Notebook, observations from Mizzou basketball's pro day

Mizzou basketball held its pro day on Sunday afternoon, giving the media its first look at Missouri’s 2026-27 squad. 15 players, including prospective Tigers Mark Mitchell and CJ Gunn both participated despite currently not being eligible for the upcoming season. 

Junior guard Annor Boateng did not participate but was at the event with a brace on his leg. Head coach Dennis Gates confirmed Boateng would miss the entire season with an injury. Junior center Trent Burns also did not participate after getting kneed. Gates, taking precaution, said he didn’t want to “risk anything” and that Burns will be prepared for Missouri’s exhibition game against Kansas State on Oct. 23. 

As for the Tigers that did participate, here’s everything I noticed ranging from fit between players, playstyle and strengths and weaknesses.  

Jason Crowe Jr. is as advertised

The second-highest ranked recruit in program history is set to lead a Missouri squad hopeful of a deep postseason run in his freshman season. The 6-foot-4 point guard enters the world of college basketball as one of the most prolific scorers the high school level has seen since the turn of the century, scoring 4,718 points across four seasons. His tough-shot making was on full display during Sunday’s pro day, finishing a few buckets with soft touch around the rim, hitting a few pull-up threes and making contested elbow middies. 

Creating separation on the perimeter isn’t his strong suit, but his knack for converting tough shots into points helps make up for it. Crowe is also, as previously displayed, a capable passer. His go-to move after navigating a high screen is typically to go to the elbow, but upon drawing doubles, typically made the right read. 

He was also noticeably communicative and gave effort on defense, picking up full-court a few instances. 

Mark Mitchell won’t be the same as we last saw

Last year, Mitchell was required to score in wake of too many Tigers not being able to. He did it at a high level but is now joined by other high-level scorers. 

“The last two years, I forced Mark to do some things he wasn't comfortable with, and that's score a lot more,” Gates said. “Now, he's able to facilitate no different than he did (the) first year when he had Tamar (Bates) and Caleb Grill. Right, he can get back to that, but also focus on his rebound per minute. I think he has to get better at his rebounds per minute, and that will allow him to do it and focus on those things defensively that he needs to focus on, which is going to be essential to his development.” 

His passing, while not perfect, was on display during the scrimmages. He attempted multiple big-to-big passes to Toni Bryant and still had a strong drive-and-kick presence. 

What did remain the same about Mitchell, though, was his willingness to embrace physicality and finish through contact. He had multiple tough buckets at the rim in which fouls were either called or likely would’ve been called in a regulated game. 

Also of note, when Mitchell and Crowe shared the court in the scrimmage, the offense was a bit clunky. After a few attempted pick-and-rolls early on, there weren't many successful or seemingly intentional actions involving the two. 

It’ll be interesting to see how the pair can grow together as the season moves along, if Mitchell remains with the team.

Bryson Tiller will be heavily featured

There's one question that's been swirling around Missouri circles for the past few months: Who's Missouri's best player? Is it Crowe, an all-time commit with a scoring pedigree second to none amongst his peers? Is it Mitchell, the programs leading scorer for the past two seasons who is attempting to return for a fifth season of college ball?

An option that many left out of the discussion: Bryson Tiller, the guy who beat both of them in a 12-minute scrimmage. Tiller helped lead the charge in a double-digit comeback in the scrimmage, acting as the primary engine for his unit's offense.

Up one point with seconds remaining, Tiller followed Mitchell closely and sent the forwards' layup attempt careening to secure the victory. That won't be a play anyone forgets anytime soon.

Gates compared Tiller to Mitchell earlier this summer. Tiller, while more of a complementary piece at Kansas in 2025-26, could be much more of an on-ball guy with the Tigers — tons of action ran through him during the scrimmage. 

He was on a scrimmage team without Crowe or Mitchell, leaving much of the offense to run through him. Whether it was pull-up middies, finishing and rebounding through physicality close to the basket or walling up for blocks on a variety of Tigers, Tiller delivered.

Gates referred to Tiller as one of Missouri’s “entry guys, guys that can calm us down and put us in situation.” 

Tiller reminds Gates of a few standout Tigers. 

“He’s sort of a combination: he has strength like Kobe Brown, he has the ability and fluidity of Mark Mitchell, but also he has the strength of Bryson Tiller,” Gates said. “He played at all three levels, made 3s, pull-ups, and you saw strength, you saw his ability to handle the ball with a quick, tight handle.”

Toni Bryant’s role in Year 1 

Missouri has eight players standing at 6-foot-8 or taller, many of which warrant serious playing time. Bryant, a five-star freshman forward standing at 6’10, is one of those. During Missouri’s pro day scrimmages, Bryant was playing alongside one of Mitchell, Nicholas Randall or Jaylen Carey at all times. At one point, he played alongside both Randall and Mitchell simultaneously. 

Bryant spent plenty of time on the perimeter hoisting up 3-pointers, and while I didn’t do the math, he made a good bunch of them. 

I asked Gates if Bryant spending so much time on the perimeter and shooting threes was intentional. Here was his response. 

“He's a versatile player. He can defend a lot. He can stretch the floor. Shoots at a high percentage consistently,” Gates said. “So this isn't new in terms of his shooting percentage. I think in the McDonald's All American game, we saw him make several threes as well. So I've always known that, right? But Toni is such an efficient kid that he doesn't play outside his box, he doesn't take many risky plays. So I got to make sure he's continuing to be a rebounder, a shot blocker, but also a guy that can play at different levels, shoot threes and finish at the basket.” 

Quick-hitters

Jamier Jones is probably the best pure athlete Missouri has had under Gates. There was one instance where he jumped to catch a wild entry pass and it legitimately looked like he was boosted by a trampoline; the highest I’ve ever seen a college player jump in a full-speed drill or game. 

Aaron Rowe and Cord Stansberry seem to be two top options for backup point guard. Stansberry was very vocal and had the ball in his hands a good amount during scrimmages. Gates also named Stansberry one of two captains alongside Trent Pierce. Rowe, who redshirted the 2025-26 season, had no problem hanging around physically and made little mistakes as the primary ball-handler. He guarded Crowe well as his primary defender in the second scrimmage. 

Aidan Chronister feels the most “freshman” of Missouri’s three freshmen. He’s a little overwhelmed physically and had a few defensive lapses but responded extremely well to Gates’ tough love and was an active communicator and efficient 3-point shooter. Gates being tough on freshmen is far from uncommon, and it’s proven to often work in the long run. 

CJ Gunn, if deemed eligible, may be the best shooter on the team. He’s shot 34% or lower from 3-point range in all four of his seasons, but his quick, high release looked good in today’s action. We’ll see if it translates to the regular season.

Carey excels in the intangibles for a center. He’s a willing and capable passer out of short rolls and out of the high post, can wall up against post-ups and can rebound. 

Scrimmage results

Missouri ran two 12-minute scrimmages during Pro Day. Here’s how the teams were split up for the first scrimmages and what went down. 

Team 1: Jordan Crawford, CJ Gunn, Mark Mitchell, Cord Stansberry, Toni Bryant, Nicholas Randall and Aidan Chronister

Team 2: Jason Crowe, Trent Pierce, Kennard Davis, Bryson Tiller, Luke Northweather, Aaron Rowe, Jaylen Carey and Jamier Jones

Team 2 beat Team 1 30-24. To start the game, its first few actions were a Crowe-Tiller high screen. That wouldn’t surprise me as an action Missouri turns to when it’s desperate in need of a bucket. 

Bryant, whether from the corner or the top of the key, took plenty of triples in the contest. After taking an above-the-break 3-pointer, C.J. Gunn told him “Shoot the ones that are in rhythm.”  

At one point in the scrimmage, Gates yelled “When you get tired, put your foot on the f***ing gas and run.” Missouri’s athleticism helps it be at its best when it's running the break, with plenty of capable passers and even more capable athletes.

Here’s what went down in the second. 

Team 1: Crowe, Mitchell, Stansberry, Randall, Gunn, Chronister and Bryant

Team 2: Northweather, Pierce, Tiller, Davis, Jones, Rowe, Carey and Crawford

The second game was meant to simulate a fourth quarter, with both teams starting at 48 points and playing through 12 minutes. 

Team 2 jumped out to a 67-57 lead, only for Team 1 to storm back and tie it up using a lineup of Rowe, Davis, Jones, Pierce and Tiller. Rowe looked rather calm as a facilitator and defender. 

Near the end of the scrimmage with the game a one-possession score, Pierce committed an off-ball foul on Mitchell while in the double-bonus, leading Mitchell to shoot free throws. During Mitchell’s free throws, Jones committed a lane violation, prompting Gates, who had a whistle, to say he would blow the whistle on every mistake. He got onto the team for making preventable mistakes. 

Team 1 had the ball up 1 with about 40 seconds to go but failed to even get a shot off, despite deploying a lineup with Crowe, Mitchell and Bryant. Crowe was doubled high, picked up his dribble and couldn’t get it to a teammate until about 7 seconds left in the possession. The ball eventually ended up in Bryant’s hands with a few seconds left, who then passed it to Mitchell as the shot clock expired. 

Team 2 scored, and Tiller blocked Mitchell as time expired the next time down the court, giving the team the win.