It’s Signing Day and we are 14 days away from real live basketball!

Two weeks from tonight, Mizzou Men’s Basketball returns with a game vs. Oral Roberts! We will have PLENTY of coverage here at Rock M Nation, including position previews, opponent previews, and so much more!

Coach Pingeton’s team is gearing up, having survived the Great Team Quarantine of 2020.

Moving on...

On Tuesday, Jon Rothstein revealed his 5 teams that could overachieve this season, and guess what? Mizzou was included!

Missouri: Several SEC coaches believe that the Tigers are a team to watch this season and it’s hard to argue when you break down their roster. Missouri only won 15 games a year ago, but was hampered by injuries as Jeremiah Tilmon missed 14 games and Mark Smith missed seven. Everyone else of significance returns in Columbia, highlighted by the Tigers’ top two leading scorers from last season in Dru Smith and Xavier Pinson. This is a potential NCAA Tournament team in 2021.

You just love to see other people recognize that we could be pretty good this year. Looking forward to a HEALTHY year and a great year watching this experienced team perform.

In other Men’s Hoops news, everyone’s favorite basketball statistician, Ken Pomeroy, appeared on the Big Sports Show on Tuesday evening, chatting about the upcoming season for both Mizzou and SLU. Basketball talk starts around the 9-10:00 mark, if you’re interested.

Today is also Signing Day, and Mizzou Women’s Hoops will officially welcome 4 members to their 2021 class! Men’s Hoops will welcome 5 new members, which Matthew J Harris will tell you all about, as well as what to look for in 2022 early this morning!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Kortay attended Drinkwitz’s newest MIZ-ZOOM press conference about Saturday’s game being in jeopardy.
• Recruiting chatter makes people happy, so Nate the Great was back with another recruiting piece, this time on the 2022 targets.
• COMING UP: Matt’s aforementioned recruiting piece in honor of Signing Day, and BK’s got a piece on the new OL transfer.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: If you still haven’t read my interview with Nafis Ricks, I’m plugging it again. (Mizzou Hoops even shared it on their Twitter, guys)

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More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave wrote about the Tigers’ hopes that contact tracing doesn’t keep them from playing this weekend.
• KC Star: Souichi wrote about Mizzou’s “significant” contact tracing issue within one nameless position.
• Columbia Tribune: Eric Blum wrote about the recent COVID issues to hamper the team, who spent the better part of Tuesday trying to figure out contact tracing.
• Saturday Down South: Adam Spencer detailed the 3 ways that Mizzou can beat Georgia, no matter who the QB is.
• Columbia Missourian: Andy Kimball wrote about the impact of the single positive COVID test on the Georgia game, as well as how it would bode for the South Carolina game.
• The Athletic ($$): Peter Baugh handed out some midseason superlatives, including MVP, most surprising, and more!
• The Maneater: Jack Soble wrote about how Coach Drinkwitz has unlocked Jalen Knox in the slot.
• PowerMizzou (free): Gabe put out a video of the newest press conference. Mitchell Forde covered the COVID issues currently hitting the team, as well as the release of the new depth chart, which came out later Tuesday.

Other Mizzou Sports News

• The Maneater: Michael Howie recapped the end of Mizzou Soccer’s regular season, which ended in a 5-2 win over Florida heading into the SEC Tournament.
• The Maneater: Zac Zeman covered the injury of Mizzou Volleyball’s Tyanna Omazic, which hurt them in their defeat against No. 3 Kentucky.
• Looking good, Mizzou Baseball!

• When Mizzou faces Wichita State in December, they will likely be without Gregg Marshall. Honestly, if they’d kept him after the numerous allegations against him, it would have been shocking and deeply disappointing. According to the rumor mill (and Seth Davis’ twitter), Thad Matta will be at the top of the replacement list.

• Jeff Goodman of Watch Stadium said that Mizzou AD Jim Sterk is one of the newest ADs to sign the Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge! You can read more about it at AthleticDirectorU.

• Looks like Mizzou Hoops has some new fans in pro team, EWE Baskets Oldenburg, home of Mizzou greats Rickey Paulding and Phil Pressey.

Other Sports/News Updates Around the Area

• According to Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, yikes! Tough break for SLU Women’s Hoops, who must quarantine for 14 days with their season set to start in just over that time span.
• Covid hospitalizations in Boone County are on the rise, according to ABC17, but this time they are not coming primarily from Columbia, but the outlying areas instead.
• Really great to see from GP and his foundation.

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