In the Zone: Mizzou hoops transfers

Negus Webster-Chan and Dominique Bull are gone. The two freshmen decided to transfer from the Missouri Tiger basketball program on Tuesday.

1) Their departure opens up two more scholarships in 2013 for use by head coach Frank Haith. This late in the game, however, it’s likely he’ll have to use those on someone else’s ex-patriot IF he decides to use them at all.

2) Sure enough, reports are out there indicating Seton Hall transfer Aaron Cosby is eyeing two schools for his college future: Mizzou and Illinois.

Last year, Cosby was the Pirates second leading scorer as a sophomore averaging 12.6 points per game.

The 6 foot 2 inch guard is a gunner. He likes to camp out beyond the three-point line. 64.2 percent of his 530 career field goal attempts have been three pointers. Despite the high volume from down town, Cosby has actually been a fairly efficient shooter from three in his college career:

2011-12 37.7% 3-pt FG 66 makes 175 attempts 2012-13 40.0% 3-pt FG 66 makes 165 attempts

As you can see, this dude will chuck it. To give you perspective, Jabari Brown took 61.2% of his 250 field goal attempts last season from beyond the three-point line.

3) For those hoping to land North Carolina State transfer guard Rodney Purvis, forget it. The former McDonald’s All-American, who was closely linked to Mizzou during his recruiting, is not allowed to transfer to Columbia as a condition of his release.

The reason why, you ask? Missouri is on NC State’s future non-conference schedule.

4) Is Haith relying too much on transfers at Mizzou?

That’s a legitimate question given the current makeup of his roster and his apparent interest in a guy like Cosby.

Last season, six of the 13 players on the roster were transfers from another school.

As of this moment, based on the commitments Haith has lined up for next season, six of the 13 players on the roster would be transfers. If Cosby joins the fold exactly half of the 14 players on the team would be transfers … and Frank would still have a scholly to spare.

Yes that’s a lot of talent imported from other people’s schools. BUT we must remember what Mike Anderson left Haith with in terms of scholarship players after he moved to Arkansas.

0 freshmen

1 sophomore

1 junior

7 seniors (including Laurence Bowers)

As you can see, Haith has clearly had to rely on transfers to help balance out the classes and field competitive teams until he can get a few recruiting classes of his own into the program.

This has been a necessary evil of the circumstances Haith was thrown into when taking the job. I shudder to think what Mizzou’s season would have looked like this year without the help of all these transfers.

5) On a related note, I often hear from those around the Tiger basketball program that athletic Tulsa transfer, Jordan Clarkson, will be the leading scorer on next year’s team. Some say he could be the best player.

Clarkson averaged 16.5 points per game as a sophomore with Tulsa in 2011-12. He was a fairly efficient scorer, too. His career shooting splits look like this:

43.4% FG 34.8% 3-pt FG 78.8% FT

Clarkson is a “combo guard” in the purest sense of the basketball term. He can create a shot for himself and score like an off – or shooting – guard, as well as handle the ball like a point guard.

6) Don’t forget about Serbian Stefan Jankovic. He’s either attacking the rim or putting up something from long range.

I was told by Bowers and Alex Oriakhi this season that the freshman on the roster we need to most watch out for in the future is the slender Jankovic.

7) Does Tuesday’s news have any bearing on the future of Tiger point guard Phil Pressey?

No.

Pressey’s role on the team and the playing time he would get next year have nothing to do with whether or not Negus Webster-Chan or Dominique Bull is able to contribute.

*By the way, my gut tells me Pressey is leaving. It only takes ONE team to give him a draft grade he wants to hear, and it only takes one of the 30 teams in the NBA to like him enough to pick him. My bet is that some GM out there thinks Pressey is more consistent than he showed this season. He had the ball in his hands about 98 percent of the time he was on the floor because there were no other alternatives on the roster. Plus, Pressey’s passing ability will only be enhanced in the NBA by the better athletes and finishers catching the ball on the other end.