A hoops season preview!

With their season opener soon approaching November 9th against Central Michigan, Mizzou Basketball Head Coach Cuonzo Martin joined Brendan Wiese and Ben Frederickson on The Big 550 KTRS in St. Louis to preview the upcoming season and his new-look team.

Here are a couple of notes from the interview segment:

On the team’s identity right now:

“I thought we did some great things in the Oklahoma State scrimmage as well as the Creighton scrimmage, we got a chance to really get a feel for our guys.....it was really fun to be a part of because I had question marks because of the unknown of them going to battle together. I was excited after both of those scrimmages of what we could be as a team.”

On the potential of the freshmen playing right away:

“Without question, and I think they will all have the opportunities to play right away, but it depends on what level and how much they play. They’ve put a tremendous amount of work in, but also they come in with a different level of confidence and swagger to them.”

On the non-conference scheduling, as he believes it’s one of the five toughest schedules in the country:

“I like the schedule for us because you got everything on it to do what you need to do as a team. Talent-wise, there’s no question that we’re ready....the key for us is the camaraderie, and we’re trying to get that sooner rather than later. I was very impressed with our guys after the two scrimmages...now we have to do it with the lights on.”

Very good stuff from Cuonzo Martin, and you can listen to the full interview here.

And from walk on to scholarship, a huge congrats to running back Michael Cox and long snapper Daniel Hawthorne — who have been put on scholarship, Mizzou Football announced on Wednesday.

Cox was even a player guest Wednesday night on Tiger Talk!

Also, a note from Mizzou’s opponent on Saturday: Vanderbilt’s backup quarterback Mike Wright has been officially named the starter, according to Aria Gerson of The Tennessean.

Onto the links. M-I-Z!

---

Yesterday at Rock M

• Mizzou Football Reset: Taking stock of Mizzou’s offense through seven games, from Brandon Kiley
• Nate Edwards has the preview of the Vanderbilt Commodores
• SEC Basketball Preview: Somehow Will Wade is still the head coach of the LSU Tigers, from Sam Snelling
• Nate Edwards and Kortay Vincent have the latest Wednesday Watch Grid: Game Times and Betting Lines for Week 9

---

More Links:

(STLToday)

• From Dave Matter: Clark Lea begins Vanderbilt’s rebuilding process at base level

(KCStar)

• From Lila Bromberg: Eliah Drinkwitz updates Mizzou Tigers’ injuries, roster and focus before Vandy game
• ‘This is your shirt’: Mizzou fan turned 573 Tees founder helps players make NIL money, writes Lila Bromberg

(Columbia Missourian)

• From Joel Boenitz: Missouri cross country ready to host SEC Championship
• Women’s hoops coverage from Shannon Mia Belt: Missouri faces challenging climb after back-to-back nine-win seasons
• Cook embracing new role as Missouri O-Line moves forward, writes Wilson Moore

(Columbia Daily Tribune)

• From Chris Kwiecinski: Five questions Robin Pingeton and Mizzou women’s basketball will answer this season
• Here’s Eric Blum on why Mizzou can’t overlook Vanderbilt

(Miscellaneous/Tweets)

• Former Mizzou Football All-American Johnny Roland joined Brendan Wiese and Martin Kilcoyne on The Big 550 on the St. Louis Legends Series. Give it a listen!
• From the Chicago Bears: Rookie OT Larry Borom is back at practice
• 2023 four-star shooting guard Parker Friedrichsen from Bixby, Oklahoma on his unofficial Mizzou visit

• Here’s Kobie Whiteside with some good things to say on Mekhi Wingo

• Awesome to see Ennis Rakestraw getting the support he deserves!

• Congrats to former Mizzou Tiger and reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson, who reached 8,000 career points. Not a bad milestone!

• From ABC17’s Nathalie Jones: Mizzou offense previews matchup with Vanderbilt
• Eric Blum joined KTGR’s Big Show to preview Mizzou football coming off of their bye week, and the upcoming Men’s and Women’s basketball seasons
• Mizzou Volleyball’s struggles continue this season as they got swept in three sets at Arkansas last night

• Mizzou Baseball getting work done!

• Get to know Mizzou Women’s Basketball freshman guard Izzy Higginbottom

• Get the Mizzou Hoops schedule on your phone wallpaper!

• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now!
• If you’re looking to sign up for a new streaming service, you can try FuboTV: click HERE for FuboTV access — FuboTV now has ESPN, CBS, FS1 and more sports channels.
  (** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)