Mizzou basketball fortified its roster with returnees. But so did the rest of the SEC
When Xavier Pinson, Jeremiah Tilmon and Mitchell Smith removed their names from consideration for this year’s NBA Draft, excitement swelled among those who follow the Missouri Tigers men’s basketball program. The enthusiasm is warranted — their decisions set the stage for what should be a promising 2020-21 season for MU.
But Mizzou isn’t the only SEC team that’s welcoming back some key pieces.
Monday was the deadline for players who’d flirted with the draft process to decide whether they’d indeed forgo their remaining college eligibility and turn pro, or return to school. And droves of them chose to do the latter. Perhaps partly because of ongoing uncertainty cast by the COVID-19 pandemic, this week’s seen an uptick in players returning to their respective colleges for another season.
So while Mizzou might be the SEC’s most experienced team courtesy of 11 upperclassmen, other squads in the conference will also feature some fairly talented rosters.
The league is poised to make some noise next season ... provided there is a season.
“Where we have to grow more than anything is the total commitment to sacrifice,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. “I think sacrifice is harder than it was back then because when you’re talking one-and-done, the thoughts of being an NBA player, all those things, that’s fine. But more than anything, it has to increase your sacrifice level and your commitment to a team.”
Arguably the most talented returning player in the SEC is Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe, who averaged 16.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season. The Hogs lost Mason Jones to the draft, but they bring back a roster full of talent.
LSU gets back Trendon Watford, Javonte Smart and Darius Days, setting up Will Wade’s Tigers as another contender. Tennessee — which returns Yves Pons and landed a strong recruiting class — is another team to watch.
Kentucky’s certainly a Top 25 team, especially after nabbing the top recruiting class in the country per 247Sports. Alabama has John Petty Jr., Herb Jones and graduate transfer Jordan Bruner coming in, while Keyontae Johnson and Scottie Lewis make Florida a force to be reckoned with.
Outside the SEC footprint, Mizzou’s Braggin’ Rights rival, Illinois, is a potential Top 10 squad. The Illini are equipped with Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, both of whom removed their names from draft consideration.
And in the return of the Border War, Kansas will definitely be a formidable foe.
Mizzou finished 10th, at 7-11, in the SEC last season, and that was against a weaker version of the conference. Against what’s shaping up to be a more dangerous league this winter, the Tigers will need to up their game to see significant progress.
For a silver lining, a stronger cadre of opponents should mean more chances to boost an NCAA Tournament resume. And Mizzou aims to be in that conversation.
“We have to get our guys consistently playing hard on both ends of the floor every possession down,” Martin said. “But it’s also me putting guys in position on the bench to feel comfortable playing key minutes in critical situations.”
Mizzou brings back the bulk of its 2019-20 production — 88.4% of its points, to be exact. That bodes well for next season, though Martin said it depends on how much his guys have grown. That’s the “fortunate and unfortunate” aspect of the pandemic, as Martin put it — he and his assistants will soon see who improved during this downtime, and who might not have.
Martin said he doubts he’ll play any one Tiger more than 30 minutes per game in 2020-21. Only Dru Smith, the do-everything guard, eclipsed that mark last year, averaging 32.9. The coming iteration of MU basketball features a surplus of playable guards and wings, which is great for the team but poses a challenge in assembling a regular rotation.
But thanks to the return of Pinson, Tilmon and Mitchell Smith, the Tigers should have the kind of impact playmakers they’ll need to compete in a generally improved SEC.
“The desire to be great as a whole, those are things that are easy to talk about,” Martin said. “Like I say to our guys all the time, ‘You never know until adversity hits. That’s when you’ll grow. You’ll grow or you’ll crumble.’”