Thursday was the final day of summer practice, and to celebrate, Coach Gates went live on Instagram for a while to talk to fans and allow viewers to check out the action. The Live was too long for me to share it all (I’m not about to pay for Vimeo just to share like 30 mins of footage), so here’s what you get.. a few clips! ENJOY!!!!!!

Isiaih sharpening his skills before he heads out to Portland to work with Dame

A few other things to note:

• Ronnie DeGray III was on the sidelines and not dressed out, so I’m guessing he’s got an injury of some sort. Multiple people in the live asked Coach about this, but he did not answer. Phil Pressey and Coach CY Young didn’t appear to be present.
• The camaraderie and chemistry between the players was evident. They really seem to enjoy each other and you can tell that Coach Gates and his staff has worked hard to create a great environment.
• Gates promises more IG Lives to come, from both the players and the assistant coaches. Can’t wait!

Time to buy or re-up your season tickets! Last year’s season ticket holders received emails on Thursday afternoon with information on the online renewal process. Renewals are due by Sept. 9, 2022. According to MUTigers.com, new season ticket requests can be made by visiting MUTigers.com/MBBTix or calling the Mizzou Ticket office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS.

Moving on to women’s hoops. The Tribune’s Chris Kwiecinski wrote about the Tigers’ in-state additions, as well as who the staff remains in the mix for. Let’s take a look:

Maddie Cox, 2023 forward (Flower Mound, TX)

• 4-star 6’2” forward per ESPN, “an agile player who can knock down shots, play in transition and drive to the basket”
• Maddie’s sister Kaylee plays volleyball for Mizzou, and her other sister Lauren, won a national title with Baylor WBB in 2019

Kendall Puryear, 2024 forward (Blue Springs, MO)

• Kevin Puryear’s sister, a 6-foot-4 forward in the Class of 2024
• Helped Blue Springs South to a third-place finish in the Class 6 state tourney.
• Holds offers from Cincinnati, Missouri, Missouri State, Kansas State and Purdue.

S’mya Nichols, 2023 wing (Shawnee Mission, KS)

• Ranked no. 21 nationally in ESPN Top 100, billed as “an athletic guard who can attack the rim through traffic and score in a myriad of ways”
• Won gold medal with Team USA’s U18 team at the 2022 FIBA WU18 Americas Championship.
• Top 8 schools (as of November): Missouri, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Mississippi State, West Virginia and kansas

On to the links!

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Yesterday at Rock M:

• Aaron tells us the pieces are there for the Tigers’ offensive line, but they still need to put this puzzle together.
• Levi is really trying to create click bait-y posts with his podcast headers, lol. In a new BTBS pod, apparently our fair hosts compare Harrison Mevis to Steph Curry? You’ll need to check this out.
• Coming up: A recruiting reset with BK, and a lovely piece by Matthew J Harris analyzing new Tiger commit Anthony Robinson II

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More Links:

Football (Current, Incoming & Former)

• Barrett Banister has been named to the Wuerffel Trophy watch list, per the Columbia Missourian’s Calum McAndrew.

The watch list, which includes 115 FBS players, is “presented annually to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field,” per the release.

• Sam Horn is hard at work!

• Mitchell Forde is leaving PowerMizzou for greener pastures in Portland, Ore. and in his place, Gabe is bringing in Jarod Hamilton, a 2021 NC A&T grad. (It’s pronounced like my favorite comedian, Jerrod Carmichael) Best of luck to Mitch, who’s last day is Sunday. He continued his preseason camp previews with Cornerbacks & Linebacker.
• Kendall Blanton, clearly a two-sport athlete

Hoops (Current & Former)

• Dave Matter was back with a new subscribers-only chat at STL Today.
• Good thread here from Rock M’s very own Matt Watkins

• Sophie C has been H-O-T since the all-star break

Other Sports

• Huge congrats to track & field star (I think she’s a triple jumper?) Arianna Fischer on her selection for 2022 NACAC Championships!

• On the heels of Men’s Golf announcing their new schedule, Women’s Golf, led by new head coach Caroline Westrup, announced their schedule. After the Tigers open their fall season at home at the end of Sept at the Johnie Imes Invitational, they will visit such scenic locales as West Point (MS), San Marcos, Cabo San Lucas (okay, that IS scenic), Boca Raton, Peoria (AZ), Tucson and Denton. OOOH.
• The student-athletes really seemed to benefit from the NIL program put on by my office and the College of Business. In the practice run, one of the J-School professors, the amazing Jim Flink, used Aidan Shaw’s 45 inch vertical video as an example of how you could tell a story that engages with audiences. I’m glad to see Aidan, as well as many others, learned from the event.

Mizzou Adjacent

• Looks like another Porter family member is heating up on the court. I can’t believe she’s 6’3” already.

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