Missouri Basketball: Let’s check on recruits to know in the 2026 cycle

It’s another 59 days until recruits in the 2025 class ink letters of intent, but Missouri’s groundwork for the next crop of talent has been underway for a while.

In July, the Tigers’ staff spent ample time in two narrow windows planting itself courtside to rising juniors. They’ve already shipped out 25 offers and hosted four unofficial visits. Last Tuesday, coaches could hit the road to watch targets put in work during open gyms with their high school programs. On Saturday, MU’s first official visitor of the cycle arrives in Columbia.

Three months ago, Sam Snelling offered a cursory look at the board. We’ve had time to parse data and rummage through tape from the grassroots season. Today, we’ll pass along some stat lines for five targets and focus on a critical aspect of their game.

Why this approach? We’re still 14 months out from these players signing with programs. There’s another high school season, a grassroots campaign, and (for some) a handful of elite camp settings that are ripe for evaluation. Think of today as a checkup.

A quick note: Measurables used here were done during the Nike Elite 100 Camp in June and done without shoes.

One glimpse of JJ Andrews’ frame is enough confirmation of his lineage.

The son of Shawn Andrews, a former NFL lineman and Arkansas alum, the Little Rock native’s put together like a running back. He’s not shy about dispensing contact, either. Almost 60 percent of Andrews’ shots came at the rim, and at the 16U level, he graded out among the best in the EYBL at cashing them in. Punishing opponents in the open floor was his forte — grabbing and going, jumping passing lanes, or receiving hit-ahead passes.

Not long ago, Gates extended his reach into Pulaski County to extract a physical wing who thrives playing downhill. Yet Andrews, who is 18th in 247Sports’ composite index, differs from Annor Boateng in a vital aspect at this stage: shooting off the catch. The Little Rock Christian product knocked down 34.3 percent of his 3-balls this spring.

But that’s a perk. The sell here is getting another rugged wing that is unafraid to play in straight lines. To that end, MUs put in ample legwork to build a relationship. Back in April 2022, Andrews was the first 2026 prospects to pick an offer from the Tigers, and Dickey Nutt, another Little Rock native, teamed up with Kyle Smithpeters to helm the pursuit.

It’s already reaped an early dividend: Andrews will be in town this weekend for an official visit. (If you want a deeper dive into Andrews’ game, we’ published a thorough scout at RockM.plus.) That said, MU finds itself going straight up against John Calipari, and that’s before you account for the tendency — until recently — for Natural State natives to stay home.

By contrast, Jalen Montonati inflicts pain from long distance.

The Tulsa-area native arguably ranks among the best pure shooters in the 2026 class, knocking down almost 40 percent of catch-and-shoot 3s this spring for Mokan Elite. While he doesn’t have Andrews’ plus-6 wingspan, Montonati’s frame naturally lends him to a 3-and-D classification.

The catch here is the Montonati, ranked 15th in the composite index, does not have a reported offer from MU, and two nearby blue bloods — Arkansas and Kansas — have joined Oklahoma in hot pursuit. Still, the Tigers’ staff kept tabs as it tracked Mokan’s 16U group during live periods, and the staff has reached into the state to pluck out Trent Pierce and T.O. Barrett. Montonati, though, is a different order of magnitude. It’s worth monitoring whether the Tigers’ interest eventually leads to a visit.

As far as Montonati’s development is concerned, the next step is diversifying the ways he can turn the gravity of his shooting into a weapon. For example, Montonati only attacked the rim 13 times out of spot-ups. That hardly qualifies as punishing hard closeouts. However, he posted decent returns from one-dribble pull-ups, hinting at a compromise until his frame fills in.

On the other end, Montonati held up his end of the bargain as a team defender. But I agree with some national scouts who wonder if his length shouldn’t mean a greater impact in creating deflections or on the defensive backboards. There were some outings where Montonati winds up adrift if his jumper is a bit off target.

That’s quibbling, though. Montonati already possesses one of the most coveted skills in the sport — enough to garner latitude as he sorts out the rest.

When I first watched Pearson in mid-May, an evaluator I trust described him succinctly.

“He’s a baby deer, man,” they said.

Well, not on a physical scale.

But the metaphor tracked when you watched Pearson move around the floor. He’s not a sprinter, but he’s not lumbering when running a straight line. When guarding in space, his hips didn’t flip quickly, and the first slide lagged — but Pearson tended to recover well and possessed an innate sense of how to use his frame.

By late July, though, there were glimpses of what Pearson could become — and why MU’s staff is doggedly pursuing a player who hasn’t popped up in the composite top 150. In the E16 finals at Peach Jam, Pearson put up 14 points and 4 rebounds, helping Bradley Beal Elite to a title. The John Burroughs product also swatted five shots.

That rim deterrence might be Pearson’s calling card, too.

He only allowed 0.700 points per shot on attempts taken around the rim, finishing in the 73rd percentile among his peers. He also swatted 35 shots, tallying most after rotating as a help defender. Crucially, he carried out that work efficiently. Pearson came close to notching twice as many blocks and steals (48) as he did personal fouls (27), an exceptional rate (1.78) for a big man.

With a proportional plus-2 wingspan, we can’t attribute Pearson’s success to being an outlier physically. And at this point, he doesn’t have elite vertical pop off the floor. What he does have is precise timing on first and second jumps. He uses his frame well to complicate finishing angles for drivers, particularly those attacking to the baseline side. He’s also well-drilled in playing with verticality.

Moreover, Pearson’s not a statute erected at the top of the restricted area. His short area agility is good enough to navigate the entire lane, and there were some moments when BBE used him to hedge some ball screens. That fits nicely into an aggressive scheme like the one deployed in Columbia.

MU hosted Pearson for an unofficial visit in early January, and Iowa State was also an early player for his services. Unsurprisingly, Pearson’s flourish to finish the grassroots season prompted other regional high-majors like Illinois, Marquette, and Iowa to extend offers. Pearson also trekked to Iowa City for a visit that included taking n the Cy-Hawk game.

If Pearson’s offensive game evolves beyond finishing in the dunker spot and collecting putbacks, that list will expand.

Unlike his peers, Reed, the No. 73 prospect in the composite index, logged time against older competition in the EYBL.

Running with Mokan Elite’s 17U outfit, the John Burroughs forward paired up with Amare Bynum, a tandem where the younger member handled more of the grunt work. Reed also performed those chores well. For example, he cleaned the defensive class (20.2 DRB%), didn’t turn the ball over (8.8 TOV%), and maxed out (1.776 PPP) any offensive touch that came his way.

After spending the first three sessions with the program’s top group, Reed dropped down to play at his appropriate age level to pair up with Ethan Taylor. Still, his production remained steady.

For our purposes, we’ll focus on how he played against the 17U competition. In those 10 games, Reed filled cracks and seams on offense. Putbacks were his most common play type, and he functioned as a cutter almost as frequently as he did post-up threat.

Coaches toss around the cliche about a player starring in their role. Well, Reed heeded that advice. He’d play fetch and notch points on second possessions. He rated in the 88th percentile for scoring around the rim as a cutter, usually on dump-offs to the dunker spot. And he had no qualms about busting it in the open floor on rim runs during transition.

Mokan’s developmental template usually gives early 17U exposure to prospects that will be key cogs. So, if that approach holds, Reed will be showcased next spring — along with Taylor — in what projects to be one of the circuit’s better frontcourts. That said, it’s nice to know he’ll embrace the duties that often fall to freshmen interior players: defending, rebounding, and timely rim finishing.

Until then, he’ll also remain a partner with Pearson, his teammate at Burroughs. Like his fellow Bomber, Reed visited Columbia unofficially last winter. Gates and his staff are also well acquainted with his family after exploring whether Tarris, the eldest of three brothers, would transfer to MU from Michigan. Reed also tagged along with Pearson for the trip to Iowa.

The Shawnee (Kan.) Mission Northwest product is the most advanced of the three big men highlighted here. Admittedly, that classification is also relative.

Taylor, rated 53rd in the composite index, only averaged 2.5 post-up touches per game with Mokan Elite during E16 action this spring. He’s still fairly reliant on feeds to the dunker spot or crashing the offensive glass to get in the scoring column.

Still, you can see the foundations poured so far are solidly reinforced.

Working on the right block, he’s at ease feeling a defender trying to play on the side and casually drop stops to the baseline. Taylor also showed a reliable hook shot over his left shoulder, and he isn’t hesitant to use the glass for assistance. However, you can see he’s not quite as fluid when reverse pivoting and playing directly to the rim with his left hand.

Taylor’s base is sturdy enough at the moment to hold ground most of the time, but Mokan’s scheme helps give him a head start. There are plenty of cross screens and pin-downs where he can bury a trailing defender and get planted on the low block.

His preferences are also mirrored in metrics. When Taylor ducked into the lane — often for high-low feeds — he only averaged 0.700 points per possession. That fell to 0.286 PPP whenever he set up shop on the left block.

But as a bonus, Taylor’s rim protection is roughly the same quality as a prospect like Pearson, whose offensive game needs some polish.

As for his recruitment, it hasn’t truly heated up yet. MU offered on July 1 and followed a day later by Purdue. Both of those programs were two weeks after Tennessee, which became the first high-major suitor to enter the fray. Since the grassroots season ended, only Oklahoma has joined the mix.