Mizzou Basketball: A deep dive into everything you need to know about the 2024/25 team

309 days ago was the last time Missouri basketball won a game. The Tigers ended their 2023/24 season to forget on a 19-game losing streak, currently tied for third-worst in the country.

Dennis Gates went from what appeared to be a complete turnaround to a full reversal in his two seasons as Mizzou’s coach.

After finishing fifth in the conference in his first season and making the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers failed to secure a conference win in his second. It’s impossible to justify a winless campaign, but the 2023 season was filled with injuries, inexperience, and, ultimately, a lot of bad luck.

According to KenPom, the 2023 Missouri Tigers were the best team ever to finish a season winless. Again, attempting to justify a winless conference season is impossible—it was historically bad.

After bringing in 11 new faces and adding significant talent via the transfer portal and recent recruiting class, Mizzou enters the season with expectations of being a solid bubble team.

There is a lot of uncertainty with preseason speculation—similar to last season, when the Tigers entered with NCAA Tournament expectations. However, this Mizzou team appears to be more well-balanced.

Rotation

Let's start with the returners: led by captains Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill, who are both expected to play significant roles this season.

Bates was the team leader a year ago, and even when things looked rough for the Tigers, he remained one of the few consistent bright spots. Returning for his senior season, Bates has taken over as the leader of this squad. Last season, he averaged more than 27 minutes per game and scored 13.4 points per game. If Mizzou needed a basket, Bates was the go-to player. After another offseason of development, he is expected to be a focal point in Gates' game plans once again this year.

Grill, on the other hand, was expected to be a major contributor last season, but a broken wrist limited him to just nine games. The Iowa State transfer will be returning as a graduate transfer and is set to be a leader for Mizzou this season. Grill impacts the game in many ways, but one thing that always stands out is his intensity. He adds a lot to the team, especially defensively, and his impact won't go unnoticed as the season progresses.

Other returnees include Aidan Shaw, Trent Pierce, and Anthony Robinson, all of whom have shown flashes in limited roles at Mizzou.

Shaw is entering his junior year and is incredibly gifted athletically. Over his time with the program, he’s shown flashes of excellence, though consistency has been an issue. It will be interesting to see what role he settles into in his third year under Gates.

Pierce and Robinson are in similar positions following freshman seasons in which they were unable to be fully utilized. Robinson averaged 13 minutes per game, while Pierce averaged just six, but both are expected to see increased playing time this season as they continue developing within the program.

While the rotation remains uncertain, it will likely consist of experienced transfers who have played at the highest level of college basketball.

With Mark Mitchell, Marques Warrick, and Tony Perkins, Mizzou has added three players eager to bring a winning culture to Columbia.

Mitchell has received considerable preseason hype, as the Kansas native transferred to Mizzou from Duke this offseason. The 6-foot-9 forward started 67 of 68 games at Duke over his first two years of college ball. Mitchell excels at creating offense and possesses elite blow-by ability. He scores the majority of his points in the paint, and when he isn’t scoring, his impact is evident on the glass. Over his two years at Duke, he averaged 10.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. If Mitchell performs at an elite level, he could transform the Tigers, potentially elevating them to new heights in the Gates era.

Mizzou scored 72.2 points per game last season, and with many departures, Northern Kentucky transfer Marques Warrick is expected to help fill that void. Last season for the Norse, he averaged 19.9 points per game, earning an All-Horizon First Team selection. In 2023, he led his team to an NCAA Tournament appearance, winning Horizon League Tournament MVP. As a graduate student, Warrick will fit seamlessly into Mizzou's system and could be a difference-maker for the Tigers. He shot 38% from three last season and mirrors a player like D’Moi Hodge from 2022-23.

Perkins, an Iowa transfer, enters the season with some uncertainty. In Mizzou's scrimmage against Lincoln, Perkins warmed up and appeared ready to play but didn’t see the court. Gates dismissed this afterward as precautionary, but it’s something to monitor as the season progresses. A native of Indianapolis, Perkins spent his first four seasons at Iowa, and upon entering the transfer portal, CBS Sports ranked him as the 13th-best transfer in the country. Perkins earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors last season and is best known for his elite passing. If fully available, Perkins could play a significant role in creating offense for the Tigers this season.

Another transfer expected to impact the team is graduate student Josh Gray, who comes from South Carolina and is likely to see minutes as one of Mizzou’s centers. Gray showed flashes during his time with the Gamecocks, averaging 7.9 rebounds per game in conference play during the 2022-23 season. The Tigers' big man rotation is still up in the air, and Gray could benefit from a change in scenery following a challenging season last year with South Carolina.

Part of Gates’ appeal as a coach has been his ability to recruit and develop talent within the program. The incoming recruiting class is one of the best to come through Mizzou in the past decade, ranking 14th in the nation according to On3.

Headlining the class is four-star forward Annor Boateng, who is expected to make an immediate impact at Mizzou. Boateng ranked as the No. 26 recruit nationally and is considered the top player in his class from Arkansas. He aims to strengthen Mizzou’s defense, which struggled last season. Recruiting analyst Adam Finkelstein had only positive things to say about Boateng.

"He plays hard and competes on both ends of the floor. He’s very engaged defensively, both on and off the ball," Finkelstein said. "He can slide his feet laterally and be physical. He’s also a willing talker who shows a good understanding of concepts and is willing to contest plays at the rim."

Outside of Boateng, Mizzou added four other talented freshmen: Marcus Allen, Peyton Marshall, Trent Burns, and T.O. Barrett. It’s clear that it will be challenging for all of them to see minutes, so the question is, of the five, who is most likely to play?

Outside of Boateng, the freshman with the clearest path to minutes might be Burns. Mizzou’s big man rotation remains one of the biggest question marks for this squad, and Burns’ height could help him carve out a potential role off the bench. On the Tigers’ official roster, the freshman center is listed at 7-foot-5. It will be interesting to see how Gates chooses to get him involved early in the season.

Schedule

With an understanding of who might be playing, let’s explore Mizzou’s 2024-25 season schedule and map out a potential path to the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers will open their season against a highly touted opponent in Memphis, an effort by Gates to test his team early while also evaluating the group’s development over the offseason.

“I don’t think it’s challenges, because they’re in the same boat as us... There’s no advantage that they have over us. It’s their first game as well. What we have to do is see where the planning of our first game, where it brings us, and I think we’ve done a great job of preparing our guys in situations," Gates said. "But also, you got to look at their experiences. Our guys have played basketball before. They’ve been in big games, they’ve been on the road, and we just got to show up.”

After a trip to Memphis, the Tigers will return home for 10 straight non-conference games at Mizzou Arena.

That stretch includes a couple of intriguing matchups, such as California in the SEC-ACC Challenge, but none match the intensity of the border showdown with Kansas. The current No. 1 team in the country visiting Columbia on Dec. 8 will be a must-watch game nationally. In Gates' two attempts against the Jayhawks, Mizzou has failed to come within nine points, with both games lacking competitiveness.

Mizzou’s second-toughest non-conference game comes on Dec. 22, with a matchup against Illinois in the annual Braggin' Rights game in St. Louis. Gates has split his first two matchups against the Fighting Illini, and this year gives him a chance to take the series lead. Illinois lost a significant portion of its production from last season, making this a very winnable game for the Tigers.

The Tigers play one more non-conference game at home before kicking off their conference schedule with a matchup at Auburn on Jan. 4.

With the SEC projected to be among the top two conferences in college basketball this season, it’s going to be a gauntlet for Mizzou—but with every challenge comes great opportunity, and that appears to be the Tigers' case.

For Mizzou to be a potential tournament team this year, they’ll need to return to their 2022 form—handling inferior opponents and closing out games.

Why Not Mizzou?

If Mizzou can handle its non-conference schedule and secure at least 10 wins, it will be in a position to compete for a tournament spot during conference play.

Last year, Mississippi State finished with a 21-15 record, including an 8-10 conference mark, and earned a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With the resumé and schedule Mizzou could build, there’s no reason they can’t achieve a similar feat this season.

Ultimately, there was plenty of negativity after last season—understandably so—but this is a completely new-look Mizzou team. With Gates at the helm, he’ll be pushing hard to get the program back to the dominant form it has displayed in the past.

Mizzou basketball's last notably strong season before the Gates era was in 2011/12 under head coach Frank Haith. The Tigers finished with a 30-5 record, winning the Big 12 Tournament, and earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Led by players like Marcus Denmon, Kim English, and Phil Pressey, they were known for their high-powered offense and exciting play style. A devastating upset against Norfolk State in the first round of the NCAA tournament ended a season that had otherwise been one of the best in program history.

Since then, Mizzou has had a few NCAA Tournament appearances, including under Cuonzo Martin in 2017/18 and 2020/21, but the program struggled has ultimately struggled with consistency.

The Tigers will test themselves from the start in 2024, scheduling a road game at Memphis on Nov. 4. This is an opportunity for Mizzou to come out strong and send a message of resilience on the heels of one of the worst seasons in school history.