Whats Next for Dennis Gates, Mizzou After Missing on JJ Andrews?

As 4 p.m. Central Time rolled around on Thursday, May 15, the Missouri Tigers did not receive the good news they were hoping for. Four-star forward JJ Andrews from Little Rock, Arkansas, elected to stay close to home and commit to the Arkansas Razorbacks instead of heading to their border rivals.

It wasn't neccesarily a surprise for the Tigers. Despite some online predictions going in favor of Missouri, there was never a clear favorite in Andrews' recruitment. Staying home and playing with head coach John Calipari was always a top option for him and ended up being too much to refuse.

This was an unfortunate miss for Dennis Gates and the Tigers. It would have been an excellent way to kick off their 2026 recruiting class, creating momentum for the rest of the recruiting cycle and giving Missouri fans a reminder that Gates is a top-tier recruiter. That's not the case and now Gates and his staff have been forced to look elsewhere.

Lucky for Gates, that isn't the end of the world. The Tigers find themselves in the thick of two recruitments for top-100 prospects, one of which is a five-star. Zephyrhills, Florida native Toni Bryant is the 13th best player in the country according to 247Sports composite rankings and is slated to take an official visit to Columbia on Sep. 6, 2025.

Just a few weeks after that, the Tigers will host four-star wing Aidan Chronister from Rogers, Arkansas, on an official visit. The 6-foot-7 sharpshooter is the 51st best player in composite rankings. Missouri was the first school to officially offer Chronister in high school

Those two are fielding offers from plenty of Power 5 schools and the Tigers are not exactly in the lead, but it's fair to say they're out to a hot start. Having those visits safely scheduled, for now, is a great first step in launching the Tigers to the top of their recruitments, but they are still a long way away from a decision.

Bryant and Chronister aren't the only two players Missouri is pursuing. There are two big men close to home that the Tigers' staff is actively after, both of whom are four-star recruits.

Saint Louis forward Tristan Reed, who recently announced he will play for Link Academy next season, has been a name frequently linked to Missouri. He's the 76th-best player in the country and the 17th-best power forward, with Ohio State leading the way in On3's recruiting prediction model.