For the first time in years, all the pieces are falling perfectly into place for Mizzou basketball.
The strange domino effect started with the firing of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar, almost 2,000 miles northwest of Columbia. Romar’s dismissal prompted ESPN’s No. 1 recruit Michael Porter Jr. to ask for his release from Washington and ultimately to flip his commitment to Missouri.
Suddenly, the floundering Tigers program looks very much alive.
With Porter Jr. on board, Mizzou has turned its attention to recruiting more players to round out this year’s class and complement the veterans already in place. Porter Jr. is an unparalleled asset in this area. Unlike his Mizzou coaches, Porter Jr. can contact recruits as often as he wants, and players are listening. Since his commitment, Porter Jr. has helped stir interest in Mizzou from undecided All-Americans and victims of recent coaching changes alike.
This brings us to the weekend of April 8, arguably the biggest recruiting visit in Mizzou Athletics history. ESPN’s No. 7 recruit Kevin Knox and No. 99 recruit Blake Harris traveled to Columbia for official visits, joined by none other than Porter Jr. It was rumored that No. 41 recruit Jeremiah Tilmon would join them, but he wasn’t released from his national letter of intent until Tuesday.
Knox was taking his fifth and final official visit after visiting bluebloods Duke (considered a strong favorite), Kentucky and North Carolina, as well as Florida State (Knox is from Tampa and both his parents were athletes for the Seminoles). Harris, who is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was committed to play with Porter Jr. at Washington before the firing of Romar. Harris had since released a new top-five of Connecticut, North Carolina State, Michigan State, Rutgers and Missouri. The Spartans were projected to have the inside track.
The stage was set, but it was unknown what kind of an impact the Tigers could have on the decision of these blue-chip recruits.
At the end of the day, Missouri was still a program that had just overhauled its coaching staff after only 27 wins in three seasons, and top prospects tend to place high value on program stability. On top of that, home attendance has been declining sharply for four years. It’s tough to pitch empty seats at Mizzou Arena to players who are considering offers from basketball-crazed schools like Duke and Michigan State.
But this weekend was different. Mizzou students, many of whom have ignored the basketball team almost completely since stepping on campus, came out of the woodwork in full force to show how starved the school is for what could become a legendary team.
Fraternities hung banners from their houses to pronounce what they hope will become some sort of dream team. From the Quad to Greektown and everywhere in between, students stopped the trio of recruits to pose for pictures — one lucky student even tossed a football with Harris. And everywhere the recruits went, chants of “M-I-Z! Z-O-U!” followed.
On top of that, the recruits toured the athletic facilities, watched the team practice, met head coach Cuonzo Martin and even shot around on Norm Stewart Court — all while wearing Mizzou jerseys. By the time the visit was over, Harris was ready to commit.
“It was the best fan base I’ve ever seen,” Harris later said in an interview with the Columbia Tribune. Harris also said in an interview with PowerMizzou.com that Porter Jr. and Knox told him they hadn’t been treated this way at any other school.
Because of his commitment to Mizzou, Harris has since canceled his other official visits. Meanwhile, Knox, who was supposedly visiting Mizzou only because he had one visit to use, has pushed back his decision from sometime this week to the end of the month. Perhaps Mizzou has slid their way into the competition for Knox’s services.
In addition, the Tigers are reportedly expected to be a very strong contender in the fight for the now uncommitted Tilmon.
This was expected to be the first season of a hefty rebuild for Martin’s squad, but if this past weekend was any indicator, it may feel more like a flashback to Norm Stewart’s heyday.
The administration, coaching staff and fans are all in place. So is a veteran core and a generational talent. In the coming weeks, a couple of high school students will decide if they are ready to be the final pieces to the puzzle.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_
