What does Missouri hoops coach Cuonzo Martin think of new NCAA recruiting calendar?

Count Missouri men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin among the few coaches who enjoyed the NCAA’s new recruiting calendar in light of the FBI’s investigation into college basketball.

The new calendar allowed coaches to watch recruits in April, and then at high school events in June before the traditional AAU-filled period in July. Martin said the old calendar made it rare for coaches to watch a player with their high school teams, when they were usually a team’s best player.

The new guidelines allowed Martin and other NCAA coaches to see prospects in a different light. Were they used differently than on their AAU team? Were they more or less selfish as the main scorer?

“It’s a different way to evaluate them,” Martin said.

Martin said he thinks the players he watched in April weren’t at their best, because they were still juggling school with basketball at that point along with taking the ACT or SAT. His lone wish for the new recruiting calendar is to figure out the month of June, because it cost him 10 days’ training with his current team.

Unlike other coaches, Martin had no complaints about the NCAA’s new regional camps, which were another suggestion by the Rice commission on college athletics. He thinks such camps will be more successful going forward if the coaches running the camps build relationships with the main AAU programs that coaches want to see.

About Okongo

Martin said he expects junior-college signee Axel Okongo to arrive on the Missouri campus by the end of the week. Okongo was finishing a class in Wyoming that wasn’t offered at MU. A true 7-footer, Okongo has just one year of eligibility remaining, but Martin said MU has filed a waiver with the NCAA seeking another.

Martin was unsure if Okongo was eligible for a redshirt, and said his eligibility issues stem from his visa, when he came to Canada from France and later to the U.S.

Improved health

Martin said his Tigers team is healthy and that the back trouble that bothered Jeremiah Tilmon for three weeks has abated. Mark Smith, who was recovering from foot surgery, was able to practice with the team for two weeks during the summer but sat out the final three days of summer workouts as a precaution.

Impressed with Smith

Evansville transfer Dru Smith has been “a sound addition,” Martin said. Martin compared Smith’s leadership to former graduate transfer Kassius Robertson. Robertson led MU to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 after the Tigers lost top recruit Michael Porter Jr. to back surgery.

“Not a big talker,” Martin said of Smith. “But the work, the business-like approach. I think that’s good for young guys. He understands how hard you need to play.”