COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Inside the walls of Mizzou Arena, there is plenty of motivation for the 2025-26 basketball season. Returning players and new faces alike, the goal for Tiger men’s hoops is as clear as it has been since the day head coach Dennis Gates stepped on campus: compete for championships.
After losing starting guards Tamar Bates, Tony Perkins and Caleb Grill, as well as sharp-shooter Marques Warrick and big man Josh Gray to graduation, Coach Gates did the work to replenish his roster, bringing in seven new players, from transfers to freshmen.
After going through the offseason program, multiple Tiger standouts believe that they have the talent to achieve those dreams.
“Obviously, last year we had our highs and the highs were really high,” senior Mark Mitchell said. “I think this year we can overachieve those.”
For those returning to Columbia, following the 2024-25 campaign, there is extra motivation in the mission to compete for those championships, as last season ended earlier than the Tigers had hoped.
Although players and coaches always work to turn the page from one season and one team to the next, there’s a consensus that Mizzou’s first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament with a loss to Drake left a bad taste in returners’ mouths.
“Obviously have a lot of motivation,” Mitchell said. “Obviously, it’s a new year and it’s a new group. We always got to build from the ground up each year.”
The end the 2024-25 campaign is in the rearview mirror, but the lessons learned are still front and center.
“Not letting bad games kind of disrupt what we had going on,” junior Trent Pierce said, when asked what his biggest takeaway from Mizzou’s postseason run was.
Heading into a new year, Coach Gates is set to lean on his core of returning talent to set the expectations for his new roster. Three of those returners – Mitchell, Pierce and junior Anthony Robinson – started last season, making Mizzou the only team in the Southeastern Conference to bring back three returning starters.
“Experience in the SEC,” Robinson said. “I think it’s the best conference out of all the conferences. You know, having that experience of physical basketball…it’s a different speed, different level to it.”
Mitchell will enter his second season in Columbia, after impressing Tiger fans in his debut. After his junior season was all said and done, the Kansas City native did enough to earn Second-Team and Third-Team All-SEC honors, which made him the third Tiger to earn All-Conference accolades in their first season on campus.
He led Mizzou with 13.9 points per game that season and ranked second on the team with 4.7 rebounds, third with 64 assists, fifth with 32 steals and first with 25 blocks.
“Obviously, last year was a really good year for me and I think this year’s going to be even better,” Mitchell said.
Pierce has grown consistently, year-after-year, in his time in the black and gold.
Through 33 games in his sophomore season, he made 19 starts and averaged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game – more than tripling his scoring total and doubling his rebounding from his rookie campaign.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just my confidence,” he said. “We have a great coaching staff and they’ve been able to help build me up and so, you know…it’s showing up on the court.”
Robinson has been at Mizzou for his entire career and hopes for an exciting third season, coming off of breakout year in 2024-25.
The Florida native’s efforts in his sophomore season were enough to earn him an SEC All-Defensive Team selection, making him just the second Tiger in school history to earn the accolade and the only underclassmen to ever get it. He played 33 games with 31 starting assignments. In that time, Robinson ranked fourth on the team with 9.0 points per game and first with 3.5 assists.
“We’re just trying to implement our culture on everybody and, you know, how we move around and how we go about things and how we’re different from everybody,” Robinson said.
That trio will look to guide a new-look team to the next level when the Tigers tip off the new season in November, as they have an intimate knowledge of the skill and physicality it takes to be successful in the SEC.
Few know more about what it takes to find success than Robinson, though, and he only expects to get better in his junior campaign.
“I really see this being a huge year for him,” Pierce said.
Robinson spent the summer honing his craft, as he was one of just 12 players in the nation to earn an invitation to NBA star Chris Paul’s Elite Guard Camp.
“I was there with a lot of great guys and got to talk to CP a little bit. You know, he was just sharing his experience in the NBA and, you know, just giving us game and knowledge,” Robinson said. “[It’s about] just staying consistent to a schedule.”
Over the years, Tiger fans have seen the guard transform in front of their eyes. From an eager young freshman to one of the most ferocious defenders in the conference. Now, he’s garnering national attention as one of the best at his position in the Southeastern Conference.
“From unranked to where I’m at now, it’s definitely been a journey,” Robinson said.
Although the accolades and attention are nice, Robinson does his best to tune out all of that outside noise, as he knows this team has a job to do, if they want to reach the goals they set.
“We’re gonna take it day-by-day, step-by-step and just come build on every single day,” he said.
Mizzou and its trio of returning starters will start the season on Monday, Nov. 3 in Washington, D.C. against Howard. The tip off time is still to be announced.