It’s an honor just to be nominated...

The nominees were announced for the 2021 McDonald’s All-American class, and several future Tigers found themselves on the list.

While the actual game will not be played for the second year in a row (stupid Covid), athletes can still move up the list and be put on the (virtual) 24-person team based on their play this season. Even if they don’t make the final list, each athlete can still say they were a nominee, which is pretty cool.

On the men’s side, Springfield Kickapoo’s Anton Brookshire (no. 91 national rank), who will be donning a Tiger uniform next year, made the nomination list for the Midwest region. He was one of two Missouri area athletes to be listed. According to the Missourian’s Joel Lorenzi, Brookshire averaged 20.5 points, four rebounds and 3.5 assists his junior year, and became Kickapoo’s all-time leading scorer in January.

On the women’s side, three of Robin Pingeton’s signees made the list: Arizona’s Kiya Dorroh (no. 8 wing, no. 47 overall per ESPNW), Arkansas’ Izzy Higginbottom (no. 20 point guard per ESPNW, no. 97 overall) and Jeff City’s Sarah Linthacum (no. 3 overall in Missouri).

FUN FACT: Drew Buggs’ sister, Lily, was also nominated (for the West region); she signed with Cal State.

The future is bright for the Tigers, y’all. The last male McDonald’s All American nominees were Michael Porter, Jr. and current Tiger, Torrence Watson. Perhaps you have heard of them. Jayla Kelly, currently a freshman on the women’s team, was selected last year.

On to the Links! I’ve got A LOT of swimming news today :)

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Matthew J Harris, resident basketball analytics specialist, wove a cautiously optimistic tale of Mizzou’s recent struggles and asked— are they the product of regression or a collapse?
• Josh reported about David Gibbs’ departure.
• Aaron looked at three things to watch ahead of spring football.
• Nate & BK were back with a new episode of their world-famous BTBS podcast, talking Spring Ball! It’s coming!
• COMING UP: a South Carolina preview, a new Rock-M-Tology from Sammy, and another recruiting reset from BK

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More Links:

Football

• PowerMizzou: Mitchell Forde continued his position reset, this time focusing on the cornerbacks, while subscribers can check out Sean Williams’ look at a 4-star TE (Micah Riley-Ducker) who recently checked out the Tigers.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave Matter wrote about the departure of David Gibbs, who is leaving to join Gus Malzahn’s staff as a co-DC at UCF. Wishing him the best, and hoping no players follow.
• Goodbye, @MizzouMonstar2. L’Damian Washington announced via Twitter that since he is transitioning out of the player role and into a coach/professional role, he has changed his Twitter handle to... his name. Sad to see it go.

Hoops

• PowerMizzou: Mitchell Forde examined Mizzou’s second half struggles, paying particular attention to quick shots and those pesky turnovers. Worth a read, for sure.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave Matter’s back with a new weekly chat, talking a lot of hoops and football.
• The Maneater: Kyle Pinnell went in-depth on Lauren Hansen, who’s confidence and swagger shaped her journey to Mizzou. Good stuff.
• This seemed fast. Senior Day is approaching. Sunday, to be exact.

Swimming & Diving News

• The SEC Championships continue (diving at Mizzou Rec and women’s swimming in Athens, GA), and two women found themselves sliding into the Top Ten All-Time performances in the 50 freestyle. Congrats to Amy Federsen (no. 7) and Alex Moderski (no. 9)!

• Megan Keil, who is already third all-time on the aforementioned list, placed 7th in the 50 free this evening (fun fact: she swam fast enough to win the entire event by 0.12, but could not get any better than 9th), while Sarah Thompson, tops on that list, placed 9th in 21.57 to win the consolation final. Way to go, ladies!
• Freshman (!) Jane Smith moved into 10th place in the 500 freestyle All-Time list with her performance in prelims, improved her time in finals, good enough for 6th place in the C-final (22nd overall).

• The 200 Freestyle Relay (each swimmer swims a 50 free, for you swim newbies out there), took second place in school record time. Not surprising they did this well, considering the Tigers had five (!) girls make it back to finals in the event.

• At the end of Day 2, Mizzou found itself in 8th place, trailing Arkansas by 13. Read the recap on MUTigers.com.
• Diving-wise, Carlo Lopez advanced to the finals of the men’s 1-meter championship final (top 8), and ended up third overall (woooooo!), while Savana Trueb narrowly missed a spot in the 3-meter finals, taking 10th place.

Other Mizzou Sports

• No. 25 gymnastics takes on No. 4 Arkansas at 7pm this evening. The meet will be called by former gymnasts, Alicia Sacramone Quinn and John Rothleisberger on the SEC Network. According to MUTigers.com, Mizzou tallied a season-best 49.250 on beam against Auburn, easily besting the previous high of 48.825. Good luck, ladies!

SIDE NOTE: I had been wondering why I hadn’t seen Helen Hu’s name pop up this season after such an amazing season last year. Turns out, she is out this season with a major injury. Here’s the twitter post from December. Wishing her a speedy recovery!

• No. 25 volleyball will host Georgia on Friday and Saturday, both at 6pm. Joshua Taylor’s squad is hoping to get back into their winning ways after a series loss in Knoxville last weekend.

• Ben Miglore of the Missourian looked at no. 24 Mizzou Softball’s upcoming return trip to Florida, where they will be the favorites in the “Strike Out Cancer” tourney.

• Rock M’s Sammy Stava laid out where baseball’s opponents appear in this early iteration of the field of 64. Thanks for the work, Sammy!

• Mizzou Wrestling is holding steady in the coaches poll.

Mizzou in the NBA

• According to Jeffrey Swinger of USA Today’s Hoops Hype, Jordan Clarkson is the overwhelming favorite to win Sixth Man of the Year. LOVE IT, JC!
• Check this out!

• Michael Pena of Sports Illustrated said that Michael Porter Jr’s defense is holding him back. From the piece, which I recommend reading:

If everything comes together, he’s an All-NBA-caliber forward who rounds out the best trio in the Western Conference (and possibly the league, pending what happens in Brooklyn). If not he tops out as what the most optimistic Lakers fans see whenever they look at Kyle Kuzma.

• This is kinda cool. Mike received votes for the All-Star game!

• Additionally, Mike Singer captured this quote from MPJ after Wednesday night’s game, in regards to convos with his dad:

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