Every time I think or read about this program, I can't help but LOL. I could get mad about it I suppose, but my TSF payment isn't nearly big enough to rate that. Here's another article about the shit show in CoMO.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colum...5e8a5a582.html
Strauss: At Mizzou, world of basketball keeps churning
Well, no one can classify this one as a Haith crime.
A Missouri basketball program increasingly seen in a state of perpetual flux confirmed on Wednesday that sophomore small forward Montaque “Teki” Gill-Caesar was leaving the team to seek a transfer.
It’s getting to a point in CoMo where you can’t tell the players without a bus ticket.
Whether Gill-Caesar jumped or received a push from second-year head coach Kim Anderson remains unclear. Anderson called the decision “mutual” in a statement released by the basketball office. A Canadian talent once recruited by Michigan State and Kentucky said he wanted to pursue a more “comfortable” situation. Gill-Caesar’s mother used the same description in an interview with the Missourian.
Transfers happen, especially in an era of instant gratification. Three months ago Mike Krzyzewski won a fifth national title after Duke embraced the one-and-done movement. It’s common for players to follow a coach out the door.
The Gill-Caesar move is different. Players typically transfer well before July. The Tigers’ leading scorer and rebounder, Johnathan Williams III, reminded us of that when he opted to bolt in March, before Duke had even cut down the nets at the Final Four.
Williams, a holdover from Frank Haith’s last Missouri team, enjoyed a positive relationship with Anderson but cited poor chemistry with teammates as influencing his decision. He transferred to perennial power Gonzaga.
Anderson secured Gill-Caesar last August as the last piece to his first Division I recruiting class. Assistant Rob Fulford served as a conduit, having coached Gill-Caesar in his final season at Huntington (W. Va.) Prep. Yet Fulford’s presence apparently failed to solve any disconnect between Anderson and a four-star recruit who averaged 9.1 points and 3.0 rebounds as a freshman.
Minus Williams, Gill-Caesar projected as the Tigers’ leading returning scorer.
Minus Gill-Caesar, it is increasingly difficult to discern who represents the core of Anderson’s second Mizzou team, a unit that needs to show significant improvement over last season’s 9-23 debacle.
No one suggested Anderson’s rebuild of a program damaged by discipline issues, inconsistent recruiting and an overall lack of continuity would be easy. Few, however, envisioned a process as painful as this, especially within a hoops conference perceived as a step down from the Big 12.
There are new sheriffs in town. Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin is more engaged, more public and more a sports maven than his predecessor. Athletics director Mack Rhoades so far has shown himself willing to address rather than shrink from issues.
Anderson was hired under Mike Alden’s watch as a response to true sons who had exhausted patience with Haith. The initial narrative suggested that Anderson’s popularity and longstanding ties to the university would mitigate any shakedown cruise. It was a valid stance to adopt at the time, but two factors intruded. The Tigers were downright brutal and the conference’s coaching landscape has since changed dramatically. Auburn hired Bruce Pearl. Alabama lured former NBA coach Avery Johnson. Rick Barnes is the latest name to walk through Tennessee’s coaching turnstile. Ben Howland makes Mississippi State relevant.
A year into Anderson’s regime, transfers and discipline issues won’t let go. There’s no question Coach Kim is trying to enact a culture change within his program, even if it comes at the expense of an occasional win. He’s taking the long view in a profession more and more governed by short-term thinking. One wonders if the stance could be both commendable and dangerous within a shifting political climate on campus.
Hardly a throwaway talent, Gill-Caesar ranked as the cherry atop Anderson’s first recruiting class. He possessed a physical game rarely found within last season’s roster. He also served a two-game suspension for violating team rules.
Gill-Caesar has been slow to recover from a back injury suffered on a flagrant foul during last December’s game against Illinois. The condition reportedly prevented him from playing on Canada’s Under-19 squad in the FIBA world championships. One assumes, if healthy, Gill-Caesar would likewise have been a pivotal figure on Mizzou’s 2015-16 team, which now relies on junior guard Wes Clark, four remaining members of the ’14 recruiting class, Atlanta point guard Terrence Phillips, senior Ryan Rosburg and two juco transfers. For a second straight season Mizzou’s offense will be a mystery.
The Tigers hardly operate from an elevated baseline: Last season’s act ranked 321st nationally in scoring, 307th in field goal percentage and no better than 200th in rebounds, scoring defense, blocks and steals.
Avoiding a Wednesday play-in game at the SEC tournament represents a legitimate goal. That will require more than doubling last winter’s three league wins.
To be sure, Haith’s defection from Missouri to Tulsa was less than artful. Then AD Mike Alden didn’t see enough progress to roll over Haith’s contract. Haith saw the defection of scoring leader Jordan Clarkson to the NBA as an indicator of a difficult 2014-15. A smaller school with lots of cash suddenly looked appealing.
The transition is still unwinding. In itself, losing Gill-Caesar is less than catastrophic. Connected to the arrests, the suspensions and the rudderless on-court play that has typified the program before and after Anderson’s arrival, it is certainly enough to give one pause.