‘Zo ZOOMs with Mizzou Legend, Rickey Paulding

In case you haven’t checked it out yet, on the newest episode of Zoom with Zo, Cuonzo Martin (with special guest Mark Smith) talked with Mizzou legend Ricky Paulding, who’s currrently in Germany! After talking about about how he and his family are doing over in Europe, they got down to business.

Cuonzo got to talking about longevity, since Paulding, if you weren’t aware, has played for same team- EWE Baskets Oldenburg, since 2007 when he was 25. Now 37 (almost 38) years of age, he was averaging 15.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists a game when the season was cut short at 20 games (it resumes next month with no spectators). Looking at his stats, that’s on par with his highest points average (16.0 in 2016-17), and he’s still playing about 30 minutes a game, most on the team. Damn, Rickey!

When asked how he’s prepared and maintained his body for his extensive time in professional basketball, Paulding said:

I think it all started when I was at Mizzou. Really learning how to prepare my body for a season, and learning what I need to work on. I think I’ve carried that over in my professional career. Especially in the summer...

When asked (by Mark) what advice he would give himself now if he could talk to his younger self, Paulding had this to say:

My past is my past, but for me, I was caught up in making it to the NBA, so I passed up some pretty good opportunities, especially overseas. Good teams, and good money. Early on in my career, I pursued the NBA harder than I should have. Now, I’ll still pursue it, but I’d be more open to overseas opportunities.

My favorite part? Mark mentioned that Paulding was part of some winning teams at Mizzou— an Elite 8, for one — and asked what being part of a winning culture was like so he could relay it to the team, who’s focused in on their goals for this coming season (love to hear it). Paulding said:

It started at the top with Coach Q (Quin Snyder). We knew we were talented but had to put in the work. We bought in to how to prepare for the season and finish games, and we were committed to doing what it takes to be successful. This meant not hanging out, not staying up all night, and taking care of my body. Once you buy in, you start to see it develop and you don’t want to let each other down.

I highly encourage you to check it out. These ZOOM videos are really great, and I love to see Cuonzo connecting with former players. Shortened version here: (full video linked above)

Links to previous ZOOM with ZO:

• Marcus Denmon (w/ Mitchell Smith)
• Brian Grawer
• Keyon Dooling
• Kassius Robertson

Now, on to the links we go! It was a VERY light news day, y’all.

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate continued his weekly game previews with Mizzou’s first SEC opponent— the Vanderbilt Commodores.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: I wrote about the foundations of Tiger Style! And Matt conducted an Exit Survey of sorts on the comings & goings in SEC hoops.
• COMING UP!!! Coach Bussen has a new film room this morning (YAY!), and Nate & BK are to Round 20 of the Mizzou Tiger Legends Draft... only two rounds remaining before you select your fave.

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More Links:

Football & Hoops

• POWERMIZZOU/RIVALS ($$): Sean Williams wrote a target profile on JUCO DL Daniel Robledo. Chad Estes wrote about OL Bryson Estes’ recruitment.
• RECRUITING NEWS&NOTES: Ryan Hoerstkamp is out there recruiting fellow Missourians (Alabama who?) Bryson Estes released his Final 5 and Mizzou made the cut. Cuonzo Martin virtually met with 2021’s James Graham III on Tuesday, according to Stockrisers.
• PowerMizzou: Mitchell Forde wrote about 6’9 forward, Logan Landers, who Cuonzo & Co. got in early on.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave Matter talked with Norm Stewart about the legendary Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton, who passed away this weekend. It’s a good read.
• WNBA.com: The Phoenix Mercury has waived four players (two camp invitees and their draft picks), but guess who’s still there? SOPH! (I’m not surprised)
• Adam Spencer, writer for Saturday Down South, identified SEC football coaches as their TOY STORY counterparts. These threads just make me giggle.

• Mizzou Athletics continues their MizzouPix Photo of the Year contest, and next is up a hoops dual— # 6 Aijha Blackwell vs. # 11 Xavier Pinson. Who you got?

Other Mizzou Sports

• Roberto Vilches, Ja’Mari Ward and Karissa Roman earned All-America recognition by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. This is the third such honor for Vilches & Ward, and the first for Roman. (More at MUTigers.com)
• BieserBall’s Brandt Belk (that’s a lot of b’s in a row, huh?) earned second team All-American honors by Collegiate Baseball News. (More at MUTigers.com)

• Baseball’s Spencer Juergens was named to the 2020 SEC Community Service Team, according to MUTigers.com. Throughout his two years at Mizzou so far, he’s volunteered at 13 separate community service events. (More at the Missourian)
• Is this a sport? Questionable. Columbia’s eSports programs are transitioning to remote competition (it wasn’t remote already?), according to Eli Hoff of the Columbia Missourian.

Interesting/Non-Mizzou News

These are a few of the best sports stories & tidbits I found regarding some goings-on in sports and the world— Enjoy!

• In a previously unmentioned First Pitches story in the Missourian, Anne Rogers, now Cardinals beat writer for MLB.com, wrote about Columbia College’s return to baseball after having dropped the program in 1982.
• The NHL announced Tuesday that it will abandon the rest of the regular season and go right to the playoffs in July. St. Louis, despite being declared winners of the Central Division, will not be a host city, wrote Sam Masterson of KMOX Sports.
• Also in hockey news, The Stanley Cup finals, which was a year ago this week, is what STL Today’s Benjamin Hochman misses most about sports.
• Hochman also wrote a fantastic piece i honor of Mental Health Month, and in light of the current global situation— ‘You’re not alone’- now shame in mental stress for athletes, especially during pandemic.
• Allison Herman of theringer.com (a great website) wrote about HBOMax, which goes live today, and has, frankly, a catalog of random stuff from HBO and WarnerMedia (TBS, TNT, some CW, CNN, etc.)
• And I’ll leave you with this... Brilliant idea if you like your neighbors! (side note: masks would be optimal too, but does make it hard to drink)

• 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.**)