‘A coffin or a classroom': Mizzou basketball's youth will define its season

Five-star freshmen Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant will start for Missouri basketball this season. Top-50 transfers and sophomores Bryson Tiller and Jamier Jones have a strong chance of starting, too.

That’s quite a contrast from Missouri’s previous starting lineups under coach Dennis Gates.

His most-deployed starting five in 2025-26 included seniors Mark Mitchell and Shawn Phillips Jr., sixth-year guard Jayden Stone, junior captain Trent Pierce and sophomore guard T.O. Barrett. In 2024-25, it was fifth-year guard Tony Perkins, senior captain Tamar Bates, then-junior Mitchell and two sophomores in Pierce and Anthony Robinson. Sixth-year senior Caleb Grill tallying the second-most minutes per game as the sixth man that season.

The most minutes per game any freshman under Gates at Missouri is Robinson’s 13.6 in the 2023-24 season in which the Tigers went an abysmal 0-19 in Southeastern Conference play.

On top of a difficult, looming conference schedule in which the Tigers will face seven teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, Missouri will play two top-20 programs and two receiving votes for the top 25 in its nonconference slate. The challenge arrives much quicker than it did a season ago; a date with the Saint Louis Bilikens at the Enterprise Center awaits for the Tigers in their second game of the season.

“We're not as experienced as these teams that we're playing (in) nonconference,” Gates said at Tuesday’s media day. “So for me, our guys will bump our heads, we'll make mistakes, but how will we respond in those educational moments? It'll either be a coffin or a classroom, and it's up to us to figure out which direction we handle our adversities.”

If those games are either coffins or classrooms, the empty-gym practices at Mizzou Arena are detention taught by a much different Gates than the one that can be seen on air.

“Sometimes I use words that my mom or dad wouldn't be proud of, and I am a little bit different in practice than I am on the sidelines,” Gates said. “And when you demand as a coach—as a head coach—you have to demand with tone. You have to demand with a certain type of aggression and intensity that you want replicated in style of play. So for me, it comes down to that. I want the best for these guys. I want their very best at all times.”

For Crowe, that may mean pushing him out of his zone of comfortability. Gates denied Crowe from using ball screens all summer, is pressuring the point guard to be a more vocal leader and wants him to be the best distributor he can be for his teammates.

“He knows I'm a great basketball player, but he thinks I could be greater, and he pushed me off the court more than he pushed me on the court,” Crowe said. … He pushed me in different ways that I’ve ever got pushed by a coach before.”

For Tiller, the transfer forward from Kansas, Gates’ pushing is more emotional and literal.

Tiller, standing among reporters in the scrum surrounding Gates on Tuesday, playfully asked Gates what his goal for him is this season.

“I also want Bryson Tiller to be a vocal leader,” Gates answered. “I think when I poke the bear a little bit, he gets a little bit more animated, and sometimes he often can turn green and become the Incredible Hulk. So my goal is to get the very best out of him, and I'm going to continue to demand him.”

While Crowe will be handling starting point guard duties, sophomore guard Aaron Rowe, a former four-star prospect who sat out his 2025-26 freshman campaign with the intention of redshirting, will contend for the backup job.

Most young guards don’t play significant minutes for Gates, but many go on to play pivotal roles in seasons down the line—see Robinson and Barrett’s progression.

“Redshirting, for Aaron Rowe, was essential in his development. Aaron Rowe is pound for pound the strongest guy on the team, one of the most athletic,” Gates said. “But also, we want him to be a pest defensively. We want him to pick up 94 feet. We want him to be able to get into the lanes in the open court. We want him to push, but also be a guy that's playing under control. I think ultimately his assist attempts, but also his assists leading to baskets, his steals, his on-ball pressure will set the tone for us.”

Luckily for Missouri’s youngsters, Pierce, the fourth-year Tiger and returning captain, is there to show them the black and gold ropes.

“It's not common to have a guy in his fourth season at the same institution, being able to pass along the culture, the demands, but also the translations of whether it's my body language, whether it's my sentences, you don't have that often, too often in different locker rooms across the country,” Gates. “So when you have a person like that, be thankful, and I'm very thankful that we have Trent Pierce, who reluctantly put his name or kept his name out of a portal, and just knows what he wants out of life.”

Pierce, Gates and the rest of the team have their sights set on a National Championship. There’ll be bumps along the road and adversity to overcome, but Gates is setting his team up to be prepared for it.

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