
The Morning Commute for Friday, December 13th, 2024
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The portal giveth, the portal taketh away. By now you’ve seen the news about last years recruiting class gem, Williams Nwaneri, entering the transfer portal after just one barely noticeable season. And perhaps by now you’ve seen his landing spot, which if you’re paying attention should come as no surprise.
Nwaneri chose to reunite with his former high school coach, Jamar Mozee, who took a job at Nebraska this past offseason. Mozee was the head coach at Lee’s Summit North from 2015 through the 2023 season and then landed at Nebraska after a (very) brief stint at UCF.
Losing Nwaneri is disappointing only because of the hype that came with him after the commitment last year. Losing him to his high school coach is understandable, and I refuse to get upset about all the tampering that was certainly going on over the last few months. My general take on tampering is that everyone is doing it, and if you want to get it out of the game you need better contracts. And even then it still happens.
Missouri hasn’t really had to deal with a lot of surprising exits in the portal over the years. If you’ve watched what’s going on at other schools, the Tigers are doing really well actually. Nwaneri’s signing was always about his potential and now we’ll see if he fulfills that potential somewhere else. But his actual impact to the roster this past season was a paltry 38 snaps. That, overall, won’t be missed.
Not that Mizzou doesn’t have spots to fill. If you click the last link you’ll see what’s leaving. However there are a lot of young and talented DEs who were already getting snaps ahead of Nwaneri. And guys who will be back next year. At least for now. The portal giveth, the portal taketh away.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
- The 2025 schedule was released and we let Quentin tell you about it and provide some takeaways:
For the first time in program history, Mizzou will play not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six home games to start the season. The Tigers won’t leave Missouri until the weekend of Oct. 18, when they play Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium in what will hopefully be a less clunky contest than the one in 2022.
Beat TF out of kU like by 60 points it’s never enough.
- Of course we’re talking about portal season, so Dan Keegan looked at the early contenders for who could replace Brady Cook:
By now we know Miller Moss is the staff’s #1 choice. They had him on campus the day the portal opened, and have made a big push to land the former Trojan. Moss is exciting for a few reasons, not least of which is an excellent arm that could really allow Mizzou’s passing game to blossom. He also has only one year of eligibility left, a perfect “bridge” quarterback into the next era.
It does feel like there are a lot of eggs in the Moss basket and maybe there should be a few less eggs in that basket?
- Of course there’s the bad news… Mizzou Volleyball’s 2024 season came to a close with a loss to the nemesis Kentucky in 4 sets. A disappointing finish to a fantastic season… if only we could find a way to beat Kentucky…
One of the hallmarks of this program under Sullivan, which has allowed the team to reach new heights so quickly, has been the bond between players.
“With the culture Mizzou has, we have a sisterhood, and I think that it’s going to continue to be that way,” said Mychael Vernon, “Because stepping in, I could see that it was that way as soon as I stepped into Missouri.”
Matthew has done a fantastic job covering the Volleyball squad this season, and I hope you all followed along. I like that the
- Over at Rock M+, Matt Harris did a little dive into Mizzou Hoops rim finishing:
From a macro perspective, Mizzou’s rim finishing shouldn’t stir concern. The program ranks 41st in attempts per game and second nationally in efficiency. Even against high-major foes, that efficiency (1.506 PPS) remains stable. But when we isolate shots taken in the half-court, the Tigers average just 1.186 points per shot versus quality competition – or the equivalent of 226th in D1.
I don’t know if anyone reads this far, but if you’re a Mizzou basketball fan and not on RM+ you’re missing out. As evidenced by this weeks Verdict also, which we opened up free for all.
Rock M Radio: Before the Box Score is talking portal
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