By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor
(MIZZPORT)—The college basketball transfer portal opens today and the Missouri Tiger guards are bolting. Late last night, word came that T. O. Barrett, whose insertion as a started added intensity to the defense and toughness to the inside game, was bolting. We already knew the ptjer two top guards were moving on. Anthony Robinson II, who lost his starting guard position in mid-season to Barrett, and reserve guard Sebastian Mack, who never rose above a backup role after transferring in from UCLA, are leaving. Both are seniors. Barrett has a couple of years of eligibility left.
He was exciting in his sophomore breakout season, but had a problem with turnovers, scored a career high 28 points against Tennessee but also had games where he had no offensive impact.
Mizzou has a five star guard, Jason Crowe Jr., coming in, joining the only guard left on the roster—redshirt Aaron Rowe of Columbia. Crowe is considered a top ten national prospect.
Mizzou has one of the best recruiting classes in the nation for the 26-27 seasons as it looks to improve on this year’s fadeout with four straight losses, including first round games in the SEC tournament and in the NCAA.
(BILLSPORT)—Two players from the St. Louis University Billikens are going into the portal but reports indicate other players with eligibility remaining will stick around. Department are forwards Brady Dunlap and Kalu Anya. Dunlap had the best three-point parentage for the team this year—45 percent. But in terms of minutes played he was seventh in the nine-man rotation and his playing time was reduced in the last ten games.
Anya was crowded out of the rotation this year and took a redshirt so he’ll have one year of eligibility left. He’s a 6-8 forward who started all 34 games for the Bills in the 2024-25 season when he led the team in rebounds, shot a respectable percentage from the field but hit less than one-third of his free throws.
(BEARSPORT)—Missouri State’s only portal entry so far is Amar Kuljuhovic, a 6-8 power forward. He transferred to Springfield after two years at North Dakota State but played in only two games this year.
(BASEBALL)—Both of our major league teams have finished the first full week of the season with so-so records. The Cardinals winning five of their first nine and the Royals losing five of their first nine.
(ROYALS)—The Royals opened a series against the Cleveland Guardians last night, looking to get back to .500 after the first ten games of the year. Before the game, the team activated infielder Michael Massey from the ten-day injured list and sent utility man Nick Loftin to Omaha.
Massey had been recovering from a calf strain. He hit .244 last year. He’s mostly a second-baseman but has played third and left field, too.
The first of three games against the Guardians was moved from last night to the afternoon because temperatures were expected to drop for a game under the lights. Kansas City evened is record at 5-5 with a 4-2 win. Jonathan India’s two-run homer in the eighth gave the Royals a needed cushion in the win. He also drove in Kansas City’ s first run. Catcher Carter Jensen also homered.
(CARDINALS)—The last piece of the Sonny Gray trade to the Red Sox has fallen into place with the Cardinals getting Class-A pitcher Patrick Galle as the player to be named later. Galle was a 17th round pick last year projected to be a reliever. He’s the third player to move to the Cardinals in the trade. Galle is 22 with a triple digit fastball that produced a 1.04 ERA in eight appearances with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League, a collegiate wood bat summer league.
Last night, the Cardinals dropped back to .500 (5-5) with a 9-6 loss to the Washington Nationals. One nice development in the opening games of the season is Jordan Walker, who was 2 for 5 last night an is hitting .314 in the early going after a lot of work on his swing while in Florida. Rookie J.J. Wetherholt was one for three and is hitting .278 so far in his first pass through major league pitching.
(TIGERFB)—The Mizzou football class of 2927 is starting to assemble; the question will be how many will stick with their verbal commitments. Coach Drinkwitz wants 18-22 recruits in the last. Six already have committed
The top name on the tentative list is Tight End Jack Brown Francis Howell Central, considered the top talent in Missouri, a 6-5, 215 pounder who catches footballs. Jack Brown is a four-star recruit. More than thirty schools will try to get him to change his mind.
(CHIEFS)—Coach Andy Reid isn’t forecasting whether Patrick Mahomes will be ready to go for game one of the NFL season but there is a video that shows him dropping back and throwing a pass in the Chiefs training facility. His left let is wrapped from ankle to thigh but he appears to be moving normally.
(BATTLEHAWKS)—The Battlehawks play tonight, a rarity in UFL scheduling. They will take their 1-0 record against the Dallas Renegades, who also have won their first game this year. The ‘Hawks will have to find a way to stop Dallas quarterback Austin Reed, who set a league record with 376 passing yards in a 36-16 win against Houston.
On the track—
(INDYCAR)—IndyCar heads to the streets of Long Beach on the 19th for its last race before everyone heads to Indianapolis for a road course race and the buildup to it’s greatest race on Memorial Day weekend.
The car count for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 stands at 31, two short of the traditional staring field of 33. RACER magazine’s Marshall Pruett reports Abel Motorsports is working getting a car ready for Jacob Abel, son of the team owner, who was bumped from las year’s starting field by a faster driver in qualifications. Andretti Global appeared ready with a car for Colton Herta, who is running Formula 2 in Europe this year. But his availability has come into question. PREMA Motorsports, which has not been able to field a car for the starting grids of any of four races so far this year but could put one on the track if a driver with adequate sponsorship appears on the scene.
Alex Palou won last year’s 500 and has won two of the four races this year with Kyle Kirkwood and Joef Newgarden winning the other two. Kirkwood’s consistent runs in the first four races has put him in the points lead.
(NASCAR)—NASCAR returns after the Easter break to run at Bristol. It’s the eight race of the season. The standings are starting to look familiar as drivers race to be in the top 16 in points for a ten race runoff that will crown a champion who accumulates the most points during those ten races.
NASCAR has abandoned its street race in downtown Chicago to return to the Chicagoland Speedway. It’ called ChicagoLAND because the track is in Joliet. Because no Cup races have been run there since 2019, Goodyear plans tire tests on the 21st. The race is July 5.