Missouri Basketball: Tigers headed for another rough campaign

Waves of transfers have obliterated Missouri basketball’s stability and potential.

In just three seasons, Missouri basketball has lost all their top players. Whether it’s Johnathan Williams or Montaque Gill-Caesar, this turnover has destroyed head coach Kim Anderson’s efforts to create a stable developmental environment for his young players.

This year is no different as five players transferred and one graduated. The team has fallen a long way since Mike Anderson led the Tigers to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2008-2011.

Just six guys from a 10-21 campaign return, so all eyes will be on the few that remain. Eight new players will join them in an effort to crawl out of the SEC’s basement.

Of the backcourt incumbents, sophomore point guard Terrence Phillips will lead the charge. The 5’11” dynamo from Orange County, CA did a little bit of everything last season to the tune of 7.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. More consistency in year two can only make him more dangerous.

Fellow sophomores K.J. Walton and Cullen VanLeer will battle for the starting shooting guard spot, but both will play a lot.

Just sophomore Devin Puryear returns as a productive front court guy. At 6’7″, he is a supremely undersized center, but nobody else on the roster has a lot of experience near the hoop.

Lone senior Russell Woods played in 29 games last year, but averaged just 2.8 points in 13 minutes an evening. With little depth among forwards, it’s a good thing that three of the incoming freshman stand 6’10” or taller.

That brings us to the huge recruiting class coming to Columbia this season.

The headliner is easily Texas transfer Jordan Barnett. The former Longhorn averaged just 4.3 points for UT, but gives Mizzou a decent amount of high-major experience when he regains eligibility in December.

After him, freshmen (and high school teammates) Willie Jackson and Frankie Hughes look promising on the perimeter. Jordan Geist from Ranger [TX] College also adds depth outside.

Of the forwards, Reed Nikko from Maple Grove, MN has the heftiest body at 250 pounds, but Mitchell Smith has slightly higher overall rankings. Both are sorely needed this season. 6’10” Jakoby Kemp and Manhattan transfer Trevor Glassman round out the class.

The SEC won’t have a ton of NCAA Tournament caliber teams, but that certainly won’t help the youthful Tigers fight their way out of the SEC basement. It is just too difficult to imagine five contributing sophomores, one senior, and eight new faces (five of whom are freshmen) doing much better than a bottom-three finish in the conference.

Coach Anderson is just 19-44 in two seasons. It is worth seeing if he can truly rebuild Missouri basketball, but his seat is growing ever hotter down in Columbia.