Mizzou hoops snags another top-75 prospect for the Class of 2026

With the hot start to Mizzou football so far this year, the recruitment effort from the basketball team has been heavily overlooked. The Tigers easily have the best class of the guys coming in next year, and that's all credit to head coach Dennis Gates.

Since coming over from the Cleveland State sidelines following the 2021-22 campaign, Mizzou basketball has generally been up. Gates has a knack for scouting players who will make a difference to the program, and convincing them that Columbia is the spot to be at.

After an eventful summer that brought the team two five-star players in Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant, multiple sources cite the Tigers as having the best recruitment class for 2026. This is even more apparent with the fact that no other programs have multiple five-stars, with most not even featuring one.

It seems like Columbia could be a hot commodity for court talent coming in, but it wasn't always that way. The culture that Gates has built has spread through the locker room and into the community, effortlessly bringing in more and more skill to a squad that has much reason to look forward to the 2026-27 season.

The program's future looks that much brighter, as they were able to get four-star Aidan Chronister to commit to Mizzou, after a weekend-long visit where he was seen on campus touring, and on the field for the football game, where the Tigers took down SEC Conference rival South Carolina.

The six-foot-seven small forward is well-built and is skilled as a catch-and-shooter. Last year, Chronister took just shy of 80% of his shots from the three-point line.

He's a decent passer and can run an offense, even on the break, though he struggles with defending inside the paint sometimes, and can't always find a way to finish.

The Arkansas native still has visits lined up with Saint Louis University and Oklahoma State University, as well as Arkansas State University, all in the coming months.

Gates is building something historic for the Tigers here, and if they can continue their recruitment efforts, they have a chance to have a top-ten recruitment class of the year.

This team shouldn't be overlooked. They were way above expectations last year, and there's no reason they can't continue on that track for years to come.