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Basketball from a fans perspective

Welcome to Mizzou

The school announced the signing of a fourth member in the Class of 2023, coming on board is 6-foot 7-inch forward Danny Stephens from Augusta, Illinois.  This village in Illinois is 150 road miles northeast of Columbia Missouri so he won’t be too far from home. Stephens is signing as a preferred walk-on and with that an explanation is required for those unfamiliar with the term. “Preferred Walk-On-This is the highest status as a walk-on.

You are guaranteed a spot on the team and are going to receive all the support of normal scholarship athletes.” Stephens in his junior year at Southeastern High School led his team to an Elite Eight appearance. As a first-team all-state selection Stephens averaged 28 points 10 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game. He shot 63% from the floor and 94% from the line, Stephens is awarded no stars by any recruiting site but does that matter? Coach Gates is pleased with his signing, and this maintains Mizzou’s ranking at number 21 recruiting in the nation by 247Sports. Welcome to Mizzou Danny Stephens.

Really?

When do we suppose the last time the Houston Cougars were number three in any basketball poll? The question required research on my part and a surprise. The 1982-83 team nicknamed Phi Slama Jama finished the regular season number one in the AP poll with a 31-3 record. This is no intent on my part to forecast the immediate future for the Cougars. That Cougar team contained Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde “The Glide” Drexler both now in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Of course I’ve stated time and time again polls prove nothing it’s the final horn that counts. In this instance the first Monday in April is a truer form of measurement for a team’s success. I haven’t followed the program that closely, so this portion required additional research. Since the 2014-15 season Kelvin Sampson’s first at the helm the Cougars have never finished below .500. In addition over the years his Cougar teams have won 30+ games twice, 2019 and 2022. I once heard someone claim Sampson wins despite the lack of recruiting McDonald’s All Americans to his program.

The struggle is real

We know the struggles of the Lakers thus far in the season, they have been documented here, written, discussed and covered extensively for the past month in various media outlets. The question continues what might have occurred if the Lakers had not mortgaged their future for a “win now” mantra. It’s interesting I’ve mentioned this previously despite the record the Lakers have done an excellent job of analyzing and drafting talent…that’s the good. The bad, few draftees or free agents assembled in the recent past remain with the team. 

One of those former Lakers recently spoke about the situation, Kyle Kuzma now with the Wizards claimed “We couldn’t have won with the roster then” or similar words. Okay let’s check out just a few, besides Kuzma there was Lonzo Ball, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell. Now all these talented players were not with the Lakers at the same time, but the intent is to detail the keen eye the Lakers scouting staff did in assembling talent. The Lakers are stuck in the mud at this point but with revisionist history we can pose a question. What might have occurred in their future if they managed to maintain at least a few of the talented players that left town?

Geography…right out the window

I’ve not read a timeframe, but Southern Cal and UCLA are headed for the Big 10 Conference. These Pacific Time Zone teams will be aligned with those (on the most part) in the Eastern Time Zone. That’s not as extreme as Oklahoma and Texas, both southwest schools plan a move to the SEC which is comprised of mostly deep south schools. At least this is only one time zone apart from the majority of SEC schools. The University of MO (Kansas City) was once a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Midwest situated Kansas City had conference games scheduled with Utah, California and Washington in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones. What is the driving force behind the schools claiming geography is unimportant?

I can’t be sure of anything however the driving force has got to be financial, isn’t everything else? We have no idea what the future holds however I was talking to a friend recently and this is what he told me. “I believe eventually there will be two large super conferences and a bunch of little ones.” Who goes and who remains might be the question however we might believe this to be the decider. Power 5 schools will be in the forefront of this intended plan, so Texas, Alabama, Ohio State and several others will be the leaders. As I write this, I’m unsure if I like this and for one reason alone…rivalry’s. In the Big 8 and later Big XII days the rivalry between Mizzou and Kansas was amazing, they hated our guts and we hated theirs. All that’s gone now with the school’s located in different conferences. I could foresee a similar occurrence with two super conferences.