Offseason Starts Well for Tigers

Mike Anderson is going to be in Columbia for quite some time, and all three Missouri seniors get to play some more basketball (or at least shoot a few threes) before their collegiate careers officially end.

Let’s start with Coach Anderson, who was the subject of more rumors and speculation in the past five weeks than Alex Rodriguez and his steroid buddies. Although Alabama, Georgia, Memphis, and possibly others all were reportedly interested in Anderson’s services at some point or  another, it never really appeared he got too serious about leaving. The only real yellow flag was an unconfirmed ESPN report that Anderson traveled to Georgia on Monday. But it just seems like Anderson is having too much fun coaching in Columbia (and his wife seems to like it here too) to leave for anything less than a dream job, and Duke, UNC or UCLA weren’t available. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Coach Anderson took an offer significantly less than the one he was offered from Georgia (reportedly $2 mil), but I also wouldn’t be shocked to learn that MU panicked a bit and threw some larger numbers at their one hope to remain relevant in college basketball.

It should be very interesting to see what Coach Anderson and the players have to say about the situation, but we’ll have to wait until the press conference next Tuesday, because Anderson and Matt Lawrence will both be busy in Detroit this weekend. At first, the Missourian was told Anderson was simply going to watch the games, but now we know he’s actually going to be on the sideline with his former coach and mentor at Tulsa and Arkansas, Nolan Richardson, coaching some of the top Division I seniors in the Hershey’s All-Star Game on Friday. Meanwhile, Matt Lawrence will be in Detroit Thursday to participate in the annual 3-point contest that will be televised on ESPN at 8 p.m. Thursday.

All in all, it’s a great end to an amazing season. But don’t tune out on the Tigers’ basketball team just yet. The National Signing period starts two weeks from today, and Missouri is still a strong contender for Jarrid Famous, a 6-foot-11 sophomore at Westchester Junior College who is rated as one of the nation’s top junior college big men. Famous visited Mizzou in early March, and even without a uniform off the basketball court, it’s clear he could be an imposing presence inside for next year’s Tigers, who have to replace one of the top scoring forward duos in the country, DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons.

Speaking of those two, they’ll be playing in the Portsmout Invitational April 8-11 in Portsmouth, Va. The tournament is an opportunity for the top 64 seniors in the country to showcase their skills in front of general managers and other important people from the NBA. At this point, it still seems unlikely either one will be drafted, but a good performance in Portsmouth could be huge for their basketball careers.