New Mizzou Hoops targets and the Missourian is doing something really cool

The Columbia Missourian, home to many aspiring sports journalists during their college years, started this really awesome series called First Pitches, in which they asked various well-known writers to recount one of their favorite memories while working the Mizzou beat.

Here are their stories (duh-duh-duh... obvious Law & Order theme here)

• Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch titled his memory, “The English Lesson,” and covered— you guessed it— Kim English, and a difficult interview he once had with him that they still discuss to this day.
• Joan Niesen, formerly of SI, now freelancer (side note— Joan is amazing and SI is stupid for laying her off), titled her memory, “Oct. 23, 2010, the college game day that started it all” and was about how she started to really love sports journalism after doing a walk-around assignment for the paper.

I hope you will check out each of these stories and continue to support the college kids working for the Missourian, since as we’ve all seen, a bunch of these writers end up making it big. Personally, I can’t wait to see who’s up next!

Pivoting to some Mizzou Hoops transfer targets...

Here’s a look around the Twitterverse at who is on Mizzou’s radar now that they’ve missed out on Josh Christopher and Justin Turner, and oh— that dude that they didn’t even actually have an offer.

First up, Freshno State freshman guard, Jarred Hyder.

His name should already sound familiar, but David DeJulius, Michigan transfer, has pushed back his commitment date a bit, and our very own basketball savant, Matthew J Harris, thinks this only helps Mizzou’s chances.

And finally, Brian Snow of 247Sports did a breakdown of the best remaining transfers available. We should probably become familiar with some of these names. Matt Harris has some thoughts on some of them as well.

On to the links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate the Great wrote a draft profile on Jordan Elliott.
• The basketball staffers are into the freshman player reviews— first up, Kobe Brown.
• Matt Harris published the news everybody was expecting, that Josh Christopher picked his chosen school and it wasn’t Missouri.
• COMING UP!!! Later today, Coach Bussen’s Film Room makes its triumphant review with Part 3 on Shawn Robinson. Also, there’s a new Dive Cuts coming. And the next round of the MTL Draft. #HOTCONTENT

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More Links:

Football

• PowerMizzou (free): Mitchell Forde wrote about new coach Casey Woods, who is drawing on unique experiences to face new challenges. It’s a really interesting story, and I suggest reading it! Also, Gabe and Mitchell’s new ZOUMCast featured L’Damian Washington (it was filmed before the XFL cancelation). Watch the video!
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Matter continued his Best of Mizzou countdown with #11, J-Mac!!! Also new at STL Today, Ben Fred interviewed Matter about his Best of Mizzou series for episode 79 of their Eye on the Tigers Podcast. Check it out!
• PowerMizzou/Rivals ($$): Sean Williams looked at 2021 dual-threat QB, Donaven McCulley, who has Mizzou is in his top 5.
• The Athletic ($$): Peter Baugh put together a Missouri Football Fan survey. If you’re a subscriber, please consider taking it. Or better yet, sign up for that free 90-day trial!!!
• Apparently, Albert O is a name to keep an eye on in regards to a certain Team Who Shall Not Be Named up in the northeast, according to CDT reporter Eli Lederman, who passed it along.

• In the Mizzou memory bank, they revisited a play in the Mizzou-Georgia game. Enjoy!

• Evan Boehm is headed to Buffalo, and will join quite the Mizzou crew there— EJ Gaines and Mitch Morse!

Hoops

• KC Star: Souichi decided to move past the recent recruiting misses and focus on the current roster and its needs.
• Zoom with Zo is back!! In episode 2, Zo is back with Keyon Dooling! Full version here (18 minutes) on You Tube.

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave recapped the not-so-great news of Mizzou targets heading elsewhere.
• Columbia Missourian: Adam Reckamp covered the Josh Christopher & Justin Turner news as well.
• The Athletic ($$): Not to rub salt in the wound, but Doug Haller detailed Josh Christopher’s decision, and how he kept everyone guessing until the end. Interesting story, and I wish NOTHING but the best for that kid.
• On this day (Tuesday) in 2014, Bri Kulas was selected by the San Antonio Stars.

Assorted Mizzou Sports News

• Coverage regarding salary cuts in Mizzou’s athletic department: Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Gabe DeArmond (PowerMizzou).
• Mizzou Tennis has named an interim head tennis coach, one of their current assistants, Chris Wootton, according to the Missourian’s Liam Quinn. More info also on MUTigers.com.
• A few days late to mention it, but Columbia Missourian writer Emma Maloney interviewed sophomore baseball player, Josh Holt, Jr.
• Speaking of baseball, here’s a great memory of a beatdown of kU.

• The softball team has made it to the Elite 8 of the Memorable Moment Madness World Series. Vote for Mizzou!

• More with the softball team! They are counting down their 10 best memories of the shortened season! At No. 9 is their Wichita State walk-off win! More info on MUTigers.com.

• TWELVE Swimming & Diving Tigers earned All-SEC honors. Congrats, all! (more info on MUTigers.com)

• Another day, another 2020 gymnastics highlight, this one featuring otherworldly freshman, Helen Hu.

Interesting/Non-specific Sports News

These are a few of the best stories & tidbits I found regarding some goings-on in sports and beyond that I enjoyed.

• Chris Martucci of the Missourian wrote a really cool piece about how Columbia Swim Club is conducting virtual workouts wither their team while they can’t practice.
• In absolutely heartwarming news, check this out.

• Another reminder that The Ringer (a great website) will be featuring the awesome Jemele Hill and Van Lathan in a new podcast about HBO’s amazing show, The Wire. Get prepared. It starts April 15.
• In more Ringer news (yeah, still a great website), Matt James, their brilliant graphic designer, shared some of his work on the Twitter. LOVE IT.

• 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.**)