NCAA Tournament Selection Sets up Homecoming for Mizzou's Caleb Grill

The Missouri Tigers will begin the NCAA Tournament in the hometown of one of their guards.

Nov. 11, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Caleb Grill (31) during a game against the Eastern Washington Eagles at Mizzou Arena. / Amber WInkler/MissouriOnSI

Most homecoming dances are filled with awkward tension in high school gyms.

But for Missouri Tigers guard Caleb Grill, returning home to Wichita, Kan. for 'The Big Dance,' will be a special, full-circle moment.

Grill and the Tigers learned Saturday morning that they will be beginning the NCAA Tournament in Wichita, taking on No. 11 seed Drake in the first round.

Grill has had plenty of family members and friends make the 4.5 hour drive to Columbia for his games over the past two seasons. Now for one of the final games of his collegiate career, he'll return the favor.

"It's just exciting because of the amount of miles that my Mom and my Dad and my brothers have put in," Grill said in a press conference after the announcement. "To see how many of those close friends, close family members that I've had come throughout being able to play within 10-15, minutes of where they live, I'm more excited about that part and being able to go back home."

March 8, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Caleb Grill (31) with his family in the tunnel of Mizzou Arena before walking out for Senior Day celebrations. / Joey Van Zummeren/MissouriOnSI

Grill was a crucial part of Missouri's case for the NCAA Tournament, averaging 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and shooting 40.5 on 3-point shots on the season.

This will be the third appearence for Grill in the NCAA Tournament, making trips in both the 2022 and 2023 Tournaments with Iowa State. In the 2022 Tournament, he was a part of the Iowa State squad that made it all the way to the Sweet 16.

Grill, a team captain, is one of the team's eight players to have played before in the NCAA Tournament. Although Aidan Shaw is the only player still on the roster from Missouri's 2022-2023 Tournament season, plenty of the veteran transfers on the team have experienced the madness of March.

From his four games of experience in the Tournament, Grill has learned how the high stakes surrounding each game can affect teams.

"You have to go in with the mentality that every position matters," Grill said. "The games I played in the NCAA tournament were all low scoring, and every single possession mattered. If one person made one mistake, it could cost a 3, but in games where it can get into a defensive slug fest a 3 could really be worth five points."

For Grill and the rest of Missouri, the selection to the NCAA Tournament is a gratifying moment of the turnaround the program underwent over this past season. Last season, the Tigers were eager for the chance to just win a single conference game, which they were unable to accomplish.

"This is just what everyone dreams about when they play basketball. Growing up, everybody wants to go to the NCAA tournament. And all the hard work you put in since you first got here in June with this team, it's just paid off, how connected we've gotten with one another, and the connectivity that we had that really brought us together a lot faster."

Nov. 11, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Caleb Grill (31) huddles with the rest of the team during a game against Eastern Washington at Mizzou Arena. / Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

For Grill specifically, the chance to compete for a National Championship is especially rewarding after overcoming the adversity of a wrist injury that caused him to miss all but the first nine games on Missouri's schedules in the 2023-2024 season.

"It's been a tough couple of years dealing with injuries. Being able to play most of the season fairly healthy, I can't thank our doctors here, our athletic training staff, strength coach, just all really helping me stay healthy, and doing everything they can to make me game ready."

READ: Mizzou's Caleb Grill 'Got Back' to Himself in Rise to SEC Sixth Man of the Year Win

Now for Grill, no matter what happens in his hometown over the weekend, the last game of his collegiate career will be spent competing to accomplish his ultimate goal.

"Now that the time is here, this is what we dreamed of doing when we were little. So we just got to take advantage of the opportunity that we're given."

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