That would be cool.

That works for me. We've played against Weber at Illinois for years so it's nice that he wants to set up a game.

Props to a coach not folding to the Big 12's pressure on not playing Missouri.

That would be pretty cool! Props to Weber and KState if that goes down.

Great. I believe I mentioned this possibility when Frank was still running things, but this would be good for both schools.

But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but.../KU fan

Now now, you know better than that.

"KSU needs to play that game for the sake of their program; KU is simply way above that kind of slag non-conference opponent."

It gives them a chance to knock both of the fanbases that would just as soon see Lawrence burn to the ground. It really sets up nicely for them.

(Though I'm not sure exactly how they'd work 'SUPERBOWL!!' into it)

Why are you bringing up KU?

KU will most likely be busy playing Kentucky, Michigan St, and Duke over the next few years in the non-con.

I'm not sure KSU has any games like that setup. It would be a good move for them to schedule MU. Should be fun for those schools.

Excellent call DJ. Bait taken already ROFL

SUPERBOWL!

Beakers, man. The most predictable lot they've made to date.

Wickedson just doesn't care about Mizzou...at...all.

What does KU have to do with KSU and MU playing?

I don't understand why KU is mentioned. Did someone at KU mention Missouri?

It's just My 9 tv. :)

Not sure Wickedson counts as getting someone to "take the bait".

I think you're overselling him based on one really good season, he's still a bit of an unknown quantity in "how good is he" and like you guys frequently keep mentioning he's got a fanbase that actually has expectations. Was it a truly great coaching job or did he just pull a Bruce Weber-lite and ride the wave? It'll be interesting to see what he does.

Cats played Duke in '10. Kentucky in 09. Although it would take some of the shine off that conference goodbye sweep of the MUtts, I hope the KSU admin goes through with it.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

He's done a masterful job of constructing a roster after being left without a single player in his first recruiting class, and his staff is top notch. I feel about as good as I could possibly feel about him all things considered. Does that mean that I'm 100% sure he's going to win big for the next 20 years? No. I wouldn't trade him for Mike Anderson, though.

This doesn't say much...

Mizzou has scheduled a home and home series with UCLA. Very nice.

Eric Blumberg?@BlumbergOTBReply

The #Mizzou- UCLA basketball series is a home and home. At renovated Pauley Pavilion next season and at MU in 2013-14.

Laurence Bowers ‏ @MU_Highflyer21

The new floor that will be inside Mizzou Arena for our 2012-2013 inaugural SEC season.. #dope #MIZSEC #CANTWAIT

http://c0014274.r32.cf1.rackcdn.com/x2_c0f9374

Jordan Sibert, former 4-star recruit and top 10 shooting guard (2010) is transferring out of Ohio State and has been contacted by Missouri, according to DeArmond.

https://twitter.com/#!/GabeDeArmond

Here we go again...

He would have to sit out next year, right? Is he worth waiting a year for?

Thread lasted longer than MU postseason.

You suck, but that's funny. LMAO

Mizzou basketball looks to future, offers several top '14 prospects

But, but, but moving to the SEC offers no perks.

This joke seriously does not get old. In fact, it's getting even funnier somehow.

Yeah. Honestly, I never expected it to have this much of a positive impact on football recruiting, let alone basketball.

Eh, the SEC had the National Champion in basketball. It's an outstanding league.

Jordan Clarkson, Combo Guard transfer out of Tulsa has committed to Mizzou per Twitter.

Sounds like Pollard is gone.

Eh, kid sounds alright I guess, just a little underwhelmed after the Pollard chase and Brown snag.

Not saying this is the case, but I heard a rumor Clarkson was willing to pay his own way to Mizzou.

Not sure if that's Matt Lawrence/academic scholarship level at this point, though.

On Pollard, a rumor is floating that he may not qualify.

That might explain the dramatic hold-up to him announcing, and the reason Mizzou has accepted a commit before Pollard actually made a decision.

That would seem to fit the chain of events so far. It's sad (if true) that a lot of these kids can't get the academic guidance/help they need in high school. Or maybe they can, but just don't take advantage of it.

Tulsa, huh? Somebody remind me who is their basketball coach?

I like your ball coach. He's taking the Charlie Weis approach.

Did Charlie Weis inherit a team that was on pace to have 26 scholarship players in his second season? Because that's the situation Haith walked into. Your comparison doesn't really track.

All I'm saying is that when one walks into a turbulent situation without much recruiting coming in and he has the ability to land some key transfers it makes the transition that much easier.

Haith seems to be doing this very well.

At least Haith gets transfers that actually started....

New Mexico assistant could join hoops staff

Read more here: http://campuscorner.kansascity.com/n...#storylink=cpy

KU's one QB per quarter strategy is gonna pay off in spades!!111!!!/uknowwhoson

This looks like a nice addition to the coaching staff.

I think he was an assistant on the team that played in the national championship game this year.

Looks like it's happening. He would be a huge addition.

Not quite a Fuller-caliber snag, but appears to be a damn good one in its own right.

Yeah, looks like he'd be a very good get.

The dude has the keys to Memphis recruiting. Huge get if we can land him. There is a ton of talent in Memphis, and it's only a little over five hours by car from Memphis to Columbia.

He's a great guy to have behind Fuller as the No. 2, ready to step into the No. 1 assistant role when Fuller becomes a head coach (which probably happens in the next 2-3 years).

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...ot-enough-hype

Take Two: Not enough hype

Editor’s note: Each week, ESPN.com writers will debate a topic of interest in the college basketball landscape. Today’s topic: Which teams are garnering too much (and possibly unwarranted) preseason buzz? Which teams aren’t receiving enough? For the former, click here to see the selections of Eamonn Brennan and Dana O'Neill.

Jason King: Missouri

I’ve seen a few preseason college basketball polls that have Missouri somewhere between No. 20 and 25. But in the majority of them, the Tigers aren’t ranked at all.

I don’t understand it.

This is a team that returns a Cousy Award finalist (Phil Pressey), the national sixth man of the year (Michael Dixon) and a forward (Laurence Bowers) who averaged 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds two seasons ago before missing 2011-12 with a knee injury. That’s a solid trio -- and those guys may not even be the best players on the team.

Since Frank Haith’s arrival last offseason, Missouri has become a home for transfers seeking a fresh start after things didn’t work out at their initial stop. Some folks are referring to Mizzou as Transfer U. The label is fair. As many as four transfers are expected to either start or play major roles for the Tigers.

What’s interesting is that these aren’t your average, run-of-the-mill transfers. Forward Alex Oriakhi started on Connecticut’s 2011 NCAA championship team. And the other three were the best players on their respective rosters before deciding to take their talents elsewhere.

Guard Earnest Ross averaged a team-high 13.1 points for Auburn two years ago. Keion Bell, who is also a guard, scored 18.9 points per game for Pepperdine in 2010-11 before electing to leave. Sharpshooter Jabari Brown -- a consensus top-20 recruit -- earned a starting spot in Oregon’s lineup last season but quit the team after two games.

Bottom line: We know all of these guys can play because they’ve all proven it. The one exception is Brown, but he’s the most highly touted of the four. Brown, Bell and Ross practiced with the Tigers throughout last season, so it’s not as if they won’t be used to Haith’s schemes and coaching style. Oriakhi doesn’t arrive on campus until this summer, but the senior veteran should adapt quickly.

Along with its speed, quickness and prowess from long range, Missouri’s biggest attribute last season was its chemistry. Not many teams in the country operated as a unit quite like Mizzou. That cohesion will be hard to match in 2012-13.

Still, to me, this team is too talented -- and its players are too proven -- to leave the Tigers out of the top 15.

We got him. Let's see if he can deliver Memphis.

Mizzou got a commitment from 4 star PG Anton Beard, right in mike anderson's backyard in Little Rock, AR. Held offers from UConn, Georgetown, Marquette, Memphis, Tennessee, and Arkansas,

This guy looks like he's going to be really good.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketb...n-Beard-131230

Beard is the real deal.

Mizzou is arcing upward quickly in basketball.

That's the first big catch for our new recruiter.

Hog fan : http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=483914.0

LMA made a last ditch effort to convince Beard that they were related, but Beard didn't buy it.

Damn.

typical.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...issouri-tigers

Meh

The Tribune Article goes into greater detail and the story checks out. Dude was friends with a major booster because he rents the land for his stereo shop from said booster and they both love Mizzou hoops.

Major booster is allowed to purchase seats on the team airplane for major events (standard practice for most universities, in fact). He evidently bought them for a dude that sold some coke.

I'm not concerned.

Not sure how close the connection is, but he evidently played some AAU ball for the Memphis Thunder Elite before signing on with Team Thad last year.

Could he be a Ryan Miller signing?

I don't think theres any question. Hope this kid sticks. Two years is an eternity. Still, it's a huge coup for Miller. Kid sounds like a star.

oh shit. Now here's a reason to be a fan of Mizzou. Good find

It's official - Mizzou hires Dave Leitao as assistant coach.

Leitao is the former head coach of UVA and DePaul and was a long-time assistant under Calhoun at UConn.

Between Fuller, Miller, and Leitao, we now have one of the best coaching staffs in the country. It is damn impressive that so many top assistants want to come coach with Haith at Mizzou.

Lets see if he can land a monster right off the bat like Miller did.

http://www.mutigers.com/sports/m-bas...061512aag.html

"At UConn Leitao assisted in the recruitment of several future NBA performers including the likes of Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Emeka Okafor, Donyell Marshall, Clifford Robinson, Jake Voskuhl, Travis Knight, Scott Burrell, Caron Butler, Khalid El-Amin, Tate George, Donny Marshall and Kevin Ollie."

He was ACC coach of the year a while back.

This guy seems like a good find. Here's hoping he can help us find the type of talent that he did at UCONN.

Holy crap...how'd that guy get loose?

It points to Fuller being gone next year, IMO. Guys are lining up to jockey for that #2 gig when Fuller gets his head coaching job.

That is one hell of a staff that Haith's put together, though.

While I am excited about this hire I am concerned about losing Nestor. I truely think he was the key man in a lot of our success last year. I watched Haith coach at Miami and he was flat our terrible with Xs and Os. Nestor was known as a very smart guy with that portion of the game and I think he will truely be missed.

How are those we brought in at the Xs and Os?

Of the two I have heard and read a lot more about Leitao. It sounds like he will be able to help out in the spot but Nestor was such a wealth of knowledge for Haith to lean on. Miller was more of an advance scout and game prep guy and not so much an ingame adjustment guy. Miller was said to really help give his team an edge due to his prep work so hopefully Haith can use that info to set up a good gameplan.

Top 15 recruit D'Angelo Russell visited Ohio State, Indiana, and Louisville, but after his visit to Mizzou he had this to say:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...e-at-montverde

Recruits are lovin that move to the SEC.

Booker!
 

I would like to see him in a Mizzou uniform!

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/22...ar-melvin.html

Son of former MU star Booker isn't afraid of dad's large footsteps
Devin Booker, a four-star junior shooting guard from Moss Point, Miss., is intrigued by the idea of playing at his dad's alma mater.
By TEREZ A. PAYLOR
The Kansas City Star

COLUMBIA | Melvin Booker reached for the phone and saw it was his son, Devin. He quickly answered it, all the while hoping for the best.

It was the morning of June 15, the first day Division I basketball coaches are allowed to offer scholarships to soon-to-be juniors, and it turns out the younger Booker had just received a call they had both been waiting on for a very long time.

“He told me that Missouri had just called, and they offered him a scholarship,” Melvin said. “He was definitely excited."

With good reason. The offer officially opened the door for the high-scoring 6-foot-3 shooting guard – a four-star prospect who is rated by Rivals as the No. 31 overall player in the class of 2014 – to potentially follow in his father’s footsteps at Missouri, where he starred at point guard from 1991-1994.

“I had a lot of success there,” Melvin said, which just might be an understatement.

Melvin, who was named to Missouri’s Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999, is regarded as one of his alma mater’s all-time greats. A 6-foot-1 point guard, he averaged almost 14 points per game for his career and racked up 488 assists for the Tigers, the second most in school history behind Anthony Peeler (497). The pinnacle of Booker's career came in 1994, when he was named the Big Eight Player of the Year and led the Tigers to a 28-4 record and an appearance in the Elite Eight.

And make no mistake about it, the chance for Devin – who attends the same Mississippi high school his dad did and has also been offered by Arkansas, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Michigan – to follow his dad at Missouri was part of the recruiting pitch laid out by MU head coach Frank Haith and associate head coach Tim Fuller.

“We talked about following in my dad’s footsteps, though this experience will ultimately be about me,” said Devin, who (according to Rivals) averaged around 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game last season at Moss Point High School, where Melvin is currently an assistant coach.

“They said Missouri would love to have me,” Devin continued, “and that all the fans that supported my dad would support me.”

Don’t underestimate the power of that last pitch. Melvin said he comes back to Columbia with his son – who grew up wearing Missouri gear – once or twice a year, and it always feels like he never left.

“The biggest thing I got out of playing at Missouri is that Columbia became a second home to me,” Melvin said. “I was a kid who left a small town in Mississippi and went to the middle of Missouri, and those people embraced me. When I go back, the love I get from those fans and people, and the way they still remember certain games or situations from my career, that’s exciting. You can’t beat that.”

Devin is also struck by the way the way his father is received when he returns to Columbia.

“Every time we go up there, no matter where we are, people are like ‘Oh man, it’s Melvin Booker,” Devin said with a laugh. “People are waiting to get his autograph at halftime. It’s like he knows everyone there.

“It makes an impression.”

But while Melvin clearly has a lot of love in his heart for Missouri, he insists he won’t be directing his son to any school in particular.

“It would be nice to see him in a Missouri uniform,” Melvin said, “ and a lot of people assume he’s going to Missouri. When other schools call, that’s the first thing they ask – is he going there because you went there? I tell them he’ll go to Missouri if he wants to go to Missouri. It’s his choice.”

And for his part, Devin – who lived with his mother in Grand Rapids, Mich., until last year – said it’s way too early in the process to name a leader right now. Michigan would figure to be a contender for his services; he did grow up in that state, after all, only leaving to spend the summers with his dad, and a story done by Rivals.com noted his mom as a Wolverine fan.

However, Devin is adamant he has no leader right now, and is admittedly intrigued by the prospect of playing Missouri.

“Yeah, it is tempting, I can’t lie,” Devin said. “But whatever school best fits me is the one I’ll decide on. My dad isn’t going to make me go to Missouri. He just cares that school fits me.”

And right now, what Devin is looking for is a good academic institution and a coaching staff he feels comfortable with. He’s also looking for a big-time game day environment, and he wants to pick a place with a solid alumni network, just in case he doesn’t make the NBA.

“I actually haven’t been on Missouri’s campus and looked at the academics, but I heard it’s pretty good there,” Devin said. “And the coaching staff? I love them. I actually went to the KU game in Columbia and talked to coach Haith. I’ve been to three KU games and they were all crazy.

“They are in the top group,” Devin finally said, referring to Missouri. “That’s all I can say.”

And while a decision doesn’t seem to be on the horizon any time soon – the Bookers are just letting the offers roll in for now – Melvin thinks Devin will settle on a school before his senior year because the volume of calls and texts messages he’s getting from college coaches is already starting to wear on him.

Devin would only say that he expects to narrow his list of schools down after sometime after the fall.

“It’s hard to say it gets annoying because I used to be a kid wishing for this, and now it’s coming true,” Devin said of the constant attention. “I can’t really complain.”

And if Devin does, in fact, choose to go to Missouri, that would certainly be a storybook ending, at least for the fans who cheered for his father back in the day.

It would also seem to be the logical choice for a kid who wore his dad’s trademark No. 15 all the way until last year, when he thought about bringing his dad’s number out of retirement at Moss Point, but was ultimately forced to choose a different number because of a state rule that doesn’t allow retired numbers to be re-retired at a high school if they are returned to circulation.

Of course, Devin wouldn’t face the same problem at Missouri, where Melvin’s No. 15 remains in circulation and has since been worn by Josh Kroenke, Marshall Brown, Keith Ramsey and Kadeem Green.

“If he wants number 15, he can have it,” Melvin said. “Maybe they’ll put it in the rafters after he wears it.”

But when asked about the possibility, Devin shot it down, saying he’s grown accustomed to the No. 2 he currently wears at Moss Point.

“I don’t think I’ll wear his number in college,” Devin said. “I think I’ll carry on my own number.”

Then, a moment passes, and you can almost imagine the sentimentality of following in his dad’s footsteps wash over him.

“But if I picked Missouri,” Devin said, “I’d think about it.”

To reach Terez A. Paylor, call 816-234-4489 or send email to tpaylor@kcstar.com. Follow him at twitter.com/TerezPaylor.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/29...ot-dealer.html

Selling "Original Whizzanators" on the KU campus could be profitable

One team has a drug dealer and goes to the Final Four. The other has a drug dealer and ends up with the worst lost in the history of NCAA Tournament Basketball.

Like I said, good reasons to like both teams.

2012-13 SEC Power Rankings

The Kentucky Wildcats are national champions but not No. 1 in the rankings


Updated: July 26, 2012, 8:32 PM ET
<cite class="source"> By Doug Gottlieb | ESPN Insider</cite>

• 93
• Email

As part of our summer preview series, ESPN Insider experts have been doing Power Rankings for the "big six" conferences and the best non-"big six" teams for the upcoming season.
The series concludes today with the SEC.
http://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/ncaa/sml/142.gif 1. Missouri Tigers

The Tigers and their band of transfers will need to count on the tiny but veteran backcourt of Phil Pressey and Michael Dixon this season. Pressey should start the season as the best point guard in the SEC, so his return is huge for Mizzou.
Alex Oriakhi should be far better outside of the toxic environment of last season's Connecticut Huskies club, and he also provides championship experience. If Jabari Brown and Keion Bell have refined their games enough, and the rabid Missouri fan base shows up consistently, the Tigers will be close to unbeatable at home.

lolwut? let's hope so.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eqS8-y0wWgk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

can't wait for this guy next year... starting... who do yall think will get the 3 spot and ultimately the 6th man?

i think bell will play more like a dixon type role from this past year.. sort of like a specialized energizer and what seems to be somebody claiming a captain role. dude has got hops and from what i heard has above average shooting ability as well...

ross on the other hand is bigger of course and could prob play the 2,3, and 4... just beast..

with that said i think bell is 6th man and gets somewhat close to the minutes dixon had last year and i think ross is our starting small forward...

The SEC basketball schedule was released today. Here is Mizzou's schedule:

Bama - ESPN
at Ole Miss
UGA
at UF - ESPN
SC - ESPNU
Vandy - ESPNU
at LSU
Auburn
at A&M - ESPN/2
Ole Miss - CBS Sports
at MSU
at Arky - ESPN/2
UF - ESPN
at UK - ESPN
at SC - ESPN/2
LSU
Arky - ESPN
at UT - ESPN/2

http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NEW...-schedule.aspx

Home and home with Florida, Arky, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and LSU.

At first glance, this schedule sets up well for us. The only obvious games we won't be favored are at Kentucky and Florida.

Saw this thread title and immediately started laughing.