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.
"Tough, physical and disruptive, for sure. They preach it to us. That's one thing we have to do. That's the one thing we need to do if we want to make it to the National Championship or Sweet 16 or Elite Eight. It doesn't matter. If we want to make it far or just win our conference, that's what we have to do to be successful. We have to be tough. We have to be disruptive," UT Martin transfer Jacob Crews said. "I think everybody understands that, and we're starting to kind of mold pretty quickly into it."
You can watch the full interview with Crews below.
There are 11 new faces on MU's 18-player roster, including five freshmen who currently comprise the nation's No. 14 ranked recruiting class according to On3. Based on On3's ratings, Annor Boateng, Marcus Allen, Peyton Marshall and Trent Burns are all listed as four-star talents while T.O. Barrett is considered a three-star prospect, but two things each of those five student-athletes have in common is a strong work ethic and a desire to play basketball at the professional level.
"Their goal, as a unit, as a class, is for all five of them to go to the NBA. That's an unbelievable feat to accomplish if it does happen, but they know that they all are going to take different paths and they all have different hurdles to overcome to get there," Gates said. "You see how they approach the classroom. You see how they approach the community. You see how they approach just basketball in general and each other, and they are doing a great job of assimilating into our culture."
"From meeting them in person, I can tell like they are all hard-workers. They are always in the gym. They are always giving maximum effort and that even gives me the energy and confidence to give my all, as well," Mizzou freshman guard Annor Boateng said. "I think Coach Gates did a great job of recruiting a bunch of good guys, and not just people who are just good players overall, but like people who fit the system he wants to run and the personality of the team."
You can watch the full interview with Boateng in the video player below.
The Tigers are also welcoming six new transfers, which was considered the No. 12-best class in the country at the time of its completion. Each of them are working to transition to Mizzou's culture to help lead the team back to the NCAA Tournament after missing out on the Big Dance last year.
"Expectations are nothing new to me. I think I'm just trying to get better every day and reach our potential," Duke transfer Mark Mitchell said. "It's just a lot of outside noise. I've been there before. Been there done that, so I'm just trying to focus each and every day on just getting better and reaching our potential."
You can watch the full interview with Mitchell in the video player below.
You can also watch the full interviews with Mizzou guard/forward Aidan Shaw and Iowa transfer Tony Perkins in the video player below.
Mizzou begins its 2024-25 season on the road at Memphis on Monday, Nov. 4. Tipoff time has yet to be announced.
