneakers. It was a really nice display.

Various Mizzou Sports / Other Mizzou News

• As mentioned earlier this week, #20 Missouri Gymnastics will be hosting a Pink Out tonight at 6pm against #14 Arkansas. Stats and more info is available at MUTigers.com.

• New volleyball team members, Anna Dixon and Erin Williams have arrived and are anxious to get debut in next season.

• No. 6/20 Men’s/Women’s Swimming & Diving close their regular seasons today as they host Southern Illinois at 2pm at Mizzou Aquatics Center. A total of 12 different Tigers own national top 25 times, including six who rank in the top 10. (MUTigers.com) You can check out their tributes to each of the seniors on their twitter feed.
• Track & Field is back is ready for the Razorback Invitational, which starts this afternoon. According to MUTigers.com, action gets underway at 12:25pm on Friday while prime time coverage begins at 6pm. The meet resumes at 11:25am on Saturday and featured events will take place from 1-4 pm and will be broadcasted live on SECN+.

Mizzou in the Pros/Former Mizzou Sports figures News

• I guess I missed this news, but per SDS, Derek Dooley is, in fact, joining the staff of the NYG Giants under new coach Joe Judge. Congrats, coach!
• My God, Jordan Clarkson! Absolutely LOVE to see it! In a battle of former Mizzou players, Denver was victorious, winning 106-100 over JC and the Fightin’ Quin Snyders. Clarkson played 31 minutes, shooting 13-22 with seven three-pointers, while Mike played 25min (including extensive consecutive minutes in the first two quarters) and was 5-11 FG / 2-4 from 3 for 12 points.

• Congrats, Trystan Colon-Castillo!

• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now! (** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)