Men
University of Missouri
Mizzou men’s and women’s basketball outlook
November 3
By TEREZ A. PAYLOR
The Kansas City Star
Probable starters
| P | No | Player | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
| F | 21 | Laurence Bowers | 6-8 | Sr. | — |
| F | 33 | Earnest Ross | 6-6 | Jr. | — |
| C | 42 | Alex Oriakhi | 6-9 | Sr. | 6.7* |
| G | 5 | Keion Bell | 6-4 | Sr. | — |
| G | 1 | Phil Pressey | 5-11 | Jr. | 10.3 |
Key reserves
| P | No | Player | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
| G | 11 | Michael Dixon Jr. | 6-1 | Sr. | 13.5 |
| G | 32 | Jabari Brown | 6-5 | So. | — |
| F | 3 | Tony Criswell | 6-9 | Jr. | 11.9** |
| F | 44 | Ryan Rosburg | 6-10 | Fr. | — |
| G | 14 | Negus Webster-Chan | 6-7 | Fr. | — |
Stats from last season; *at Connecticut; **at Independence CC
Center stage
Junior guard Phil Pressey, the preseason SEC player of the year, is a capable ball distributor and spent all offseason working on his jump shot. It’s hard to imagine Pressey sticking around for his senior year.
First challenge
Haith borrowed of favorite term of former Kansas coach Larry Brown recently, saying last year’s team — which went 30-5 and won the Big 12 tournament title — “played the right way.” It went only seven deep, but the Tigers accepted their roles and shared the basketball.
End game
Assuming this team learned a thing or two from last season, one could argue that the ceiling is higher than it was last year. Missouri has all the ingredients to make a deep NCAA Tournament run, including a star point guard and depth.
Women
Probable starters
| P | No | Player | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
| F | 13 | Bri Kulas | 6-1 | Jr. | 12.0* |
| G | 32 | Liene Priede | 5-10 | Sr. | 6.5 |
| C | 45 | Liz Smith | 6-1 | Sr. | 1.5 |
| G | 15 | Kyley Simmons | 5-7 | So. | 4.7 |
| G | 21 | Sydney Crafton | 5-10 | Sr. | 6.2 |
Stats from last season; *at Johnson County CC
Center stage
Sydney Crafton opened the season with a 28 point, eight-rebound effort in MU’s 75-50 exhibition win over Lincoln on Tuesday.
First challenge
Coach Robin Pingeton’s young group needs to grow up, and fast. Nine of her 14 players are freshmen or sophomores. There are also seven newcomers.
End game
The Tigers, who went 13-18 overall and 2-16 in the Big 12 in coach Robin Pingeton’s second season, need to improve to keep her rebuilding efforts on track.
| Terez A. Paylor, tpaylor@kcstar.com
