Mizzou Men’s Basketball preparing for start of 2024-25 season
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou Men's Basketball tips off the 2024-25 season in less than four weeks. Dennis Gates' group is in the thick of practice for the new campaign, striving for a bounce back season after posting an 8-24 record last year.
The Tigers are leaving last season's winless SEC campaign in the rearview mirror but still embracing what they learned from it. Gates said his team knows how to shake off adversity and credited their resiliency. He also likes the mix of experience, talent and leadership that defines this year's team.
"I think we have a unique team. We have a balance of leadership and seniors, we have a balance of talented freshmen and we have a balance of core guys that's returning, so through time, I truly believe these guys will continue to get better and be the finished product in April," Gates said. "Our goal is to play in the Alamodome. That's our goal, and as it relates to our conference, our goal is to compete for a conference championship. You have to go through things to get there. You have to grow together to get there. You have to push forward to get there. It's not going to be easy, but what we're doing now is building the infrastructure to build upon what our expectations and what our goals are."
You can watch the full press conference with Mizzou basketball coach Dennis Gates in the video player below.
During the offseason, Mizzou has been building an identity centered around playing tough, physical and disruptive basketball. MU believes embracing those qualities will drive them to be successful.
"All summer, the main focus was defense. We want to be tough, physical and disruptive, so we know that if we can do our job at the defensive end of the floor, we'll be able to score in bunches on the offensive end," Mizzou guard Tamar Bates said. "You can look at the team on paper in terms of the guys we have returning, the transfers that we have in terms of how they scored the ball at their previous schools, but if we don't guard, we don't feel like we'll be able to reach our potential and make it a reality."
You can watch the full interview with Bates below.
You can also watch full interviews with Mizzou guard/forwards Mark Mitchell, Aidan Shaw and Jacob Crews and guards Tony Perkins and Annor Boateng in the video players below.
Mizzou begins its 2024-25 season on the road at Memphis on Monday, Nov. 4.
