Missouri's 2018-19 basketball schedule is one step closer to being finalized. Cuonzo Martin said on Tuesday afternoon that Temple would come to Mizzou Arena for a game this year. The Owls will replace Utah on the schedule. Missouri played at Utah last season. The return game was supposed to happen this year, but was pushed back a season a couple of weeks ago.
The contract with Temple is not finalized, but will be for a home and home series with the Tigers playing in Philadelphia for the return game.
Xavier and UCF are coming to Mizzou Arena this year as well. The Tigers have the regular Braggin' Rights game against Illinois as well as a road contest against Iowa State. They will also play three games in the Paradise Jam Tournament. Kennesaw State is the opener with either Old Dominion or Oregon State in round two. Northern Iowa, Penn, Eastern Kentucky and Kansas State are on the other side of the bracket as potential game three opponents.
Central Arkansas and Oral Roberts will also be at Mizzou next season, PowerMizzou.com was told. Martin said Mizzou may have one game left to add to the non-conference slate. Look for that to a be mid- or low-major team that will play in Columbia.
The Southeastern Conference has announced home and road schedules for the season. Here are Mizzou's league opponents:
HOME GAMES
Alabama
Arkansas
Kentucky
LSU
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
ROAD GAMES
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas A&M
PINSON SHOULD RETURN SOON
Most of Missouri's roster has been on campus taking classes and working out over the summer. A notable exception is freshman point guard Xavier Pinson, who was in Columbia but has been home in Chicago for the last few days.
"He's really dealing with a personal issue," Martin said. "Nothing to be alarmed about, but something he's dealing with and working out. I've got to sneak in and see if he's lifting those weights, but he's doing all right."
As for the guys on campus, Martin is excited about where his group is at in year two.
"Last year, it was new and there were so many moving parts," Martin said. "There was not a lot of continuity, which is expected early.
"I think we have a great culture right now because the guys understand how hard we have to work, what it takes to be successful, the time you have to put into this. This is the first time I've been a part of this, but you have several guys that actually sleep--and I don't want to have parents calling me getting mad, so I'm not saying this in a bad way--but these guys sleep in the gym because they put so much time into it. I'm not kidding you. Like clockwork. I'll be shocked if I don't see Javon Pickett, Mark Smith, I'll be shocked if I don't see those guys between 5:30 and 7 in the morning every day. When you put that kind of work in, most times it works out for you."
VANLEER STILL WORKING HIS WAY BACK
Senior-to-be Cullen VanLeer tore his ACL in the regular season finale against Arkansas last year. His future has been up in the air since then, with talk of a medical retirement even possible. As of Tuesday, nothing has been determined.
"I just left the weight room. He was rehabbing in the weight room," Martin said. "One day at a time. That's a slow process. I think this might have been his first day, if I'm not mistaken, really lifting."
MARTIN ON CHANGES TO COLLEGE HOOPS
PowerMizzou.com will have much more on this subject later in the week, but the talk of college basketball has been potential changes to the game proposed by the Committee on College Basketball. The committee, chaired by Condoleezza Rice, was formed in the wake of the FBI investigation that has been a major storyline around college hoops for the last few months. Among the proposed changes was restricting coaches' access to summer AAU events, instead replacing them with regional camps for players around the country. Martin talked about some of those potential changes on Tuesday.
"I've been on the phone quite a bit in the last week or two," Martin said. "I can safely say, all these phone conversations and conference calls, I think they're really doing a good job to improve the game.
"I've always been a guy to not do away with summer basketball. I think there are so many opportunities for young men. Often times, those elite players, I'll give you a hundred guys, I'll say two hundred guys, but there are 315 Division One schools and 400-plus colleges. Everybody has an opportunity to go somewhere and be successful. So I think when you take away those opportunities in the summertime, those guys don't get exposure, then there's a lot of guys that are put in tough situations that struggle to make ends meet when you have opportunities to get scholarships. Definitely don't want to do away with that."
Martin said he is under the impression that summer basketball will not be eliminated. But if the camps were to take place, he thinks it could level out the playing field in college hoops.
"Being at a mid-major level program, I think it really helps those programs if that's the final say," Martin said. "Recruiting becomes a regional thing...I think it really helps those guys because now they don't have to get on flights across the country to go see players. So if that happens, I think it will benefit them."
Martin warned that if the camps do take place, programs will find themselves having the spend much more money, attending multiple camps and traveling to multiple high schools rather than being able to see hundreds of kids at a single venue.
