As Missouri men’s basketball prepares for the upcoming season, head coach Dennis Gates and the Tigers took time after practice to speak with the media.
There’s a mix of experienced returners and talented newcomers, including highly touted freshman Jason Crowe Jr., while veteran leaders Trent Pierce and Cord Stansberry are helping reinforce the culture and accountability Gates expects.
From adjusting to new roles to building chemistry and navigating the challenges of a tough overall schedule, coaches and players shared their perspectives on the team’s progress, expectations and what fans can anticipate from this year’s squad.
Head Coach Dennis Gates
- On Mark Mitchell and CJ Gunn’s ongoing eligibility cases and being there for Mark at his hearing in Louisville: “I just want to be there for our players, for all student-athletes. I think the opportunity that they’re fighting for is a legitimate opportunity. I truly believe they deserve it. When you look at all the classes in front of them, but also behind them, they have an opportunity to play for five seasons. So that’s where this class is. And ultimately, I’m here to support our guys. I wasn’t gonna sign just anybody and everybody. There are connections, obviously: C.J. Gunn being a college teammate of Tamar Bates, high school teammates with Tony Perkins. There’s familiarity. Mark Mitchell, we’ve coached him for two years, so he’s been here. And they fit. They fit our culture, they fit what we do.”
- On if there’s anything different about the process of getting freshmen acclimated this season compared to past seasons: “No, I think my experience speaks for itself. I’ve been fortunate enough to recruit McDonald’s All-Americans when I was an assistant for Florida State, but also when you look at my first head coaching job, it was the first time the portal was available. I wasn’t able to sign any McDonald’s All-Americans at Cleveland State, although I tried. The delusional Dennis Gates sent scholarships to many guys, including Bryson Tiller. I was delusional to think that a young man would even give me a shot while at Cleveland State, but sometimes things come full circle. So more than ever, you have to recruit not just for the current, you gotta recruit for the future.”
- On what it means for Jason Crowe Jr. to be an intentional point guard: “I think that young man has so much talent, and there’s expectations for him to come out and score 50 points a game while at Missouri. But ultimately, you have to understand he has a high basketball IQ. He’s a better passer than anybody gives him credit for. I didn’t let him use any ball screens this summer to make sure he could handle being denied.”
- On what Aaron Rowe’s growth has looked like this offseason: “I think redshirting for Aaron Rowe was essential in his development and role. He’s pound-for-pound the strongest guy on the team, one of the most athletic, but we also want him to be a pest defensively. We want him to pick up 94 feet. We want him to be able to get into the lanes in the open court. We want him to push, but also be a guy that’s playing under control. I think ultimately his assist attempts, but also his assists leading to baskets, his steals, and his on-ball pressure will set the tone for us, and I’m excited to see what’s in store for him.”
- On his overall goal for this season (question asked via Bryson Tiller): “Well, my overall goal is for us to be our very best. I want to be the first coach to win a national championship at Missouri, and the first coach to take this team to the Final Four. So for me, it’s maximizing our potential, making sure Bryson Tiller maximizes his potential, making sure he rebounds and defends. That’s very essential, very important. I also want Bryson Tiller to be a vocal leader. I think when I poke the bear a little bit, he gets a little bit more animated, and sometimes he can turn green and become the Incredible Hulk. So my goal is to get the very best out of him, and I’m gonna continue to demand him and if he doesn’t fall in line with the details, I’m just gonna run him in practice and then figure out when it’s going to happen.”
- On this group being the hardest working in recent memory, according to longtime Tiger Trent Pierce: “Trent Pierce is at the forefront of that. It’s not common to have a guy in his fourth season at the same institution, being able to pass along a culture, the demands, but also the translations of whether it’s my body language, whether it’s my sentences; you don’t have that too often in different locker rooms across the country. When you have a person like that, be thankful, and I’m very thankful that we have Trent Pierce, who reluctantly kept his name out of a portal, and just knows what he wants out of life, but also that’s why the reward is what it is for a guy like that. His growth has happened; his development has happened. I don’t think he’s pressed the evacuation button on his trials, on his tribulations, on his downs, but he’s allowed himself to get out on the other side, and you see the growth. I just remember a skinny, skinny little freshman trying to make a way. Ultimately, he’s someone who fought through it all, and I think that’s the person that usually gets rewarded. So his better days are ahead, that’s for sure, and I’m thankful for his leadership.”
Associate Head Coach Kyle Smithpeters
- On what people should know about this year’s team: “I am extremely pleased with how coachable they have been: how much they want to learn, how much they want to please, how much they really understand what that Missouri Tiger stands for on their jersey. Seasons are long; there’s ups, there’s downs, there’s all of it. I want to see this group show the resilience through SEC play, through our non-conference play, that they’ve shown us through this summer and through this fall. I think if they can continue to have that mindset and show these people what that resilience really looks like, we’re going to have a chance to have a really fun year.”
- On Jason Crowe Jr.: “Everybody sees the talent, they see the abilities. They don’t see the work ethic, they don’t see the late hours, the late night stuff. I mean, he is one of the hardest workers, always in the gym: five in the morning, 6 p.m. That’s why he makes shots the way he does. He makes so many tough shots, but he also has a presence to him and a mentality that’s well beyond his years. He doesn’t present himself as an 18-year-old; he presents himself as a guy that’s 28 years old, and that’s extremely impressive, along with being a very good person.”
- On the connection between the freshmen: “It’s funny, because when you see one, you see all of them. You see them around campus; I don’t know if they have classes together, what it is. They always seem to be together, would be eating together, would be in the gym together.”
- On Cord Stansberry being named a team captain: “There’s few people in life that you see that have the ability to connect people, that have the ability to lead because of what their energy is, and Cord’s one of those guys. His work ethic, for sure, but his ability to connect on the floor. People are going to listen because he’s knowledgeable and he works really hard, but he brings a sense of energy with him that has allowed our group to really rally around him and trust in him.”
Trent Burns
- On how he’s changed from last season: “I just feel like I’m catching up to speed. Last year, I felt like I started to, but I still stepped late at the time. So just trying to be in the right place at the right time, both sides of the floor. I think I’ll take some steps just being in the right spot.”
- On his role this year: “I’m just trying to block as many shots as I can. I do it every day in practice. Just be a defensive anchor, game changer on the defensive side.”
- On what he’s seen from Bryson Tiller: “A lot more than what they let him do at that school that start with a K. He’s very versatile; I didn’t know he could do half the stuff that he did until he got here.”
- On the team’s defense: “I think we’re a great defensive team. Not only me blocking shots; Toni Bryant blocks a lot of shots, Bryson Tiller blocks a lot of shots. Everybody’s affecting shots, so I think we’re in a good spot defensively. We’ve just got to keep carrying our principles over, and I think that everything else will take care of itself.”
Jaylen Carey
- On what he brings to the team: “Someone who just wants to win, doing those things, and I’m gonna bring energy. Just be myself, and everything will take care of itself.”
- On what drew him to Mizzou: “Just taking a chance on yourself; just wanting to do something different, that’s pretty much it.”
Aidan Chronister
- On what he brings to the team: “Bringing energy, being a spark off the bench, just being able to make plays when coach gives me the opportunity. And just making the team’s energy, morale high, and then also being able to hit shots and get some stops, too.”
- On his connection with the team’s other freshmen and playing alongside them: “Those are my guys, man … they’re great players who can be in the league one day, and I’m hoping to join them. Just making the game easier for them because I know how they’re going to be guarded, and I know them being here working with me. So just being able to provide for them and be a servant to them, and being able to open the game up for them.”
- On his biggest influences in getting acclimated to the team: “Both my captains, Trent Pierce and Cord Stansberry. Just being able to talk to Cord about how he got his shots when he was younger and how his development went through. And then obviously I’m behind Trent here, so just learning his way, learning how to get on Gates’ good side and all the spots he likes.”
Jason Crowe Jr.
- On what he fans will see from him: “They’re going to see a lot of buckets. They’re going to see a lot of wins, positivity, trying to lead the team to a win. Just trying to be a leader on the court and being a true point guard.”
- On the non-conference schedule: “I feel like it helps us, it doesn’t hurt is, because we’re going to be war tested when it comes to SEC play. I feel like we can do better in SEC play.”
- On Aaron Rowe and what he’s learned working with him: “[He’s the] fastest guard I’ve ever played in my life … this is his second year going through this summer and fall, so he’s been trying to lead me, direct me through this stuff. I feel like he’s been helping me really well; I’m really close to him, and I hang out with him all the time. I try to pick [up] little bits and pieces like communication, running through offenses and stuff like that.”
- On the one and done hype and his future after this season: “Who knows what the future holds; right now I’m just focused on trying to get to game one. After the season, we can come back to that conversation. But right now, I’m just trying to focus on getting us some wins.”
Kennard Davis Jr.
- On what made Mizzou a good fit for him: “I trusted coach Gates, trusted the staff, but it was really the transparency with me that brought me out. And obviously I wanted to play a little faster, and I feel like this conference was the best for that.”
- On his role this season: “I’m gonna bring defense to the table every time, but also making the right decisions on offense — getting my teammates involved and making the right plays.”
- On this team’s defense: “I feel like we’re in a great spot defensively. Obviously, that’s one of the emphases every day. I feel like we’re in a great spot going into our game on Friday.”
- On the construction of this year’s team: “I feel like we have all the right pieces in all the right places. So coach Gates and the staff put this team together correctly and have a right vision.”
Jamier Jones
- On what he brings to the team: “I’m a very, very fast guy. I love playing with anybody; I’ve got a lot of swagger to me. I play defense, I get downhill at a very good pace. I finish very well around the rim; I don’t miss a lot around the rim. So I’m just ready to show that’s it’s going to be a very special outing once they get to see me.”
- On what made Mizzou the right fit for him: “I just wanted one of those coaches that was gonna tell me what I needed to hear, push me, and get all of my faults out of my game. Ever since I’ve been down here they’ve been on me every day, making sure I stay disciplined.”
- On what Jason Crowe Jr. opens up for him: “Lanes. I didn’t have that last year at Providence, so now he’s opening a lot more lanes for me — I’ve got a lot more driving lanes to take.”
- On who’s impressed him most as a shooter: “Aidan Chronister — he’s a sniper. He’s gonna be a sniper for us all year. I can’t wait for him to show that. Every time I kick it out and he’s gonna shoot it, I just know it’s going in.”
- On the team’s defense: “I think we’ve just got to talk more. Other than that, we’ve got a lot of very talented defenders. Kennard Davis is a guy who can play defense for sure; obviously me and Bryson Tiller. When you’ve got those three guys on defense all together, it’s going to be a very, very, very hard time trying to score on us.”
Luke Northweather
- On how this offseason has been different: “It’s just a different group of guys; we’ve had three freshman, really, that are gonna have a huge impact on the year. So getting them adjusted and dealing with everything that comes with that. But just getting adjusted to all the new guys.”
- On this team’s identity: “Just our toughness and our strength in numbers; I think we have a very deep team, a lot of good guys. So it’s just a matter of coming together.”
Nicholas Randall
- On how he developed in the offseason: “I got my body right, a lot. Obviously coming back, so I already kind of had a head start into building up my body right after the season ended last year. I stayed in the gym a lot this year; worked on myself, my offensive game, some of my defensive game as well.”
- On his connection with Kennard Davis Jr.: “That’s my brother. We went to high school together for two years and I’ve known him for a few years prior to that, so we’ve kind of grown up together — yeah, we’re very close.”
Aaron Rowe
- On what he learned defensively from watching MU’s guards last year: “Just being more of a defender and being more pesky on picking up 94 feet and stuff like that, just making sure the game slows down for the other team.”
- On the team’s identity: “We’re very competitive and everybody wants to be better, so everybody wants to make each other better and I just think that’s a very good idea. Just pushing the pace and being elite on offense and defense.”
- On Jason Crowe Jr.: “He just makes a lot of tough shots, he makes a lot of open shots. He’s picking up his defense and he’s gotten way better vocally, so he’s been doing really good.”
Cord Stansberry
- On what leadership means to him: “It’s kind of how I was raised. I think that what I bring to the team and my role is to bring energy, communicate, be the most connected team in the conference, in the country. My conversations with [coach] Gates ever since day one was coming in here and helping build a culture, helping to keep guys accountable, and not only leading by voice but leading by example and just taking every day, going in and giving 100% effort. I feel like if that spreads to everybody and we’re a player-led team, it’s going to be a rude awakening for everybody else that we play.”
- On his role: “Making everybody else better by getting passes to the right spot, getting everybody to run the same play, get everybody talking. Get everybody huddled together, make sure we’re on the same page.”
- On fighting for minutes but still supporting his teammates: “I love my teammates, so to me, I’m serving them by how hard I play and by supporting them whether I’m on the floor or off the floor. And that’s really the biggest takeaway for me — it’s just coming in here and being a light to everybody and giving my all. I think that everything else will take of itself; if I can shed light and spread positivity and energy and connectedness to everybody else, we’re going to be a dangerous team. So that’s what I feel like my role is, and I feel like because I know that, I think that I can be a star in it.”
Bryson Tiller
- On what he brings to the team: “I’m a versatile player. I’m a leader on this team, and I like to use my athletic ability to my advantage: my size, speed and quickness.”
- On MU’s group of forwards: “I feel like our toughness is our main thing right now …. just being able to go out there with these guys and work against each other every day is special for us.”
- On Jason Crowe Jr.: “He’s a special player. He can create any shot, pretty much, be very quick and agile, and he’s trying to be vocal as well. So we can appreciate that from him as a teammate.”