Kris Abrams-Draine is the most talked about man in Mizzou Football

Have you watched the amazing show Abbott Elementary yet? The ABC sitcom, now in its second season, features actor Tyler James Williams, who plays Gregory, a teacher in a Philadelphia public school who is a bit...neurotic. Did you also know he’s the same actor who played a young Chris Rock on Everybody Hates Chris, another great show that aired on the CW in the early 2000s?

Anyway, I do have a reason for writing that above paragraph, friends. Matt Stahl’s article at the Trib, entitled ‘Everybody loves Kris’: Mizzou Football’s Abrams-Draine draws NFL Draft hype at cornerback, reminded me of that actor (and those beloved shows). But also, it’s just a really good article. Let’s dive in and learn a bit more about Kris Abrams-Draine, who was the focus of many other outlets this week (as you’ll see below).

You likely remember the play in the Vanderbilt game. KAD’s childhood football coach surely does. The one where — and Stahl sets this up beautifully — WR Will Sheppard takes off down the field to surely score, which would inch the ‘Dores within a touchdown in the Homecoming Horror Show. But Kris Abrams-Draine happened and stopped the score TD. When asked about the play and to describe Abrams-Draine’s speed in the moment, he said:

“You know how when you run from somebody you might get faster because you feel the dogs behind you? That’s how Kris is when he felt like he was getting beat,” Abrams-Draine’s old youth football coach Drew Thomas said. “He felt like the dog was behind him.”

And when asked about Kris’s transition from wide receiver to defensive back and how much progress he’s made in a short time, Thomas is unfazed:

“I mean it in the most humbling way possible, but no, I’m not surprised at all about what Kris has done,” Thomas said. “Because, not only is he a home run, quiet kid on the field, off the field, everybody likes Kris in this city (Mobile). Everybody likes him. I’ve never heard a kid say they didn’t like Kris.”

So, it’s true, Tiger fans. EVERYBODY LIKES KRIS. Now go read Stahl’s article; I left a lot out. And while you’re at it, read that one from Parker, too.

DRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU Smith makes his regular season NBA debut…

AND SCORES. Our guy Dru made his regular season NBA debut on Wednesday night in the Miami Heat’s big win over Portland, 119-98. Despite the fact I didn’t realize this ‘til my dad texted me about it Thursday afternoon (I was busy at WBB that night!!),

Now, did he have extensive playing time? No. Did I expect him to? No. Did I expect to open the ESPN app and see a DNP- coaches decision by his name? Yes. And do I frequent the Heat’s IG account looking for Dru sightings like this one? Daily.

But anyway, it happened! My guy played 6 minutes, AND he scored two points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three), to go with one rebound, an assist, and a foul. Thursday was back to normal, however, as neither Dru nor the other rookies got to play in the blowout loss to Golden State, 110-123. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Honestly, after Dru’s injury last year, we’re lucky he’s playing at all, let alone well enough get a two-way contract. A few months ago, he just wanted to take a step without feeling pain. Per The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang, who wrote about him earlier this month:

“I think the plan was always to keep playing,” Smith said to the Miami Herald when asked if he ever considered stepping away from the sport during the rehab process. “There were definitely days that I was like, ‘Man, this is tough.’ Because I’m back home, it’s just hard to kind of see the end of the rehab and all that stuff down the road. So there were definitely some tough days. But I think I always knew I was going to come back and play.”

“I think it represents a step in the right direction,” Smith said of his two-way deal ahead of the Heat’s matchup against the Boston Celtics on Friday night at FTX Arena. “Just the fact that I’m making strides and I’m improving. I think that’s what it represents more than anything. Just that the work that I’ve been putting in, it’s paid off right now.”

It’s a great story about one of my faves, so READ IT.

On to the Links!

Best of luck to our Men’s Hoops team, who will be in Chicago this weekend for CBB’s most un-secretive ‘secret’ scrimmage against Marquette.

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Yesterday at Rock M: a crapload of content

• You can tell how Nate feels about the new uni combo by this absurd title: LOOK: Spooky Shirts and Petrifying Pants Revealed for South Carolina Game.
• Breaking news from Nate (the Great): 3-star DE Serigne Tounkara commits to The Zou
• In a new SEC preview, Sam asked if Florida will change direction under new leadership
• Nate’s Rock M Nation Reacts posts says the defensive renaissance is powered by young cornerbacks
• Sammy talked with Kody Timmers of Garnet and Black Attack for this week’s opponent q&a
• As mentioned above, Parker’s piece about KAD talks about his move from the WR to DB to Mizzou’s best NFL prospect
• There’s a new BTBS Podcast ep out, and with BK out of commission still, it’s another edition of ‘Dad Pod’. This is…. Something. I don’t traditionally share the tweet up top, but OMG. Come back soon, BK. THE POD HAS GONE WILD.

• And now I’m going to share a tweet again, because dammit, the guys were on fire on Thursday. In this sponsored post by Sam and Dan, they go over the absurd tradition of commentators eating on-air. The video for this, which I saw this weekend, was epic.

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More Links:

Football

• Commitment news: Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) | Nick Harris (Rivals) | Andrew Olson (Saturday Down South)
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read the transcript from Matter’s Thursday (subscriber) chat | Week 9 predictions: Can Kentucky play spoiler in Knoxville? (Matter) | MU radio analyst Howard Richards attended school in building where St. Louis shootings took place (Dan Caesar) | From D-II transfer to starter, how Cody Schrader became Mizzou football’s ‘American Story’ (Calum McAndrew)
• PowerMizzou/Rivals: 2023 OL target Jayden Hobson recaps Missouri visit (Sean Williams) | Notebook: Getting over the hump, Jeffcoat homecoming (Jarod Hamilton) |
• Columbia Tribune: Can Mizzou cover the spread vs. South Carolina? (Stahl) | Three things to know about South Carolina (Stahl) | Injury gives Mizzou freshman Marquis Gracial a chance to contribute on the defensive line (Stahl)
• Kansas City Star: Here’s what’s led to the Missouri Tigers’ stout defense, and why it should continue (Blair Kerkhoff)
• The Maneater: Athlete of the Week: Missouri football defensive back Kris Abrams-Draine (Carter Waghorne)
• Columbia Missourian: MU receiver Houston elevated to questionable against South Carolina (Kenny Van Doren)
• Associated Press: NCAA approves new guidance on player endorsement deals (Ralph Russo)
• In preparation for Halloween and spooky time, look at this tweet at your own risk. YIKES. But do look at this nice one. D-D-DE-FENSE.

• The State’s Ben Portnoy (that last name gives me the chills) conducted a Twitter space with my lovely Columbia Tribune friends, Matt Stahl & Chris Kwiecinski, about Saturday’s Mizzou-South Carolina game. Give it a listen!

Hoops

• Relive the fun from Thursday’s exhibition win over Northwest Missouri State.

• And while you’re at it, I’m not sure this Women’s Hoops notebook from SEC Media Day was shared on the site, so read Chris K’s thoughts.
• Ben Sternberg took us through Media Day on his YouTube, while a trainer takes us through one of the drills he uses when working with a number of Mizzous players.
• I practiced my best stalking sightseeing skills to see which MBB players were at the women’s game on Wednesday night. Here’s one of the pics (damn, my camera on this new phone is good). Not pictured, but also present: Coach CY, Sean East, Dree Gholston, Mabor Majak, D’Moi Hodge & Ronnie DeGray III.

Me (Karen)

• If you want to read an entire ESPN SEC basketball preview post that mentions Mizzou exactly once in the frame of “Mizzou also has a new coach, Dennis Gates”, feel free to waste your time. This is such lazy ass, incomplete reporting... DO BETTER.
• Greatttttt (said with sarcasm)

Other Mizzou Sports

• Volleyball will play host to the Georgia Bulldogs this weekend. First serve Friday and Saturday is set for 1 p.m. Both Friday and Saturday’s bout will air on SECN+. Per MUTigers.com, Mizzou leads the all-time series over Georgia 10-7, but the Tigers dropped both matches to them last fall on the road.
• Wrestling has some updates, courtesy of Rock M’s own James Hackney/Missouri wrestling. Also check out this one, which talks about another addition to a Mizzou tourney:

• Soccer fell 2-0 to no. 14-ranked South Carolina on Thursday night. With that loss, sadly, the Tigers were eliminated from postseason play. The game was scoreless in the first half, but in the 50th minute, South Carolina took the lead, and followed it up with another goal just 4 mins later. The Tigers, per MUTigers.com, came close to getting one back when Milena Fischer nearly scored off a header, but no goal.
• Gymnastics: Finally!!!!!! Some shareable video content

• Cross Country will compete in the SEC Cross Country Championships today in Oxford, Miss. The event will be broadcasted live on ESPN+. (More info on MUTigers.com)

• Women’s Golf is playing in their final fall tourney this weekend (it starts today), and it’s in tropical, beautiful, sooooo not like Columbia, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Per MUTigers.com, the 2022 Battle at the Beach is a three-day tournament, playing 18 holes each day with a shotgun start. The event will be a doozie, and 10 of the 17 schools playing are ranked in the top 50 of Golfstat.com (Houston, Clemson, TCU, kansas), including 6 in the top 20 (Arkansas, Vandy, LSU, Baylor) and 2 in the top 10 (Ole Miss, MS State).

NBA Corner / Hodgepodge

• JORDAN CLARKSON is off to a phenomenal start this season, so much so Jazz brass Danny Ainge is reluctant to trade the star away, per this report.

10/26 vs Houston (W 109-101): 29 min | 20pts on 6-14 shooting (5-10 from three, 3-4 FT) | 6 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 3 PF | -8

UP NEXT: The Jazz (4-1) take on MPJ’s Nuggs (3-2) tonight at 8pm

• MICHAEL PORTER, JR is injured at the moment, and so he didn’t play in the Nuggets’ 110-99 win over the Lakers on Wednesday. He IS expected back for tonight’s game against another former Tiger, per CBS Sports. Listen to Mike Singer of the Denver Post talk about his health, among other topics, on the new NuggetsInk podcast.
• REMINDER: If you are a voter in the state of Missouri, things are going to be WACKY on Tuesday, November 8. And by wacky, I mean terrible. Because of possible spiders, I’ll just let you click on my tweet. Also, if you’re local come see me at HEARNES! [screams into oblivion]

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