Ed Chang is an intriguing dude in so many ways

Ian Laird of the Columbia Missourian recently wrote a piece all about one of Mizzou Hoops’ recent additions, the mysterious Ed Chang, and I came away impressed and excited to see how he does.

According to Laird, who recently met with him, he’s a big dude— 6’8 and filled out physically. “You can tell he’s a top-tier athlete,” he said. So what makes him so intriguing? His personality? His background? His high school performance? The eligibility questions when transferring? The unknown? It’s all of these things, actually.

Chang has lived in three countries (Germany— where he was born, the Netherlands, and the US) and played for teams in five different states. His father is a Sudanese ambassador and a college professor. He toiled with playing baseball and football, and once even quit basketball, which he didn’t become serious about until around 8th grade when his now-former high school coach at Papillion-La Vista High School in Omaha took notice of him.

Super interesting, right? And we haven’t even gotten to what made him once one of the premiere players in Nebraska in high school! Or why he didn’t end up playing at UW, where he once committed, or why he left SDSU! Or what he will bring to the Tigers!

Anyway, you should give the article a read; it’s quite interesting, and the Missourian does great work with their student reporters. We are big fans of them here at Rock M.

On to the Links!

And by the way, a heartfelt thank you to those that reached out via the comments and elsewhere about my unfortunate work situation. It’s super appreciated, and I’m doing okay. I consider myself extremely lucky that Target has taken care of me through this mess and is helping me (and all of their employees, really) out during these stressful times.

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate the Great wrote a recap of the MIZ-ZOOM meeting he attended alongside the Mizzou media, Coach Drink, Coach Woods, and Larry Three-Sticks.
• Welcome (back), Shemar Pearl! Josh wrote the commitment piece.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Do take a listen to the new BTBS Pod with Nate and BK. It’s very entertaining.
• COMING UP: An Editorial Bored with the hoops crew (+Josh) about 2022 recruiting.

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More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave Matter was back with his weekly chat (largely football, with a little bit of hoops mixed in). Read the Q&A here. He also wrote about how, as workouts resume, Mizzou football is planning for the season to go as scheduled.
• KC Star: Souichi covered why football coach Casey Woods had to hitchhike to the KC suburbs. In Blair Kerkhoff’s SportsBeat KC podcast, he talked about Mizzou getting back to the business of athletics in the strangest of times.
• Columbia Tribune: Eric Blum wrote about Larry Rountree’s preparation for his senior season.
• The Athletic ($$): Earlier this week, Peter Baugh wrote a really cool in-depth piece about one of Mizzou’s targets, safety Tyler Hibbler, who not only plays football for Trinity Catholic, but is also the defensive coordinator for a 7th grade team at the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club in St. Louis. Hibbler is set to make his college decision on June 23, so we’ll wait and see if Drink can come through with this super solid pick-up.
• PowerMizzou (free): Mitchell wrote about how Coach Drink wants players to keep speaking up on social media, and both Gabe and Mitchell were back with some hot football taeks in their Blowing Smoke, Presented by Weston Tobacco series. And one more! It’s podcast time! Gabe and Mitchell interviewed Dr Pat Ivey, former longtime director of mental performance for Mizzou Football, who is now an associate AD at Louisville, in a new episode of the PowerMizzou.com podcast. Check it out!
• TrumansTales (Fansided): Rilee Stapleton continued the 2020 positional breakdowns with the defensive ends.
• Shemar Pearl Commitment Coverage: Souichi Terada (KC Star). Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Max Baker (Columbia Missourian). Sean Williams (PowerMizzou/Rivals). Michael Wayne Bratton (Saturday Down South).

Mizzou Sports on Social Media

• By the time you read this, it’ll probably be too late (but perhaps catch it on-demand?), but Mizzou Gymnastics’ Feb. 21 meeting against LSU airs at 6am CT on the SEC Network.

• Vote for the new MizzouPix photo of the day in the Breaktime region of the bracket. This one was easy for me, as I have had this particular photo as the background on both my phone and computer previously.

• More voting! The SEC Network asked fans to pick their running back, and needless to say, Mizzou fans are not happy about the lack of a certain Mizzou RB.

• Nick Bolton. #2 LINEBACKER IN THE NFL DRAFT, according to PFF College? That’ll do. That.will.do.

• Check out who’s been on the Women’s Hoops Zooms!

• Wow. Just wow.

Interesting/Non-Mizzou News

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

• Happy Juneteenth! National Geographic published a great article on Freedom Day, and why it remains a symbol of hope, and The Washington Post published a very informative post about it as well.
• Dave Matter dipped his toe into non-sports columns this week, and will continue to do so. In his first post, he wrote about a former Missouri Tiger football player, DeQuincy Howard, who touched the Ferguson community through his police work and is now turning to high school coaching. Really great story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• MU students will be required to wear face masks indoors this fall, while instructors will be required to wear face shields, according to this article by the Galen Bacharier of the Missourian.
• From Monday in an AP article, athletes from Oregon and Arizona State have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in federal court seeking to prevent them from limiting the amount of money athletics can make of their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
• Now THAT is a statement from SEC Commish Greg Sankey, huh? If you care to wade into this further, many Mississippi schools have responded, which you can find on the twitterverse or in a quick google search.

• The WNBA is amazing, y’all. Jeff City native Maya Moore, a phenomenal multiple-MVP-winning athlete, and even better human, has spent the last year fighting for justice for an innocent man. Read about it in this story from ESPN’s Katie Barnes. It is INCREDIBLE. Additionally, Renee Montgomery of the Atlanta Dream wrote in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, that when the W comes back, she would be there. Montgomery has decided to sit out the season to focus on her fight against racial injustice.
• Mizzou grad, Columbia native, AND SEC announcer extraordinaire Tom Hart was featured in a story in The Athletic. It’s about time more people get to know this guy. He’s amazing.
• The Ringer.com (a great website) round-up of great stories: Claire McNear asked what happens to baseball if MLB cancels the 2020 season. Jordan Ritter Conn wrote about Breonna Taylor and her family’s continued fight for justice (also, the artwork on this is stunning). Rodger Sherman has some VERY serious questions about Michael’s sportswriting job in the movie My Best Friend’s Wedding (this is fantastic), and Danny Heifetz has some questions about HBO’s Hard Knocks decision to document the training camps of BOTH the Chargers and the Rams.
• Mike Lupica wrote a really great story on former Cardinals legend, Mr. Bob Gibson, about race, baseball, and what’s next. Check it out.
• Tom Ackerman of KMOX hung out with the one and only Bob Costas in his Garage Happy Hour periscope (#neverforget his eye infection in the last Olympics broadcast).
• 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.**)