Dennis Gates has his first big recruiting weekend set up

Dennis Gates has his checklist, and he’s marking things off slowly but surely. He quickly landed a commitment from the top Junior College prospect in the country, as well as added a transfer wing out of the portal, and managed to keep Aidan Shaw on board.

That Gates was able to accomplish all those things without an Assistant Coach is pretty impressive. But he checked off ‘Add Associate Head Coach’ yesterday when Charlton “C.Y.” Young was added to the bench after a 9 year stint at Florida State. With Young officially on board, I would expect things to ramp up a bit. And it starts this weekend with a round of Official recruiting visits from some prime targets.

But before we get into that, let’s look at the most recent scholarship count, since we’ve tallied 6 visitors, and not 6 open spots...

With Aidan Shaw back on board officially Missouri has just 3 available scholarships (provided there is no more roster attrition, which I wouldn’t count on). If you’re looking at the depth chart, there’s still a very big need for ball handlers, as only Christian Jones, and to lesser extents Kaleb Brown and Jarron Coleman have provided support there previously. Jones is a freshman, and we saw what things looked like with Coleman and Brown who each had pretty ugly turnover numbers (26.6% and 42.9% respectively).

The primary target at Point Guard continues to be Sean East, who is starting a visit to South Florida this weekend. Missouri is considered the team to beat here, with East having already visited BYU as well. But it would probably be wise to add another ball handler to go along with East, if they can net his signature.

So who else is on tap? Keep in mind I’m doing my best to keep the Transfer Tracker updated regularly so some of this information is recycled.

Noah Carter, CF, Northern Iowa

In the linked article, Northern Iowa transfer forward Noah Carter stated he’ll be in Columbia this weekend. Carter is planning on visiting all five of his final list, with a decision likely in the cards towards the end of the month. With Kobe Brown and Ronnie DeGray on board the Combo Forward spot isn’t a huge need, but Carter is a good passer and scorer around the bucket.

Dylan Penn, PG, Bellarmine

Penn played the bulk of the minutes at Point Guard for the A-SUN champions Bellarmine, but they missed the NCAA Tournament due to still being in the probationary period after a move from Division 2. Penn isn’t a high level shooter, but he’s great at taking care of the ball and he gets to his spots.

Jason Roche, Wing, The Citadel

For anyone who complained about Missouri’s shooting under Cuonzo Martin, here’s a potential quick fix. Jason Roche was a high level shooter for The Citadel as a freshman, canning almost 40% of this 3s against D1 opponents and making 110 on the season. He doesn’t appear to be the most athletic guy, but nothing loosens a defense quite like shooting.

D’Moi Hodge, Wing, Cleveland State

This might be something worth keeping an eye on, Hodge is considered a high level defender and led the Dennis Gates’ Cleveland State squad in scoring last season. If Mizzou is looking at adding Hodge to the roster then you’re probably seeing a few more spots shake loose.

Tre Gomillion, CG, Cleveland State

The same which was said about Hodge can be said about Gomillion. He’s a culture guy, a high character player, and he loves Dennis Gates. While Gomillion wasn’t a high scorer for CSU, he was a good defender. He also averaged 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. So a little bit of everything.

Connor Turnbull, Post, Fort Zumwalt North

Another important recruitment to keep an eye on, Turnbull was a consistent post for the Brad Beal Elite in grassroots last summer and turned that into an offer from Mizzou, as well as a commitment to Butler. But the Bulldogs changed coaches and Turnbull reopened his recruitment, getting out of his Letter of Intent. He’s since been in contact with SLU, Mizzou and Wisconsin, and reportedly hasn’t ruled Butler out (though that seems like more of a long shot).

So that’s six visitors this weekend. With C.Y. officially on board and in town, I’d expect Missouri will do what they can to lock something down this weekend. Gates still needs to announce his last two hires, and it’s possible that could pop this weekend also. We’ll try to keep things as updated as possible.