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Mizzou Athletics Celebrates Record-Breaking Scholastic Performance

Mizzou Links & corresponding Abbott Elementary gifs for Friday, June 16

By Karen Steger
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As a former educator and current employee of the UM System’s flagship institution, I am always anxious to see the performance of the school’s student-athletes, and as I have said on this website many times this year, I’m super proud of how much the athletic department is focusing on student-athlete performance on AND off the court.

Just how proud? Let’s illustrate it with Abbott Elementary gifs. Such a good show.

That’s how you be successful.

My friends, the days of APR woes appear to be a thing of the past [recoils in horror thinking of nightmare season past], as Desiree Reed-Francois and her staff ain’t playing around with the academics. Even with Transferportalpalooza, issues of not meeting grades combined with poor graduation rates are nary to be found.

This is how I envision Des talking to her head coaches

Witness. ANOTHER record-breaking scholastic semester for Mizzou Athletics. After breaking the previous record in FS22 with a 3.32 GPA, they’ve done it again in SP23, notching a 3.35 GPA. That is actually incredible, you guys. Per MUTigers.com, it also blows away the previous spring semester record of 3.21 (set in 2021) and is the 13th straight semester — are we counting summer, too? — of a combined 3.0 or higher.

Let’s get into some specifics, shall we?

  • 74 student-athletes posted a 4.0 GPA, while 258 had a 3.50+ and 370 had at least a 3.0. The Dean’s List contained 202 student-athletes.
  • Baseball had 12 players earn Dean’s List honors and 5 had a perfect 4.0, while Softball had a program-best 3.59 GPA, with 17/25 student-athletes posting at least a 3.50. Impressive.
  • WBB had its highest GPA on record in any semester with a 3.53, including 2 perfect 4.0s and 8 with above a 3.50, while MBB had a program-high 3.0 in the spring. Leading the basketball programs with their Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar awards were Mama Dembele with her 3.975 GPA and Kobe Brown, one of 10 national men’s finalists, with his 3.594 cumulative GPA and Academic All-America honors.
  • Football had a 3.08 GPA, their second highest in a spring semester. 3 had a perfect 4.0 and 32 earned above a 3.50.

I’m sorry, I need a minute to process that again. 32 above a 3.50?!?

That academic performance deserves a Gregory dance.

Back to it.

  • Men’s Golf led all men’s sports with a 3.48, which was their second-highest spring GPA ever, while Women’s Golf had a 3.57, their 5th straight semester above 3.50. I don’t know how many people are on the WG roster, but they had 2 perfect 4.0s, and 8 with a 3.5 or higher to go with 5 on the Dean’s List. That seems great!
  • Gymnastics had their second highest GPA ever with a 3.55, and 8 (!) had a perfect 4.0 GPA with 17 (!) finishing with a 3.5+. 10 made the Dean’s List. So... that’s basically the entire team (they had 21 total; I counted). Jocelyn Moore, that of perfect 10 fame, was also an honoree for the Arthur Ashe Jr award with her 3.62 GPA.
  • Soccer led the whole dang athletic department with a whopping 3.79 GPA. It also beat their previous high of 3.65, set just a semester ago. 11 players posted a perfect 4.0 and 28/34 had a 3.50+. 27 of the 34 also made the Dean’s List (the criteria is determined by each individual college)
  • Women’s Swim & Dive tied for the second-highest GPA in the athletic department, posting a 3.71. This was their 8th straight semester above a 3.50. 7 posted a perfect 4.0 with 25/31 nabbing a 3.50+, and 24 earning Dean’s List honors. Katrina Brathwaite was an honoree for the aforementioned Arthur Ashe award, earning a 3.53 GPA and a 4-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
  • Tennis was the other half of the tie for the second-highest GPA (3.71) in the athletic department. This was their 9th straight above a 3.50, which is the longest active run by any Mizzou team. 9/10 (that’s 90%) of the team had a 3.50+, and 8 earned Dean’s List honors at their colleges.
School, if you’re a soccer or tennis player or a women’s swimmer, probably.
  • Men’s XC & Track recorded 3.45 and 3.41 GPAs, respectively. 18 XC runners finished with a 3.50+, with 3 earning a perfect 4.0. Track surpassed its previous non-Covid record of 3.27... set in FALL 2011. Yes, you read that right. 6 had a perfect 4.0 and 40/49 had a 3.0+.
  • Women’s XC & Track recorded 3.66 and 3.52 GPAs, respectively. 6/11 XC runners earned a 3.50+, while an astonishing 14 (!!) T&F athletes posted a perfect 4.0. 30/48 earned a 3.50+. Arianna Fisher, also a two-time All-American and an Arthur Ashe nominee, has a 4.0 GPA while pursuing her master’s in educational psychology.
  • Volleyball posted a 3.21 overall GPA, their 24th straight semester or 3.0+.
  • Wrestling had 6 perfect 4.0 GPAs, as well as 28 student-athletes with a 3.0+. Their overall team GPA was 2.98, the only under 3.0 (hit the books, Tiger Style).
WE.ARE.EXCITED.

On to the Links!

High fives all around for Mizzou STUDENT-athletes

Yesterday at Rock M

More Links:

Football

  • Aidan Glover Commit News: Chris Kwiecinski (Columbia Tribune) | Sean Williams (PowerMizzou) | Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) | Wendell Shepherd, Jr. (Missourian)
  • Mizzou Football held a “brotherhood” event at Faurot on Wednesday night with the help of Bud’s BBQ, and invited all the teams in town!
  • A NEW Eye on the Tigers Pod is here, and Matter & Ben Fred are discussing the 2024 FB schedule, Mizzou hoops roster, and chat with Kerrick Jackson (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
  • You love to see it.

NBA Draft Stuff/ Hoops

INTRO: I’m asked every year if I have favorite prospects compared to consensus, and this year is no different. I would say the guys I’m a bit higher on than teams and evaluators are Henderson, Whitmore, Kobe Bufkin, Leonard Miller, Kobe Brown and Prosper.

SUMMARY: Kobe Brown is one of the guys who really stood out to me in terms of skill the more I watched him. There’s so much more to his game than you’d think when watching a typical 6-foot-7, 250-pound big man. He’s an incredible processor of the game who makes quick decisions, and the shooting-mechanic adjustments he’s made over the last year have clearly worked wonders in terms of turning him into a real potential shooter in the NBA. He’s a smart defender who was active and valuable on that end in the SEC. And there is a real case for long-term upside if he can add a bit of quickness over the next few years. To me, it all comes down to the shooting. If Brown proves he can be a consistent shooter from distance, he might play in the NBA for the next eight to 10 years as a valuable rotation player. Every NBA team is looking for bigger guys with length who can dribble, pass and shoot. Brown can do that. There’s a world where you can see him playing both as a wing four man and a small-ball five given his strength. He is a valuable rotation player as long as he shoots. That bet is worth a late first-rounder; at the latest, an early second-rounder

  • Love the culture WFMBHCDG is creating
  • The Porter Fam at the parade (minus Jontay... where are thou, favorite Porter?)
  • Really nice video on the progression of Michael Porter, Jr. from former Mizzou strength & conditioning coach, Nicodemus Christopher. Seems like he’s helping Mike get focused in all things.

Other Mizzou Sports

  • Coach Shannon is a star
  • Mizzou Baseball’s Jackson Beaman is killing it in the Northwoods League
  • Brooke Wilmes is kicking off her first pro season. She was such a good PBP announcer, y’all. Multi-talented.
  • Alex Honnold is suiting up for the Women’s Fast Pitch Team Camp this week in Florida! Go Al Pal!

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