Mizzou’s Cuonzo Martin comments on basketball signees Tray Jackson, Mario McKinney
Cuonzo Martin kept the steady flow of talent from St. Louis heading west while drilling a pipeline into another coveted area for his latest basketball recruiting class.
Missouri officially announced the signings of Mario McKinney and Tray Jackson to its 2019 class on Wednesday.
Jackson signed with the Tigers in the morning at Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita after committing to Missouri on Oct. 19. He was previously committed to Minnesota before flipping to the Tigers. McKinney signed in the afternoon at Vashon High School in St. Louis.
McKinney committed to MU in September after an official visit with his best friend and fellow target E.J. Liddell. Liddell eventually committed to Ohio State while McKinney stayed home. McKinney’s cousin Jimmy played for Missouri under Quin Snyder and was one of the last heralded recruits out of St. Louis to play at MU before Martin’s hiring.
Since Martin took the job in March 2017, Missouri has landed talent in the St. Louis area, including sophomore Jeremiah Tilmon and freshmen Torrence Watson and Javon Pickett.
Martin cautioned the praise of local recruiting because it puts a microscope on the program, especially when the natives aren’t a part of the team’s success.
“You have to get them in position where they’re playing,” he said. “You never want to get into a situation when you have multiple local guys and they’re not playing and they’re not successful because that’s not a good thing. They’re right here. It’s OK if they go away and not play but they’re local, ‘OK why is he not playing.’”
Martin said on Wednesday that he’s known the McKinneys for a long time, because his cousin is married to Mario’s aunt. MU’s coach praised the 6-foot-1 guard’s style of play, calling him “a tremendous on-ball defender.”
He’d like to see McKinney, a consensus four-star recruit, become a more consistent free-throw shooter because he could be a regular there at the college level with his ability to draw contact at the basket.
Jackson is a native of Detroit and Missouri’s first signing from Michigan since 2013, when the Tigers signed Wes Clark. Assistant coach Cornell Mann hails from Michigan and has made an emphasis of recruiting the state, like Norm Stewart used to, since joining Martin’s staff.
A 6-foot-8 forward, Jackson is consensus four-star recruit and top-100 prospect nationally. His game has drawn comparisons to current MU sophomore Jontay Porter for his ability to stuff the stat sheet and play multiple positions.
“A guy that can attack off the dribble,” Martin said. “Both of those guys, guys that can make plays off the dribble. From A to B wherever they are on the floor they can get to the basket. Both Mario and Tray can get to the rim. When you got guys that can get downhill it opens things up and it’s another element to our offense.”
Missouri is currently filled up with scholarships but could add a player in the spring period and have another spot open should Porter declare for the NBA Draft. The Tigers are still recruiting Harlond Beverly, another four-star recruit from Michigan, who plans to sign in the spring.
Alex Schiffer
Alex Schiffer covers University of Missouri athletics for The Star.
This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 3:43 PM.