Why Mizzou basketball, Cuonzo Martin have succeeded on the 2021 recruiting trail
Missouri Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin has never been one to obsess over or even care much about recruiting rankings. He’s occasionally sent such numbers regarding his class, but he instead focuses on how a potential recruit fits on and off the court.
His rationale is simple: If the No. 1 class doesn’t guarantee a national championship — and it usually doesn’t — then he’ll do things his own way on the recruiting trail.
“(Recruiting ranking) maybe is something good for fans, and credit to those programs if they get the No. 1 recruiting class, because it’s hard work and effort and credit that,” Martin told The Star in a phone interview. “Unless it says, ‘This guarantees you a championship,’ I’m not sure what that really means. But you still have to put the work in on the floor.”
Martin has slowly built up his 2021 recruiting class — it also just happens to be highly ranked in its own right. 247Sports and Rivals both have Mizzou’s class ranked 26th in the country.
The Tigers have landed five pledges thus far, with a chance to grab a sixth commitment down the road. Those recruits are guards Anton Brookshire, Kaleb Brown, along with forwards Sean Durugordon, Yaya Keita and Trevon Brazile, all of whom will form the core of Mizzou’s team years down the line.
“We feel good about the five guys we have now,” said Martin, who can’t talk specifics on recruits because of NCAA rules. “We will probably add one more, who knows when you’ll add that. There’s still people we’re looking at, evaluating and recruiting.”
The strong class has come together despite the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changing how recruiting normally operates. The NCAA’s recruiting dead period was recently extended through at least Jan. 1, resulting in no on- and off-campus recruiting.
Despite those challenges, though, Martin said that’s been a relative positive during the pandemic.
“The Zoom calls, at least for our program, it’s been very helpful,” Martin said. “I think for us, it gives you a chance to gauge prospects, build relationships via Zoom, via FaceTime calls. … You can cut out a lot of information that you didn’t have before.”
Instead of spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars to visit schools and homes in person as the first point of contact, Mizzou coaches can call up recruits and start developing relationships. If the recruits don’t fit Mizzou, then it’s easier for the Tigers to move on.
While Martin said there’s certainly an in-person element lost through Zoom, the staff can still “find out some backstory about a young man that you really like and can fit your program.”
“You know the level of the talent because you watch film on them,” Martin said. “I just think Zooms have been very helpful. It’s almost like you get to cut out the middle man and you get a lot of information before you make any moves or decisions.”
It’s a crucial recruiting cycle for Mizzou and Martin for a number of reasons — especially looking toward the future.
The Tigers lose five players from this season’s roster: guards Drew Buggs, Dru Smith and Mark Smith, along with forwards Mitchell Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon. All of them are projected to be significant contributors and will leave a massive hole on the roster.
Martin is more deliberate with how he chooses certain prospects, though. The scholarships will fill themselves, he said. But the recruit needs to be of a certain mindset: “Having the level of toughness and fight through something.”
“Oftentimes in recruiting, we can sell something that sounds so good,” Martin said. “But when you get there, the sell is still truthful but we left out the fact that it’s going to be hard. It’s not that you lack talent, but it’s going to be hard because there’s an adjustment and there’s a different level.”
College basketball’s recruiting landscape has also changed within the past few years, which Martin said he’s noticed. It’s a part of instant gratification, where if playing time isn’t readily available as a freshman, transferring out of the program is another road.
Martin added it’s well within a player’s right to transfer, which he said he respects. But the fourth-year MU coach said he’s been more conscious of that element, which is why he said he looks for the players who have the “resiliency” to push through tough situations and stick around for the long-run.
“More than anything, you have to vet the guys that you’re bringing in,” Martin said. “Even though young men want to play from day one, you still have to be good enough and ready to play. I think the difference now is, the demand to play — whether they’re ready or not — they don’t care.
“I’ll go ahead and transfer and do something different. When you still have to address the fact and the reason why you weren’t playing in the first place. That doesn’t go away; you still have to do that.”