Tigers add JUCO guard

Since he picked up an offer from Mizzou around a month ago, 2014 Sedalia (Mo.) State Fair shooting guard Kevin Punter has been one of the top targets for the Tigers. Frank Haith offered him in person at a practice leading up to the NJCAA tournament and watched him and the Roadrunners compete in Hutchinson.

After visiting Western Kentucky officially this last weekend, Punter stopped by Mizzou for a quick unofficial visit before the dead period. Now he is a Tiger.

"They really showed me a lot of love. They really stressed the fact of how much they needed a guard," said Punter about why he chose they Tigers. "How much I could help them. Just big things for next year. Coming down to it I weighed all my options. I had a checklist and they pretty much checked off with everything, so I just felt like it was the right move to go from there."

"I always knew Mizzou was a beautiful school, but just wanted to see it with my own eyes," he said explaining the role his unofficial visit played in his decision. "Just being able to move around on campus a little bit with the coaches made it feel like it was going to the right move. I met and played with some of the players while I was there. I feel like like this upcoming season is going to be a great season for us."

As expected, when Punter informed Frank Haith of his decision his future head coach liked the news he got.

"He was happy. He was excited," Punter said. "He had been waiting on me to make my decision, so I called him and let him know that I wanted to be a Mizzou Tiger."

Now that Punter has made his decision he is completely done on the recruiting front and will shift his focus to preparing to arrive in Columbia ready to contribute immediately.

"Closing everything up. I'm going to be a Mizzou Tiger," he said. "I'm going to work hard. You got to work hard from day one. I'm coming in going to be a junior so I'm going to be one of he older guys. I'm going to show a lot of leadership and try to get everyone on the same page. It starts on defense. You can't win any games without defense. Just try to buy in to what coach is saying and I know everyone will be on the same page. Once I step on campus I got to approach it businesslike. I'm going to be ready."

Punter becomes the third member of the Tigers' 2014 class joining JaKeenan Gant and Namon Wight.

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