Olympic Sports Catch Up: Hoops, Etc.

We’re back with all the sports again

Welcome to “Olympic Sports Catch Up!” As the Olympic sports manager at this beautiful little website, I lead a team of talented and passionate writers who have a special interest in non-revenue Olympic sports at Missouri (I despise the phrase “non-revenue.”) Because it’s the summertime and (flag) football was added to the LA2028 Olympics, I’ll make an exception for the inclusion any Mizzou athletic team.

I’ve broken down each of the sports below and will be sharing fun/relevant info, social posts any writing our talented crew has done, and links to other stories from outside of Rock M that people have done, as we used to do in the Links posts. We are in a content desert, y’all.

Enjoy!

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Baseball

• Not at all surprising, but baseball had its share of pitching portal entrants on June 2, per Power Mizzou. Will Libbert, Kaden Jacobi, Seth McCartney, Tony Neubeck, Jaylen Merchant and Josh Kirchhoff.
• Check out some BTS scenes of Mizzou commit Eli Skidmore.

Basketball- Men’s

• READ: Mizzou Basketball Player Review: Annor Boateng (Sam Snelling) | Mizzou Hoops hires Tim Fuller as General Manager (Matthew Gustafson) | Morning Commute: Updates on Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill as NBA Draft Nears (Sammy Stava) | Commute: Tim Fuller, The Return (Sam Snelling) | Four Years in Columbia (Sam Snelling 2015 Tim Fuller interview)

• Read this Q&A with new GM Tim Fuller from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Eli Hoff ($$). It’s super interesting!
• CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter ranked the SEC into tiers, with Missouri in Tier 3 (NCAA tourney team). Trotter likes the addition of UCLA’s Sebastian Mack, who is “one of the elite foul-drawing guards in the portal.”

Keeping two pillars like Robinson and Mitchell gives Gates a real shot at a second-straight Big Dance appearance, but while Missouri is very big, it is light on proven shooting now that flamethrowers like Caleb Grill and Tamar Bates have dipped. This depth chart is just begging Boateng to rise to the occasion and become the go-to starting wing. The former ballyhooed recruit is shaping up to be a massive swing piece for Mizzou.

• ($$) The Athletic’s CJ Moore has Mizzou slotted in as no. 24 in his CBB Top 25. The Tigers only return three starters, but Moore also likes the addition of Mack and the trio of Mitchell-Mack-Robinson.

The Tigers’ ceiling could be determined by the productivity of Jevon Porter and Trent Burns at center. Porter, the little brother of former Tigers Michael and Jontay, averaged double figures for three seasons in the West Coast Conference. The 7-foot-5 Burns, who redshirted as a freshman, can step out and hit a 3. To borrow an old Fran Fraschilla line, he could be a year away from being a year away, but he’s a fascinating prospect.

• Per Brett Siegel of Clutch Points in his latest NBA Draft Big Board, he predicts Tamar Bates in the second round (55th overall) to the Lakers — and so does Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report.

“Tamar Bates has put himself in the second-round discussion with a strong draft process, first standing out at Elite Camp and then looking like he belonged during NBA combine scrimmages. He’s an efficient shot-maker and one of the most efficient finishers among guards in this year’s field.”

• Caleb Grill had a pre-draft workout with the Blazers on June 3 and another with the Pelicans on May 27! I missed it last week, but check out his measurables from the G League Elite Camp in early May.
• The Border War is set. Next year’s iteration will be held in Kansas City on Sunday, December 7th.

Basketball- Women’s

• Practice has started! Here’s some social posts!

• I’ve been loving this X’s and O’s content series with Kellie Harper. Next up, Hannah Linthacum!

Football

• READ: Top 10 Opposing Players: Jalon Daniels and Nikhai Hill-Green (Nathan Hurst) | 2025 Missouri Football Opponent Previews: South Carolina Gamecocks (Nate Edwards) | Reacts: Let’s do some confidence ratings (Josh Matejka) | BREAKING: 2026 Four-Star WR Jabari Brady Commits to Mizzou Football (Sammy Stava)

Gymnastics

• College Gym News participated in a 2025 season leotard roundtable, and it was glorious. SO MUCH MENTION OF MIZZOU! My favorite leo (the one below, AKA the greatest leo ever) was selected as best leo by a staffer. It also was mentioned in the “instant nostalgia” category, as well as the white to black ombre one with the gold M that debuted at Regionals. Additionally, they were mentioned as a school that stepped up its leo game the most this season.

Photo courtesy of Mizzou Athletics

• College Gym News put out their way too early 2026 power rankings, and Mizzou has climbed from no. 9 last year to no. 7 this year

Fifth-year announcements from Grace Anne Davis and Lauren Macpherson headline the Tigers’ early offseason, with the duo sitting out of the third-place finish with injury but were expected to be heavily involved with the success. Davis was key in keeping Missouri ranked in the top 10 on beam throughout the 2024 season while Macpherson, a former all-arounder at San Jose State, was forecasted to contend for competition time on multiple events. Those expectations have now been transferred to 2026, boosting the Tigers’ prospects in the process with fewer holes left to fill in lineups.

No mention of the Tigers’ transfer portal class? Sounds like the Tigers still have S.T.P. “Something To Prove.”

Softball

• READ: Former Tigers player, coach Jake Epstein hired as Mizzou Softball hitting coach (Matthew Gustafson)
• Incoming freshman Abby Carr will be pitching for Team East at the PGF All-American game in late July.

Swimming & Diving

• Another week of Collier Dyer diving news, as the soon-to-be senior will be participating in a number of world events.

• Looks like it went well! A silver medal for Collier!

• New alum Grant Bochenski is out at U.S. Nationals sprinting up a storm among the country’s elite.

Track & Field

• Tarique George and Brooke Sawatzky were named to the SEC Community Service Team this week. Per the release, George, a Kingston, Jamaica native, worked 53 hours at area food banks and worked as an event staff member at several home events throughout the year. Sawatzky volunteered 63 hours working at a variety of locations, including the Special Olympics, children’s hospital and Bluff Retirement Home.

• NEXT UP: Callan Saldutto & Valentina Barrios (javelin), Skylar Coffey (discus) | Kristi Perez-Snyman & Claudina Diaz (high jump) and Alicia Burnett (100m) will head out to historic Hayward Field in Eugene, OR June 11-14 for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Wrestling

• Coach Keegan chatted with James & Morgan Hackney (James used to work for us at Rock M) about what he hopes for in his assistant coach role.