3 things to know from Mizzou men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates’ appearance at SEC media days

In 19 days, the new season will start at Mizzou Arena.

Before the Tigers open their season Nov. 6 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Mizzou men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates and four MU players — Nick Honor, Noah Carter, Sean East II and Connor Vanover — participated in SEC basketball media days Wednesday in Birmingham, Alabama.

Here are three takeaways from Gates’ appearance:

Connor Vanover the … guard?

Connor Vanover’s role at Missouri isn’t just going to be as a big body in the post.

"He's the tallest guard in the country,” Gates said. “That's my philosophy."

No arguments here.

The 7-foot-5 Oral Roberts transfer has been on Gates’ radar since the coach was an assistant at Florida State. Vanover ended up playing his freshman season at California, which is Gates’ alma mater.

The Tigers needed size. They ranked last in the SEC with 30.3 rebounds per game last season. With Vanover, Missouri adds length to its roster … and some.

But the Missouri coach sees far more use for Vanover.

“Connor Vanover was in the 90th percentile in 2-point field goal percentage. He shot close to 40% from the 3-point line. He causes matchup problems, because you look at him in height, I look at him just as a basketball player,” Gates said. … “At the end of the day, I’m gonna ask him to not only block shots and score, I’m gonna ask him to continue to make unbelievable assists, be a defensive presence, be able to do multiple things, be an anchor, be a leader.”

High school vs. transfer portal

In a segment on SEC Network before taking the stage in Birmingham, Gates was asked about his recent recruiting successes. Per Rivals, Gates and Missouri currently hold the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for 2024 with five total commitments, four of whom four-star prospects.

That’s no accident.

Gates said he’s intentionally moving toward recruiting high school players and away from the transfer portal.

“This is the best class to recruit high school kids for the future of your program,” Gates said, “because the portal isn't going to look the same."

How so?

Gates mentioned the new NCAA transfer rules that limit players to one move, which many players have already made. More than 1,600 Division I players transferred in each of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, per NCAA data.

More than that, COVID years of eligibility are expiring soon. True freshmen in the 2020-21 season are now seniors. That too, Gates said, will decrease the total pool of players available.

That’s spurred what appears to be a deliberate change of recruiting strategy. This season, Gates has three scholarship high school recruits — four-star prospects Jordan Butler, Anthony Robinson and Trent Pierce — on his roster. Compare that with the six transfers joining the Tigers this year, or the 10 players in his debut season.

“You’ll still have people matriculate and decide to go elsewhere, but I’m into developing young talent, and we wanna do it that way,” Gates said. “You look at the NCAA Tournament, you have to recruit and evaluate pros. You have to. And I think in our next two classes we’ve been able to do that. The future is bright.

Kaleb Brown’s development

Tigers legend Kobe Brown, a first-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Clippers this year, may have left Missouri one final parting gift.

His younger brother, Kaleb Brown.

Kaleb Brown entered the transfer portal in April. He announced June 6 that he was returning to Missouri.

Gates thinks that decision was inspired by his older sibling.

“It’s easy to transfer in today’s climate,” Gates said. “It’s more popular to be a transfer than it is to be a guy who goes through a process. Watching Kobe Brown … go through the process of his career, I think had an impact on that as well.”

Gates has said multiple times that Kaleb Brown, now a junior, is one of the most improved players on his roster. He did so again Wednesday — also mentioning sophomore Aidan Shaw’s development — in a short opening statement in Alabama.

The head coach said he has been impressed with Kaleb Brown's 3-point shooting as well as his assist-to-turnover ratio in practice.

But more than that ...

“You see a kid that went through a process but now on the other side of it you see more maturity on and off the court,” Gates said. “You see someone with great time management skills, someone who cares and someone that is a year older in a system and a program.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 3 things to know from Mizzou coach Dennis Gates’ appearance at SEC media days