Missouri Basketball: 2024-25 season preview for the Tigers

Overall outlook and expectations for Missouri

It’s not a make-or-break year for Dennis Gates, but if there isn’t improvement this season his days in Columbia might be numbered. Luckily for Gates and Missouri expectations are much lower going into this season. Any improvement will be seen as a win after what transpired last season. The fans just want to see a competitive basketball team.

The Tigers have an extremely easy non-conference schedule this season. Only three games are against power conference teams and a good portion of the early games are matchups with mid-major programs that struggled to get wins last season. Scheduling this way is somewhat of a double-edged sword for Missouri. Wins against bad mid-major teams won’t improve Mizzou’s odds of making the postseason, but a loss will hurt them. Missouri must win these games and win big. Once the Tigers get to SEC play wins will be a little harder to come by, but there are many winnable games for Missouri on the schedule. 

On paper, the roster looks improved over last season. Coach Gates made a conscious effort to add reliable scoring, rebounding, and interior defense, three things that were greatly missed last year. Missouri has solid depth at nearly every position, with tons of experience across the board. Tony Perkins, Marques Warrick, and Caleb Grill have all played at least 125 games in their college career. Tamar Bates and Josh Gray will both reach the 100-game mark after the first couple of games of the season.

The offense has more shooters and a solid facilitator and should look more like it did in year one for Gates, which was one of the best in the country. Scoring responsibilities won’t fall on just one player, which should eliminate stagnation. Tony Perkins should keep the offense moving. Tamar Bates, Marques Warrick, and Jacob Crews have proven they can fill up the box score from everywhere on the court. And Mark Mitchell can finish around the basket. The offense is set up for success this year. 

And on the defensive side of the court, Missouri added good size, solid rebounders, and good defenders. This year the Tigers have two centers on the roster at nearly seven foot tall and over 250 pounds with Josh Gray and Peyton Marshall. Mitchell and Caleb Grill are really good defenders and rebounders. The depth at every position should help if the team runs into injuries again this season.

It’s not unreasonable for fan expectations to be that Missouri is closer to what it was in year one under Dennis Gates than in year two. Expectations of a NCAA Tournament run might be a little lofty. The non-conference schedule is going to put the Tigers a little behind from the start. Missouri can play spoiler to many teams with post-season aspirations in the SEC.

Will the Tigers finish at the top of the conference standings, probably not, but then again nobody could have imagined Mizzou going winless in SEC games last season. So there is always a chance that something wild happens. Ultimately expectations should be that Missouri is an improved team and heading in the right direction.