http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/...100k-in-damage

http://media2.kshb.com/photo/2017/06....0_640_480.jpg

COLUMBIA, Mo. - A 23-year-old MU employee has lost his job and now faces criminal charges after crashing into Mizzou Arena with a Vokswagen and driving the vehicle onto the court over the weekend.

Police confirmed Monday Nathaniel Conant turned himself in Sunday afternoon in connection to a joy ride on the University of Missouri campus in which he's accused of crashing through the Mizzou Arena media gate, through a second garage door and onto the basketball court.

Police estimate Conant's alleged crash course through the facility caused at least $100,000 in damage.

Major Brian Weimer with MUPD says the driver went through a garage door in the back dock area and damaged several golf carts before heading onto the court, where the tires left skid marks in multiple places.


Deadly wreck outside Blue Valley Northwest High School
After exiting through the same dock entrance, the driver is accused of smashing through a second gate near the stadium and fleeing.

Conant is a December 2016 university graduate, and had a job with the university until this incident.

A spokesperson confirmed to the Kansas City Star that Conant had worked in a behind-the-scenes media role for the Tigers' athletics department.

The suspect apparently turned himself a few hours after police learned of the incident, and authorities have since charged him with second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage. He posted $10,500 bond and the jail released him Sunday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

At least Mizzou finally found one dude who can drive the lane and take it to the hoop...

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...14866f1727.gif

https://media.giphy.com/media/PE4WSiOe55HuE/giphy.gif

I can only assume this is the one guy still in Columbia who was mad they canned the most incompetent coach in Missouri and potentially NCAA history.


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Mosbonians grandson.

LMAO

Has anyone posted pictures of the court yet? I want to see the skid marks on the court.


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Friend of Jon Gilliam?

Picture of skid mark on the Missouri court. It's been there for the last three years -

http://georgiabasketballblog.com/wp-...7e1c394c4b.png

Son O' Prison Bitch

This one wins.

Columbia Tribune did...

Knicks could tank to land this likely No. 1 pick in ’18 NBA Draft

http://nypost.com/2017/07/05/knicks-...-18-nba-draft/

ORLANDO, Fla. — “Plummet for Porter.’’

That could turn into the unofficial motto for the 2017-18 Knicks sooner than later. If you haven’t heard of him yet, that’s Missouri 6-foot-10 freshman combo forward Michael Porter Jr., expected to be the top pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

“He’s a game-changer,’’ one NBA executive told The Post. “This year was a good draft, not sure yet there was a game-changer.’’

Nobody from the Knicks organization — especially coach Jeff Hornacek — will use the word “tanking” about next season, but if it smells like Sam Hinkie’s signature “Process’’ with the 76ers, it likely is.

According to multiple sources who have spoken to members of the organization, Knicks acting president Steve Mills is all in for a youth movement, except at point guard, where they are attempting to find a veteran mentor for 18-year-old Frenchman Frank Ntilikina.

“The focus is on young players, but they still need some veteran presence,’’ said one team executive who has spoken to Knicks officials. “They’re waiting to see where there are good young players that would take shorter deals. The focus is definitely on building around young guys.’’

The timing isn’t great — four straight years out of the playoffs before contemplating a complete rebuild. But they are stuck in between, with a share of veterans, but not a roster good enough to do anything beyond an eighth seed at very best. Hence, the attempt to trade Carmelo Anthony, 33, even after Phil Jackson’s ouster.

Dormant in free agency across the first four days, Mills even let their 29-year-old backup shooting guard Justin Holiday skip away on a two-year, $9 million pact. The Knicks didn’t have to eat 2017 cap space to re-sign him because of the Bird exception. But Mills didn’t want Holiday stealing away 2018 space.

Mills is in Orlando, looking at possibly clearing the decks for 2018 and 2019 free agency, according to sources.

If free agency dries up for the Knicks (they still are in the forward mix for Phoenix’s Alan Williams and San Antonio’s Jonathan Simmons, a pair of restricted free agents), a league source said they would look at a trade to fill in their cap space.

The Knicks aren’t handing out lavish multi-year deals and reportedly don’t want to take on any long-term contracts, such as Ryan Anderson’s (three years, $60 million left) in an Anthony trade with the Rockets. Therefore, a deal with Houston would require three to four teams.

“If the Knicks are going to win 35 games next season, might as well do it with young players, fill the roster out with young guys,’’ said one NBA source who has talked to the Knicks.

If Ntilikina is ready to start, he wasn’t able to show it at Orlando summer league. He is likely to miss all five games. The coaching staff doesn’t have much of a read on him. Because Ntilikina’s French team, Strasbourg, made its league final, he wasn’t able to work out for any NBA teams before the draft. Hornacek admitted over the weekend, “I haven’t even seen Frank play.’’

Ntilikina said Monday he would enjoy having Derrick Rose as a mentor, but the former Bull is still looking for a bigger payday than what the Knicks and Bucks care to spend. Rose is expected to meet with the Clippers, who have an $8.3 million mid-level exception, according to ESPN. The Knicks will not go for more than a one-year deal. The Bucks only have their $8.3 million mid-level exception and would either have to dump salary or execute a sign-and-trade with the Knicks, who like Bucks point guard Matthew Dellavedova, whom they almost drafted in 2013.

Everything’s fluid pending Anthony’s situation. Anthony sees the “writing on the wall’’ regarding the team’s direction.

With enough veterans, the Knicks’ tank job can change if they hit a jackpot in a trade and keep Anthony, but it’s a long shot. During the NBA Draft Combine, Jackson laid out why Anthony should want to leave. The Zen Master said the Knicks “may or may not make the playoffs.’’

This statement comes one summer after Jackson became Florida’s top salesman in the opening days of July, hammering out free-agent deals in Orlando for Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings.

Now Mills has looked into salary dumps for their starting shooting guard Lee, Noah and Kyle O’Quinn. (Jennings was waived in February.) The Sixers, ready for a playoff run, offered Lee a contract last summer and have some interest in him even after inking J.J. Redick, according to a source.

“I think we’re just trying to put the best team out there we can,’’ Hornacek said. “Whether it’s a rebuild or not a rebuild, veteran guys, how it’s going to shake out. We do have several good young players that we hope develop. You saw the development of Willy [Hernangomez]. [Kristaps Porzingis] is only 22. Ron Baker stepped it up and is improving. We got Frank coming in as an 18-year-old. We got some young guys that we can grow with. It all depends on who fills the other spots.’’

Of course, the new boss may have final say. But here’s a word of advice for Knicks fans: Look into getting the SEC package. Watch some Mizzou hoops this winter.

That could literally take minutes to clean up.

I'm hoping Porter ends up on the Celtics.


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In the most poorly disguised secret of all time, Jontay appears almost certain to re-classify

https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...i-this-season/

That's pretty exciting. He's an ideal Big in a spread system because you don't give up anything on D and his all-around offensive skill gives you matchup advantages.


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Hopefully this team can drag MU out of it's funk brought on by the past few years. This whole region, Columbia/Boone County, is feeling the pain economically of MU's current state.

I've just moved back after living in Lawrence, KS for 3 years. I need to watch good college football, and I need to see some actual basketball coming out of Mizzou Arena. I lived less than 1/2 mile from Allen Fieldhouse, and I would love to see crowds of that size going to Mizzou bball games.

I'm starting to work up a little basketball chub. Haven't had one since Kimmy English...

<iframe width="330" height="490" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/chYLDZ0jUic" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Class of &#39;17 here I come �� <a href="https://t.co/qKGARgEcBi">pic.twitter.com/qKGARgEcBi</a></p>&mdash; Jontay Porter (@JontayPorter) <a href="https://twitter.com/JontayPorter/status/895448139150147584">August 10, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

NIT

I'm tryna make the trip for the Iowa State game.

Got my season tickets months ago.

Should be a hell of a lot of fun.

Is mu's entire starting lineup new?

Terrence Phillips will likely start all year. Either Kevin Puryear or Jordan Barnett will start (I'm hoping for Barnett). Other than that: new.

And I think/hope Puryear, Barnett, and Phillips are the only holdovers who crack the top 8 rotation.


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Are you saying we may never have to see KJ Walton drive the lane and spin into a turnover 5 times a night? That we don't get to see 3-point-specialist Cullen VanLeer shoot 15% from deep? No more semi-weekly fights instigated by Geist? Who is this Mizzou team?

That was a pass to the guy in the third row. He was wide open.

If you watch any games at Ball State, you might have to watch Walton.

VanLeer will probably still see the court more than Id like (which is never again). Same with Geist.

Hopefully, their playing time is extremely limited and really only comes up during the early part of the season, while Harris/Roberts acclimate to the game.


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I'd like to see Mizzou bring back Alex Oriakhi for Midnight Madness, if only so that he could give VanLeer a AA-spinebuster right at mid-court.

http://i.imgur.com/TI7MkKY.gif

Don't expect more than a 8 man rotation out of Zo.

I don't see how Van Leer sees more than 2-3 minutes a game given Robertson's arrival, and that Phillips, Roberts, and Harris are all better options, even with Harris and Roberts running point.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is about to be exciting <a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouHoops">@MizzouHoops</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mi55O?src=hash">#Mi55O</a> <a href="https://t.co/vqXuo5d14J">pic.twitter.com/vqXuo5d14J</a></p>&mdash; Blake Harris (@blizzyblake55_) <a href="https://twitter.com/blizzyblake55_/status/896081550273531904">August 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Holy shit - is that Jontay?

Eat so many dicks, Lavar - Porter spawn is where it's at...

That's Harris.

He's a freak athlete.


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Yeah, I wondered if it was but I could swear that jersey says 11.

If Harris is throwing that down...lord. That's incredible.

It's from a few weeks or maybe even a month ago. It's Harris.

I think he's going to be a phenomenal lead guard, maybe as soon as next year. He's 6-2, long, and a crazy athlete. Throw in the vision and creativity, and he's got the potential to be Mizzou's most dynamic all-around guard since Keyon Dooling.

That 18-19 squad will be without Michael Porter, Jr, but Phillips-Harris-??-Porter-Tilmon looks pretty tasty. Just need to add a true wing or 2, mostly for defensive reasons.


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I disagree that none of our returning players "matter"

Phillips, Barnett, and Puryear will be key contributors. I'm excited to see how they play on a team with legitimate talent

I think they get discounted because of the record but imho they are a big key to the season. National experts discount them when they are asked how good is Mizzou going to be & rank them as a top 40 team.

Barnett?

Barnett's eligibility is finished after this season.

It's one area where the 2018 recruiting could really use a bump. So far, they've got a few developmental types committed, but nobody ready to start for a top 25 caliber team.

Maybe they can work the grad transfer market for that, though.

A 6-4/6-5 who can defend shoot 3s would make that roster incredibly dangerous.


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Ah, totally missed you saying 18-19. Was thinking 17-18.

NIT

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From Chapel Hill... <br><br>He wears #️⃣5️⃣5️⃣... <br><br>He is... <a href="https://twitter.com/blizzyblake55_">@blizzyblake55_</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash">#MIZ</a> 🐯🏀 <a href="https://t.co/MTNGiSkEOu">pic.twitter.com/MTNGiSkEOu</a></p>&mdash; Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouHoops/status/897852839417962498">August 16, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From East St. Louis... <br><br>He wears #️⃣2️⃣3️⃣... <br><br>He is... <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremiahtilmon_">@jeremiahtilmon_</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash">#MIZ</a> 🐯🏀 <a href="https://t.co/geV4jQ1vpG">pic.twitter.com/geV4jQ1vpG</a></p>&mdash; Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouHoops/status/897202546573430784">August 14, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From Irving, Texas... <br><br>He wears #️⃣0️⃣... <br><br>He is... <a href="https://twitter.com/CJRoberts_0">@CJRoberts_0</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash">#MIZ</a> 🐯🏀 <a href="https://t.co/W37Yo43kmh">pic.twitter.com/W37Yo43kmh</a></p>&mdash; Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouHoops/status/896035098780286980">August 11, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="de" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NCAAB?src=hash">#NCAAB</a> futures:<br><br>DUKE +500<br>MIST +650<br>ARIZ +800<br>UK +900<br>KAN +1600<br>UNC/LOU/MIZZ +2000<br>WICH/USC +2500<br>NOVA/TEX +2800<br>UF/MICH +3300<br>ZAGA +4000</p>&mdash; OddsShark (@OddsShark) <a href="https://twitter.com/OddsShark/status/897669345287041024">August 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Home🏀🐯 <a href="https://t.co/EJu1qlXFMC">pic.twitter.com/EJu1qlXFMC</a></p>&mdash; Torrence Watson (@TorrenceWatson) <a href="https://twitter.com/TorrenceWatson/status/906310400676962304">September 9, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

They're going to get Carte'are Gordon, too.

I was dead wrong about Martin's cache in the St. Louis area. He's just as much of a factor there as his protractors said he would be (to be fair, the same people were saying Corey Tate and Demontie Cross would allow Mizzou to dominate there, too).

Throw in the major shift in offensive philosophy, and my worries about Martin have all faded away.

The 18-19 Tigers are going to feature 3 top 40 players on the interior, all of whom were 5-stars at one point or another. Sexy.


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I don't know. There appears to be smoke around Gordon, but I don't know that there is fire.

That's because the fire is in a hooded lantern.

They'll remove the hood and the fire will become fully evident.

And there will be much rejoicing.


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And by most accounts, Martin has the '19 class in great shape as well.

The Tigers could well have 3 consecutive top 10 recruiting classes in Cuonzo's first year.

I still can't believe we hired Kermit instead of this guy. Hell, I was mad enough when he hired Haith instead of him. It took awhile, but this was the guy they've needed here for a long time.

I told you guys to hire him years ago


Did you listen? Oh hell no

Don't blame us. That blame falls on the dumb ****s in charge and to a lesser degree all of the old timers who are more interested in hiring a nobody has been than someone who is actually good (i.e. That Mosbonian doofus).

It's time to lay off Mosbonian, IMO. Anderson is long gone.

I'll eat crow on this.

I never believed he would recruit this well in St. Louis. I've seen too many supposed fixes fail there (getting rid of Stewart, hiring Corey Tate, hiring DeMontie Cross, etc.).

He definitely would have been superior to Kim Anderson, which isn't saying a ton.

A big part of it, too, is his willingness to change his offense. That's probably the biggest transformation for me, because I think he wasted a lot of talent at Tennessee and Cal because the offensive approach was bad.




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I started the 'Mizzou Coaching Search' thread when we hired Frank Haith. The OP contained my official endorsement of Cuonzo Martin.

Then we hired Frank Haith so I removed myself from consideration for future Coaching Search threads (that and I was taking my year long sabbatical from the board for the Anderson debacle, IIRC).

I got myself hot and bothered over the possibility of Crean but was always fine with the possibility of Cuonzo. Then he started giving interviews and actually discussed basketball substance instead of Haith's canned "we're gonna play a winning style of basketball" bullshit.

His track record of underperformance in-season makes one take pause, but there's no reason right now to be anything but excited about Cuonzo Martin and that's the first time we've been able to say that about a hire since Quinn Snyder.

My track record on coaching searches is:

2006: Gregg Marshall was on my list, not my top guy, but I remember him being one of them I was looking at

2011- I was 100 percent Gregg Marshall at this point.

2014 - Knew Marshall was out. My No. 1 was Chris Mack, who Alden was too chickenshit to pursue following the Painter situation.


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Oh, and I was all Team Crean this last time.


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Thing is, yeah he's underachieved a bit. I'm not sure he's the guy that actually wins the big thing at MU. He will get the program back to where it could be and should be with the actual basketball recruiting bed it sits in. Dunno that he can coach it over the top but I'm a fan of his.

Problem with MU fans I know and maybe this is a minority, but they don't or didn't realize how bad the program actually is/was. Respectable program was a was off from where they were

Even when they got MPJ, I was trying to temper expectations. I think I was hoping for 16 wins; I just didn't see where they could find the juice to get 22+ victories.

But damn, the guy's made it hard to not get excited. MPJ is by no means an afterthought but with everything that happened in such quick succession afterwards (locking down Roberts, snagging Harris/Tilmon, even getting in the door on Knox, getting Robertson signed on) and the trickle of big news since with Jontay, Watson and the smoke behind Carter and progress on the '19 class...g'damn! You can take MJP out of the equation altogether and this has been a hell of a lot of fun (not literally; he was the anchor that made it possible - but figuratively).

My position on Cuonzo prior to the spring was that he'd do exactly what you suggested - get this team back to relevant. Not great, but 20-22 wins with regularity; an occasional Sweet 16 run and in the tournament more often than not. A nice, solid team that's at least not a national embarassment.

It may turn out that's still his ceiling but he's brought in the talent to hit that ceiling in year 1 vs. what would've been year 3-4 with even an okay spring.

It's how quickly he's yielded respectability that is so amazing. The ceiling remains an open question but man, it's going to be fun to have games that matter again. If this team can steal some ugly Ws early in the season while they're learning how to play together it could make all the difference in the world. A 10-3 non-con slate shouldn't be an unrealistic goal and if they can get there, it sets them up for a nice run at a tourney berth. But if they spin out a bit early and come into conference play at 7-6, they'll have a damn steep hill to climb and I don't see them getting there. They'll probably be in that 18 win range at that point.

It's always been a bit of a schock to me that the basketball program in Columbia isn't better tbh. Simply due to the recruiting base it potentially has, the state of Missouri puts out some damn good basketball players.

A relevant and good program has a good chance to land these guys. Now I don't know that they'll always be able to pull the Porters and Hansbrough type players but they should have the opportunity atleast and Cuonzo brings that

Now you're just having the same conversation (argument) that many of us have had with the idiot blue hairs that wanted to go back to the good ol' days of Norm.

The Good Ol' Days yielded Norm Stewart pissing off the entire St. Louis area and MU trying to put together quality classes while getting no help from its most fertile local area. People kept wondering why he couldn't get to the Final 4 and the answer was almost invariably that he was a player short when the rubber hit the road.

Stewart's as much to blame as anyone for Mizzou's St. Louis problem. And as Duncan noted, there have been a couple 'saviors' since him. Here's hoping that Cuonzo can finally un**** that situation.

And when he does, it will be because the 'good ol' days' have been mercifully sent to live on a farm. The sooner we can distance this program from the Stewart era, the better.

Well, yeah, probably. I know that was a "good" era in MU history and he was a good coach, but time has a funny way of making guys look different. In any manner, Cuonzo has them on a good path out of the woods. I'm excited to see Porter.

The long issue with Mizzou hoops has been that it should land a top 20-25 recruiting class basically every year, with a top 10-15 class sprinkled in here and there, if it was getting its fair share of the in-state and regional talent.

That should result in a team that is top 25 most years, with a rebuilding year every 3-5 years that results in a bubble/NIt team, a couple teams good enough a decade to compete for a league title and a Sweet 16 run, and solid tourney teams the rest of the time.

But the program has never been that for long periods. Norm Stewart had a few stretches here and there, but his whole tenure wasn't that.

Martin's recruiting looks like he is capable of pulling in those types of recruiting classes and maybe more.

If his coaching improves on offense enough, the results should start to match. Exciting.


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Also: I will double-down on that Carte'are Gordon comment.


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This is an underrated issue, IMO. It may have served Missouri best to hire him now, given his willingness to change.

****Official 2017-2018 Missouri Tigers Basketball Thread****
 

That would be huge.

St Louis is the key to Mizzou basketball.

Didn't somebody tell you that. :harumph:

Some did.

Problem was, there were no facts that could be pointed to as evidence. It was all based on feel.

It's still weird to me he didn't work those connections while at Tennessee or SMS.


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MSU

4 of his 11 high school recruits were from the St. Louis metro during his time at Missouri State. 5th was Otto Porter's cousin from the bootheel.

I see 3/12 on 247. Is there a transfer in there I'm missing, or are you counting Versailles or Miller as part of the metro?


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Martin was the right hire this time, but it doesn't mean that he was the right guy six years ago or three, even if he was clearly a superior choice to Haith or Anderson. Sometimes guys need to fail and struggle to improve. That might also be the problem with Odom. He might be a good coach, but he might not be a good coach yet.

Deron Hobbs - Vashon
Jerome Jones - Miller Career Academy (its somewhere around SLU or Forest Park I think)
Keith Pickens - Oakville
Nathan Scheer - Borgia

Also Otto Porter loved Zo. Kept Missouri State in his top schools a lot longer than he should have because of that relationship.

This seems like a sadly inescapable conclusion.

10 years from now I worry that Odom will be a damn good coach somewhere after taking some lumps for awhile at a mid-major. But it won't be here. The ground beneath him just will not firm up and he doesn't seem equipped to fix it on his own.

Damn he could've used some time at a non Power 5 school. Maybe a lower level FBS squad; MAC team kind of apprenticeship. This is just too much, too fast.

The Mack Rhoades Corollary: if Mack Rhoades is involved in the decision, it will end poorly.

Jones is the one I wasn't counting. I took that as Miller, Mo, which is in the southwest corner of the state.

Still seems weird that a guy with Martin's level of impact in St Louis now wasn't getting more guys like Scheer, at his level, out of St. Louis, than he did.

But cest la vie


Like Memphis?

He would have taken that job, most likely, had he not gotten Mizzou... if he hadn't taken a D.C. Job at a SEC school. He would have had a few options there, too.



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