4/4/2024 basketball Edit

King's Court: A quiet few weeks for the Tigers, plus March Madness thoughts

Drew King • PowerMizzou

Basketball Writer

There hasn’t been much news on the transfer portal front for Missouri. Jesus Carralero Martin made his exit official but we knew that was happening weeks ago. So, we continue to wait — not just to see who else the Tigers show interest in but also to see who else moves on.

A glance at the roster math again: Mizzou graduated four seniors and saw another two players enter the portal. They’ve got five freshmen plus Tennessee Martin transfer Jacob Crews set to come in. That’s an even swap, six for six. If the team is supposed to add another three to four more newcomers like we’re expecting, that means another three to four guys have to come off scholarship, either by departing through the portal or by accepting an NIL-only deal.

I’m not going to speculate on who’s most likely to leave. But somebody (and realistically, multiple somebodies) will be leaving. And so, we wait.

In the meantime, let’s talk about other things happening in college basketball.

Missouri hired an assistant coach.

I don’t know too much about Rob Summers other than what I wrote on Tuesday to be completely honest. He’s from Columbus, Ohio, like my dad, and that’s enough for me to say I like the hire.

Part of me is sad because of what it means for Dickey Nutt. Mizzou was the first high-major school that gave him the title of assistant coach since he was with Oklahoma State in the 1980s. He’d worked a long time to get back to that spot. And he didn’t do anything wrong to lose that role. His health just got in the way. Part of me understands the need for him to take a back seat. I just hate that it’s a need in the first place.

That being said, I think Summers is a logical addition to the staff. He’s worked with Dennis Gates before, knows the system he likes to run, had success with him at Cleveland State. And like Gates said in the press release announcing the news, he specializes in post development.

Summers himself is 7-foot and played for Penn State and West Virginia. He knows what it means to be a big man at a big school. That seems especially relevant for the likes of potential returners Aidan Shaw, Jordan Butler and Trent Pierce, incoming freshmen Trent Burns and Peyton Marshall and any other frontcourt transfers the Tigers bring in. (Side note, I texted my dad that side-by-side photo of Marshall on Wednesday. His response: “Could be a whole new ballgame if he can play and stay out of foul trouble.”)

There’s a good chance I’m reading too much into it, but I also think it’s notable that Summers was the one tapped to fill Nutt’s spot on the bench. I don’t think anyone would’ve blamed Gates for going off the board and bringing in an “outside” hire after the way this season went just to shake things up a little. Instead, he brought in the top assistant from his previous staff. I think it shows that Gates is digging his heels in. Win or lose, he’s not going to change much.

The men’s NCAA tournament has been fun!

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