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1) I’m going to start with women’s basketball because, frankly, Sophie Cunningham deserves that. You don’t get a lot of chances to say you saw the best at something. I think I’d say it about Chase Daniel, but some would argue Phil Bradley. People that saw Derrick Chievous or Anthony Peelerplay would argue for those guys, but some would say Willie Smith or Steve Stipanovich or John Brown. I really don’t think there’s an argument with Sophie. She’s the leading scorer in school history. She’s a three-time all-SEC first-teamer. She took a program that hadn’t been to an NCAA Tournament in nine years to four in a row. Maybe someone can argue against her as the best player in school history…but I’d disagree.

2) Mitchell Forde did a great job wrapping up the game, the season and her career. And that really was the story on Sunday. The game was over with about eight minutes to play and there wasn’t a whole lot of drama, so from the Mizzou perspective, it was about looking at what Sophie (and to a lesser extent Cierra Porter and Lauren Aldridge) meant to this program. As an athlete, I don’t know how you can be paid a higher compliment than to have your teammates say what Jordan Roundtree said about Cunningham: “Sophie Cunningham has changed the city of Columbia forever. She really, really has. And that kind of impact is just hard to describe. I’m excited to see her jersey go in the rafters one day, and I’m just really blessed to be able to say that I was able to play with her.” That, my friends, is a legacy. And this is someone who has always handled the spotlight quite well:

Some people are more fun to cover than others. Sophie was fun to cover. Watching her go from a really good high school player to the most recognizable person in town was something. I wish her well in whatever she does in the future and many of us will be watching.

3) I’ve said at times this season that it would be a failure if Cunningham never played in the Sweet 16. And I think failure is too strong a word now that it's happened....

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