Back up in your ass with the resurrection. Follow the Cuonzo Martin era here.
Recruiting Commitments:
2017:
Michael Porter Jr., SF, *****, Gatorade National Player of the Year
CJ Roberts, PG, ****
Blake Harris, PG, ***/****
Jeremiah Tilmon, F/C, ****
Kassius Robertson, Grad Transfer
Jontay Porter (possible re-classification from Class of '18), ****
Departures: No one that matters
Returning Players: No one that matters
Overall class ranking: #6 nationally.
[Reply]
Originally Posted by Jerm:
MPJ will be in Knox's ear the entire time until he makes his decision....he's got us this far with him so I'm not doubting he can convince him to come.
I think it's us or Duke....
From the KC Star:
Father of Kevin Knox II breaks down recruiting pitches by Mizzou, four other schools
The couches inside the living room of the Knox family home earned their fair share of wear and tear this past week.
Years after the recruitment process began for Kevin Knox II, the five-star, 6-foot-9 forward from Tampa, Fla., five college basketball coaches stopped by his house to give their final pitches in hopes of earning a pledge from one of the top uncommitted recruits in the 2017 class.
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton and Kentucky’s John Calipari visited Tuesday, while North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Missouri’s Cuonzo Martin and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski spent time with the family Wednesday.
“It was a once in a lifetime thing,” Knox’s father, Kevin Knox Sr., said in a phone conversation with The Kansas City Star on Friday. “When you hit all the benchmarks of your high school career and then, for it to come down to the last, final day of recruiting and all those guys come through, it was good. It was pretty exciting.”
Knox is expected to announce his college decision between May 1 and 7, according to Knox Sr. The visits came just days after Knox played in the Jordan Brand Classic.
Knox Sr. said he has heard many of the pitches and, by now, redundancy is prevalent. Still, he was impressed by what each coach had to offer.
Krzyzewski, Knox Sr. said, pitched “what he’s pitched the last two years” in that Knox can step in for Jayson Tatum, who declared for the NBA Draft on March 22. Williams, too, pushed a similar narrative in reference to Justin Jackson, who was crucial in the Tar Heels’ national championship run. Jackson declared for the NBA Draft on April 13.
Kentucky spoke about Knox’s ability to play the two-guard, while Florida State went with “a unique approach,” Knox Sr. said.
A former Florida State wide receiver and national championship winner under coach Bobby Bowden, Knox Sr. said Hamilton compared Knox II to Syracuse’s 2003 national championship team with Carmelo Anthony, now a 10-time NBA All-Star.
The pitch? Knox II would be Florida State’s 2018 version of Anthony.
“I thought that was really good,” Knox Sr. said. “For their 2018 team, they were going player for player that won the national championship (with Syracuse) with Kevin being Carmelo. It was amazing because they’re similar sized when both entered college.”
Missouri’s pitch was a bit different because of the Tigers’ late arrival to the Knox II sweepstakes. Knox Sr. said he enjoyed visiting with Martin, who compared Knox offensively to Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, who Martin coached at California.
Cuonzo Martin has 'whirlwind' start as Mizzou basketball coach
New University of Missouri Tigers men's basketball coach Cuonzo Martin visited Kansas City on Wednesday and discussed his whirlwind start to the job, his plans and vision with Kansas City Star sports columnists Blair Kerkhoff, Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian.
Shelly Yang The Kansas City Star
“He’s a good coach, he’s a disciplinarian and I’m a disciplinarian dad, so I kind of liked that whole spiel,” Knox Sr. said. “He’d allow him to play. Obviously, with him and Michael Porter, he’s going to allow them to play.”
Two weeks ago, the Knoxes visited Columbia along with Missouri signees Porter Jr. and Blake Harris. Admittedly, Knox Sr. said he was surprised by the school that jumped in on his son late because of Martin’s hiring and Porter Jr.’s commitment.
“I was actually impressed with the campus, man. We didn’t realize that the amenities that they had were like that,” Knox Sr. said. “The facilities are top notch, and it’s almost like a hidden gem in the Midwest, if you ask me. Columbia is away from St. Louis, so it’s more of a college town.
“Something like that, being in such a secluded neck of the area in the Midwest, and to go there and it be like an oasis it was like, wow. I didn’t know the practice facility and the facility was just so top notch. It was really nice.”
In past weeks, the Knox family has met often to discuss the looming decision. With three or four of those meetings remaining, Knox Sr. said his his last message to his son will be: “Are you comfortable with the decision that you’re going to make? Because ultimately, you’re the person that’s going to have to live with that.”
Knox Sr. remembers his decision, and is appreciative that his parents did not force him to play football at Alabama, Miami, LSU, Georgia or Florida. Why? It allowed him to meet his now wife, Michelle, and without her, he said “there’d be no Knox II.”
That’s why, with just days until his son will come to a conclusion, he’s proud. He’s proud his son is reaching a dream, which explains his current attitude.
“At this point in time, to be honest with you, I really don’t care where my son goes to school,” Knox Sr. said. “I’m very happy with the five schools that he’s selected. If he chooses Missouri, I’m good with it. If he goes to Florida State — obviously being a Florida State alum — I’m good with it. You can’t go wrong with Krzyzewski, the national champion North Carolina Tar Heels and then of course, Kentucky.
“You can’t go wrong with any of them.”
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[Reply]
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colle...1603faefa.html
2. HOOPS RECRUITING CONTINUES
All quiet on the Jeremiah Tilmon front. Kevin Knox II hosted coaches from his five finalists on Tuesday (Florida State and Kentucky) and Wednesday (North Carolina, Mizzou and Duke).
And, a new name has since emerged as a guard option for Mizzou: Canisius grad transfer Kassius Robertson. Read more about this recruiting development.
On Mizzou athletics recovering from the 2015 campus protests and racial unrest: “We went through a couple tough years on campus with things that happened. We stubbed our toe a little bit. That impacted some recruiting, which is unfortunate, because what we went through on campus is going to propel us to be an even greater campus. We didn’t sweep things under the rug. We’re addressing things head on and learning from them and being open minded and growing from them. That’s awesome. That’s why it’s going to help us become that much stronger. When you’re going through it, it might hurt you a little bit, but in the big picture, some of the things we’ve put in place not only in the athletic department but on campus it’ll help us grow.”
4. QUIN AT 50
It was 18 years ago this month that Missouri handed its men’s basketball program over to Quin Snyder, then just a 32-year-old Duke assistant with no head-coaching experience. The Tigers are now on their fourth coach since the program unraveled under Snyder’s watch, but at age 50, he’s having his best season in coaching. (And he barely looks a day older than 38.) In his third year as an NBA head coach, Snyder led the injury-riddled Utah Jazz to 51 regular-season wins, the franchise’s best mark in eight years, and the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The Jazz and Clippers are tied 1-1 and play Game 3 Friday in Utah, the franchise’s first home playoff game since 2012.
Snyder has been interviewed countless times since Mizzou fired him in 2006 but he’s rarely discussed his downfall that put him on a long, windy road to Salt Lake City.
“It’s a pretty serious discussion,” Snyder told the Orange County Register this week. “If you would write about that, you could write a book.” (Yes, please!)
When the Jazz hired Snyder away from the Atlanta Hawks’ staff in 2014, it became his sixth coaching job in the pros since he left Mizzou.
“When you go through adversity and you want to keep doing it, you find out you’re in the right place and are doing the right thing,” Snyder said in the interview. “I just try to keep working and keep learning. I just love being around people.”
Newly committed 2018 quarterback James Foster was bumped up to a four-star recruit by ESPN.com and ranks as the nation’s No. 89 overall prospect for next year’s class and the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[Reply]
