Not that Fearless Leader :(

Rock M’s Fearless Leader, Mr Sam T Snelling himself, went on KTRS 550 Big Sports Show with Brendan Wiese (which another Rock M employee happens to work for— Sammy) to talk some Mizzou Hoops.

Let’s recap. [I’d like to that Otter.ai for sponsoring assisting me with this post]

When asked if he’s concerned about the transition from the Valley to the SEC:

Not really, mainly because Mosley has performed well over the last couple of years going against what KenPom labels as Tier B competition. He’s faced one of the best defenses in the country at Loyola Chicago. With the different athleticism of the SEC, maybe he might see a little bit more trouble kind of shooting around the rim, but that being said, I don’t think he’s going to be relied upon the same way he was at Missouri State.

How would you label Mosley? Is he a shooter or a scorer? Which former Mizzou player does he resemble?

I would definitely label him more of a scorer than a shooter. He’s a guy that shoots at a high percentage… He’s very good at the mid-range, he’s very good at taking contact and still getting a shot up at the rim. Obviously, that makes him very good at getting to the free throw line.

I’d compare him to Jabari Brown, with his ability to shoot the ball, and finish around the rim. He was a sturdy kind of 6’4 - 6’5 body. Brown wasn’t a great athlete, but he understood how to get the ball on the ground and get to the free throw line. In his last year as a junior, he was somebody who was really kind of capable of making plays all over the floor. Mosley’s not a slow-footed guy. But at the same time, he’s not a guy who’s going to wow you with his athleticism. He’s more of a crafty four. He’s comfortable playing off of two feet, and he has an array of shot fakes, pump fakes, and ball fakes, and that can get a defender moving in a different direction.

On his expectations for the season:

Obviously last year Missouri was getting blown out by some regional rivals and it was hard to watch. I don’t think that they’re a team that’s going to happen to very often. I do get the impression that there’s some fans out there that think this maybe elevates Mizzou towards the top of the SEC, and I don’t really think that’s the case. I think this basically puts them in the middle and that means you can probably be looking at Missouri as a postseason team, whether that means they can get onto the bubble, be in the NCAA Tournament, or just be like an NIT team. Considering the amount of roster turnover, I’d say that that’s a pretty successful offseason.

I look at it as SEC Tournament-related. Don’t play on Wednesday. That’s the bottom four teams and once OU and UT join the SEC, it’ll be the bottom six teams that are all playing on opening night. If you’re avoiding Wednesday, you’re probably in contention for some postseason play.

It was a good 20-minute convo or so, and I highly suggest you listen to it. Link is above.

And while you’re at it, since this is a pro-Sam Snelling site (are we mandated to be this way?) check out Sam’s brand new roster math piece now that Isiaih Mosley finds himself (back) in CoMo to play for the Tigers.

On to the Links!

---

Yesterday at Rock M

• Sam’s back with a new Scholarship Math: Isiaih Mosley and the impossible happening in Columbia
• Nate’s previews continue, and next up is the South Carolina Gamecocks.

---

More Links:

Football

• Saturday Down South’s Adam Spencer wrote a skeptic’s guide to the 2022 season. That sounds… fun?
• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dave Matter wrote, Recruiting heats up for Mizzou as camp circuit, official visits kick off.
• According to Rivals’ Sean Williams, 2024 DB Zahir Rainer impresses the Tiger coaching staff during the mega camp [Side note: does that sound like a cult?]
• NFL hopeful Javon Foster is getting some attention from Jim Nagy.

• MUTigers.com put together a nice little release about all the newcomers the football team welcomed this weekend:

2022 Newcomers / By The Numbers:

37 total newcomers (20 offense, 16 defense, 1 specialist) (including those who enrolled in January)

15 from the state of Missouri

STL metro: Burden, Gracial, Machado, Schrader, Thompson, Wayne

KC metro: Marshall, Membou, Miller, Whisner

Springfield: Quadrini

Columbia: Norris, Peat

Boonville: Wesolak

Lebanon: Wilson

Hoops

• The Tribune’s Chris Kwiecinski wrote, With Isiaih Mosley, the complexion of Dennis Gates’ first year has changed.
• The Athletic’s CJ Moore wrote about the addition of Mosley and how it impacts the roster. Here’s a bit of what he had to say:

By going high-major, Mosley gets a chance to show that his game can translate to a higher level and makes himself more desirable to the NBA if he can be as close to as good as he was in the Missouri Valley.

On what to expect from Mizzou this year: There was a big talent gap a year ago for Mizzou in the SEC, and this roster looks like it should be way more competitive. I’m a believer in Northern Iowa transfer Noah Carter and we’ve had Mosley listed as one of the top available transfers throughout. Kobe Brown has also proven he can be a productive player in the SEC. The Tigers still aren’t on the level of the top-tier teams in the league, but they’re probably somewhere in the middle and that could be good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

Want to read more? Subscribe!

• Heart eye emojis

• If you’re an IG user, and view this story pretty quickly, you can see Isiaih in the practice gym. He’s HERE! Or this one here.

Softball

• Casidy Chaumont made it official, and will be no. 27 for the USSSA Pride. The Gold-Glove Award winning outfielder was selected with the 12th and final pick of the 2022 WPF Inaugural College Draft. She had zero errors on 86 opportunities this year after starting her college career as an infielder.

• Kim Wert continues to get it done on and off the field, and was named an CoSIDA Academic All-American on Tuesday afternoon. From the MUTigers.com release:

Wert is the 15th MU player to receive the honor from the College Sports Information Directors of America. The fifth-year senior majored in Psychology and Health Sciences with a 3.64 GPA and earned a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll each year at MU.

Other Mizzou Sports

• Former Timberland (St. Charles, MO) swimmer Andrew Sansoucie is headed to Mizzou to serve in an assistant coaching role on Andrew Grever’s staff. The former Tiger swimmer comes from an assistant coaching role at Wash U. [Fun Fact: I watched him swim at State when I was coaching for Rock Bridge]

• Welcome, unknown new gymnast. This high school senior appears to have graduated from HS this past weekend, and now will be headed to CoMo. Who is she? Your guess is as good as mine, but she is joining an AWESOME team.

• Also, welcome new Mizzou VB players! An MUTigers.com search from November tells me Estella Zatechka (Omaha, NE, no. 131 nationally) is in the back left, Janet deMarrais (Colleyville, TX, no. 46 nationally) is in the back right, Madilyn Sell (Chesterfield, MO, no. 66 nationally) is in the front left, and the front right is…. Unknown. One more newcomer, Riley Buckley, will join the team in January. I tried ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Mizzou in the Pros

• John Coon (via the Missourian) wrote about how Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge desperately wanted now-former Jazz HC and former Mizzou HC Quin Snyder to stick around.
• The Phoenix Mercury, off to a 3-8 start so far this season (I MISS YOU, BG! STAY SAFE!). In Friday’s loss to the Connecticut Sun, Sophie started and played 32 minutes, scoring 13 points on 4-9 shooting (3-8 from three, 2-2 FT), to go with 5 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 4 TO, and 6 PF. In Sunday’s win over the LA Sparks, Sophie again started and played 26 minutes, scoring 3 points (yikes) on 1-7 shooting (1-5 from three), to go with 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, and 4 PF.
• Way to go, Hayden! He’s USA Open bound!

— — — — — — — — — — — — —

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.**)