New-look Mizzou hoops team wraps up summer practices
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou men's basketball team closed out the final practice of the summer, on Wednesday morning, as the Tigers will now be off until they report on Aug. 15.
You can watch extended highlights of Wednesday's practice in the video player below.
When the season tips off in November, MU fans will see quite a few new faces on the floor. Head coach Dennis Gates brought in five freshmen and six transfers in the offseason. The only two returning starters from the 2023-24 campaign are guard Tamar Bates sand forward Aidan Shaw. Guard Caleb Grill is also returning, but he saw limited minutes in his first season in Columbia due to an injury.
With all those new faces, this summer, there was a big emphasis on building chemistry.
"I just like how competitive it is," Bates said. "It's kind of hard to judge what your team is gonna look like until everybody really gets thrown in that fire, but you can't fake competitive nature and guys that want to win. If somebody's getting upset just from losing the game in practice it's like okay, he cares. That's what we need - people who are going to lay it out on the line."
Gates' crew will look to improve on an 8-24 overall mark and a historic 0-18 record in conference play last season. Bates said the biggest lesson he learned from that tough season was to seize every moment.
"There was a lot of chances where we could go back and watch film and say, 'ah, I should've did this,' or, 'I could've did that.' I would just say just to stay in the moment and play with no regrets, you know, and not feel like you could've did something. Really, just emptying your tank," Bates said.
Mizzou's new additions will hope to make an immediate impact on the court in the 2024-25 season, as the Tigers will be a more physical group with its added size.
Former Duke standout Mark Mitchell was one of the most exciting additions of the offseason for Mizzou fans. The 6-foot-9 forward played in Durham for two seasons and was one of the nation's best defensive players, especially during his freshman campaign.
The Kansas City, Kansas native said he knows that Coach Gates is the right guy to help notch his game up another level and help him get back to playing like himself.
"Just giving me an influx in confidence," he said. "All summer just honing in on me, just doing different things, be confident. I think I've just changed, getting back to myself, getting back to playing free, playing instinctual. That's something that he really hones on. I think I've done a really good job and he's really helped me with that this summer."
Mitchell said he is a competitive and versatile player that will do anything it takes to win. Despite last year's mark in SEC action, he transferred to Mizzou because he believes in the culture Gates is implementing.
"Culture is a big thing in college basketball. You know, culture is what helps you stay relevant and stay afloat as a program. I think what Coach Gates and the staff have here at Mizzou is something that's real, something that bled through to me in the process," Mitchell said. "Last year wasn't the year they expected, but I've seen the culture, I've seen how they carry themselves, I've seen how they practice, things like that and that was really important to me. Knowing that this is a winning program and has a winning culture."
The 2024-25 campaign is set to bring some more excitement to the fan base with the much-needed added size and the entry of Coach Gates' top-five 2024 recruiting class. The Tigers will resume team activities in August.
