M-I-Z, J-W-T: The Tigers Are Back

I was at Disney World in Orlando, Florida a few years ago. I was walking along, with thousands of other people, when I saw a guy in a Mizzou Tigers tee shirt. I yelled out "M-I-Z..." and this total stranger yelled back, "Z-O-U!!!" That's just something Mizzou fans do.

But here lately, it's been hard to be a Mizzou Tigers fan. The football team stinks. The basketball team has been even worse. I went to a game in December. I bought my ticket on a Sunday morning, showed up right at game time, and literally walked down and could have picked any seat I wanted.

I don't think that is going to be the case next year. The Tigers are back!

Mizzou fired Coach Kim Anderson, a very good, nice, decent man. They hired Cuonzo Martin, an East St. Louis native, where he was the 1990 STL Post Dispatch Player of the Year. Martin is a great recruiter, having signed several NBA caliber recruits throughout his coaching career. I think his ties to the St. Louis area will finally, finally, FINALLY bring some talent from the STL to the MIZ.

For years and years, the best talent in St. Louis - some of the best talent in the nation - has opted to leave the state. Whether that was Brad Beal, Jason Tatum, David Lee, or Ben McLemore, a lot of talented guys have left St. Louis, starred elsewhere, and are now in the NBA. That's not even counting other in state stars like Tyler Hansbrough and Otto Porter that are also from Missouri, were great players at other colleges, and are now in the NBA.

I think Martin will "close the borders" and start keeping some of our in state talent.

That could start right away, with Martin bringing maybe the best recruit to ever come out of the state of Missouri back home. Rumors have Martin hiring Michael Porter, Sr as an assistant coach. That's because Porter, an assistant coach at the University of Washington, is looking to relocate after Washington fired it's head coach, Lorenzon Romar. It also helps that Porter and his family are from Columbia, where two of his daughters currently play for Mizzou.

Rumors having Martin hiring Illinois Interim Head Coach Derek Walker as an assistant. If that happens, Walker would probably bring with him Jeremiah Tillmon, the No. 23 ranked player nationally in the class of 2017. He's a 6'11, 220 pound center from... East St. Louis. Connect the dots here.

So it might be a little tougher to get a ticket to a Tigers game next year. That's okay with me, and I'm sure all Mizzou fans are feeling the same way this morning. The Tigers are back!

M-I-Z...

#JWT #JoinTheRevolution