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Late Christmas Gifts for the Tigers Continue
While Missouri (sadly) will not be playing in the Music City Bowl today, fans and the team got some good news with Rutgers grad transfer announcing he will be returning for the blanket extra year of extra eligibility given by the NCAA to Fall/Winter sports athletes. The soon to be “super senior” played in all 10 games for the Tigers, logging a team-high 732 snaps, according to stats provided in Dave Matter’s STL Today article.
— Michael Maietti (@MikeMaietti78) December 29, 2020
I’m sure Drink is ecstatic, as he has not been shy with the media about his wishes for Maietti to return. From the article:
“I love Michael Maietti,” Drinkwitz said earlier this month. “Just a unbelievable young man who wanted an opportunity to win football games and try something different. (He had) never been to the Midwest before and. ...The leadership and toughness and just the consistency of performance that he’s provided has been unbelievable. I’m begging that guy every single day and now I’m doing it publicly for him to come back.
He joins Grant McKinniss, the Kentucky transfer who yesterday dropped the news that he too was returning. His quarterback is certainly excited.
Yesssirr!! https://t.co/knz3CzNKSP
— Connor Bazelak (@BazelakConnor) December 28, 2020
Another late Christmas gift came in the form of a VERY sizable donation — a cool $10 mil, no big deal (!!) — to help with construction of the new indoor practice facility, according to MUTigers.com. From the release:
“We are grateful for the generous support that this family continues to provide to Mizzou Athletics, and believe it demonstrates a strong commitment to Mizzou Football and Coach Drinkwitz’s leadership of our program. This is a project that has been a part of the athletics facilities master plan for several years, and it is something that is definitely needed.”
On to the links! Big game tonight!
Yesterday at Rock M
- BK continued his end of season reports cards, this time focusing on the coaching staff.
- Matthew J Harris dove into Mizzou’s shooting woes in Off the Mark: What’s Behind Mizzou’s Poor Shooting. It’s a MUST READ.
- Jacob recapped the newest MIZ-ZOOM, featuring Coach Martin, JT, and Dru.
- COMING UP: Tennessee Preview, and I’ll have a women’s hoops primer of sorts for you tomorrow leading up to Thursday’s opener
More Links:
Football
- KC Star: On the new SportsBeat KC podcast, Blair Kerkhoff and Souichi Terada discussed the ‘day the Music (City Bowl) died.’
- Columbia Tribune: Kevin Graeler covered the sizable donation to Mizzou Athletics.
- PowerMizzou: For subscribers, Josh Helmholdt reported that Mizzou is pursuing 2022 Baylor early commit Kaian Roberts-Day.
- Saturday Down South: Michael Wayne Bratton wrote about how Missouri’s momentum continues to build as senior Michael Maietti commits to returning in 2021
- CBS Sports has handed down their postseason grades and Mizzou gets an A-, which is the best grade in the SEC!
.@CBSSports Grades for First-Year Head Coaches ⤵️
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) December 30, 2020
@CoachDrinkwitz earns an A-
◾ Best grade in the @SEC
◾ Second-best grade in the P5#MIZ x #NewZou pic.twitter.com/TJIN2KbYZ3
Hoops
- KC Star: Souchi told us that expectations have been reset ahead of its opener against Tennessee. He also shared on twitter that Tennessee is currently a 4 point favorite, per Vegas Insider.
- Power Mizzou: Gabe provided a video update of Cuonzo Martin’s press conference as they prepare to face Tennessee.
- Head Coach Cuonzo Martin was a guest on Jon Rothstein’s podcast, Hoops Today. Do check it out.
- KOMU’s Sports Director, Ben Arnet, previewed the Tigers-Vols matchup,
It's been about 51 weeks since #Mizzou and Tennessee last met on the basketball court and what a difference a year makes for the Tigers
— Ben Arnet (@BenArnetKOMU) December 30, 2020
FULL PREVIEW ➡️ https://t.co/UN2TuvlDue pic.twitter.com/U3XoiqUq43
- Congrats, graduates!
A new patch for the unis
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) December 29, 2020
Congratulations to @YourboyMitchell & @dru_smith_12, officially graduates of the University of Missouri #FinishLine pic.twitter.com/SzjjKFQV56
- Kind words by UT head coach, Rick Barnes, about our Fearless Leader.
Barnes said Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin does a `terrific job and has done a terrific job everywhere he’s been.’ He said Martin is `real and truthful’ and the kind of coach players want to play for, and he has established the kind of culture he wants at Missouri.
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) December 28, 2020
- Time for another issue of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology! Mizzou is a 4 seed here.
- In other SEC Hoops news, Tampa Bay Times’ Matt Baker wrote a great piece about how Florida forward and Preseason SEC Player of the Year, Keyontae Johnson, is back with the team, currently serving as a coach, helping with opponent scouts and motivating the team, which hasn’t played in 15 days. So glad to see him back.
Other Mizzou Sports / Mizzou in the Pros
- 10 days til Mizzou Gymnastics returns!
How many days until @MizzouGym is back???#MIZ pic.twitter.com/ZgtFTX2G7A
— Mizzou Gymnastics (@MizzouGym) December 29, 2020
- Damn. Mike was H-O-T in Tuesday night’s game against the Kings. While the Nuggets ended up losing the game 125-115 after being outscored in the 4th quarter, MPJ had a double-double, with 30 points, 10 rebounds (6 defensive), and 2 blocks in 40 mins of playing time. The negative? 4 turnovers, and when combined with those of his teammates, it led to 37 SAC points off TO.
Nuggets forced an 18-point swing in that third quarter (from down 14, to up 4), head into the fourth up 100-96.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) December 30, 2020
Nikola Jokic and MPJ had 31 of Denver's 38 in the quarter alone.
Various Sports News
- Welp. Another SEC bowl game gone.
Arkansas-TCU Texas Bowl is canceled. Too few available players for TCU.
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) December 29, 2020
Arkansas joins SEC pals Tennessee, South Carolina and Missouri out of the bowl mix https://t.co/dUCTyzdbeg
- Arizona Men’s Basketball, who currently sits at 7-1 (1-1 in PAC-12), is self-imposing a postseason ban as a result of the ongoing NCAA/FBI investigation into their illegal recruiting activities according to Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today.
- In Joan Niesen’s newest From the (Press) Box, she blogged about how in 2021, she’d like to love sports again. Worth a read. She’s fantastic.
- Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports looked at how the broken college football system can be fixed.
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