Missouri Basketball: Early 2015-16 Outlook

Finishing last in the SEC in the 2014-15 season, the Missouri Tigers are not headed up in the 2015-16 season, either. Kim Anderson is bringing the right culture into this team, but the turmoil from Frank Haith’s departure and the drop in talent the year after Jordan Clarkson, Jabari Brown and Co. left has hung over the Tigers.

As if things could not get any worse for Missouri, they will lose their best player from the previous season, Johnathan Williams III, to the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Williams led the team with 11.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, more than double the rebounds of the second leading rebounder.

However, the good news for Missouri is that this team is finally entirely centered around youth. Wes Clark, Montaque Gill-Caesar, D’Angelo Allen, Jakeenan Gant, etc. all showed signs of being more than capable of a great future Missouri squad. Gill-Caesar might be the most surprising of the rising Missouri stars, but reports out of the Tigers’ program suggest that Gant may be a big name in the SEC for years to come due to massive improvement.

I expect the Tigers to finish at the bottom of the SEC once again, but do not be surprised if they win a few games they are expected to lose. Mizzou is on the rise, even if the brighter days are in the rear-view mirror. Have faith in Anderson, because he’s a great coach; turning this program around was going to take a lot longer than any fanbase would ever want.

Taylor Sturm is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.