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COLUMBIA, Mo. — One of the more enigmatic prospects in the 2025 Major League Baseball draft could come out of Missouri.

He’s got a 6-foot-4 frame, great athleticism and can clip 98 mph with his fastball — faster than any pitcher clocked at the draft combine last month. The risk, the mystery? He’s only thrown 15 innings in three college seasons and is currently competing to be the Tigers’ starting quarterback for the 2025 football season.

Such is the dilemma presented by Mizzou pitcher/quarterback Sam Horn.

His upside makes him a likely pick in the draft, taking place this year in Atlanta with the first three rounds slated for Sunday and the remaining 17 to come Monday. (Coincidentally, MU football will be in Atlanta next Thursday for its turn on the Southeastern Conference media days stage — though Horn will not be one of the school’s representatives.)

If the early rounds of the draft align with various analysts’ prospect rankings, Horn could be taken fairly early — maybe even on the first day.

Baseball America rates Horn as the No. 56 prospect across all positions. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has him at No. 94, while puts him at No. 128.

’s scouting report compares Horn to Bubba Chandler, the top prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ farm system. Both happen to be from Lawrenceville, Georgia.

“Horn creates quality extension with his 6-foot-4 frame and athletic delivery, providing deception with a low arm slot and release height,� reads the scouting report. “He’s still refining his control and command after working just 15 innings in three college seasons, but they should become average as he gains more experience. Clubs are trying to weigh his upside versus his lack of track record, and his desire to turn pro in baseball while continuing to compete for Missouri’s starting quarterback job complicates matters.�

So comes the question of what happens next for Horn — a question that has hovered to varying degrees of urgency since he committed to Mizzou as a two-sport athlete.

It’s not especially uncommon for football players to be taken, even multiple times, in the MLB draft. Recently, current Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was a first-round pick in both the MLB and NFL drafts. Veteran quarterback Russell Wilson even played some minor league baseball before picking football. Even Tom Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos as a catcher out of high school.

But they all had (or decided they had) better pro potential in football than baseball. That doesn’t seem to be true of Horn.

He was a four-star football recruit in high school, in part because of his arm talent. Even with just eight career passes thrown in three collegiate seasons, Horn is competing with Penn State transfer Beau Pribula for the Tigers’ QB1 title.

Horn diving into baseball after spring practices ended while Pribula remained focused on football probably didn’t help the former’s case when it comes to the quarterback competition, and Pribula is the more likely candidate to become the eventual starter.

Still, Horn has had his fair share of impressive moments in practices, and there are some observers who have privately argued he’s better equipped than Pribula. That battle won’t be settled until next month’s fall camp.

All that to say, Horn faces a steeper climb to a career as a professional quarterback than he does as a professional pitcher, based on present opportunities. It’s not like the former is impossible or the latter will be a cakewalk into a Cy Young Award.

What comes out of the 2025 MLB draft will be interesting for Horn and his future. Mizzou football doesn’t seem concerned that he might be picked and bail on the quarterback competition to sign with a club and head into the minors early.

Would an MLB team that drafts Horn have concerns about letting him play the obviously contact-heavy sport of football this fall before moving to the diamond in the spring? Would Horn sign with that timeline in mind, or is this destined to happen again next year?

Horn participated in the draft combine last month, which suggests he has at least some interest in going the draft route. But what isn’t clear is when that’ll be — and how much MU football he wants to play in the meantime.

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 most important Mizzou football players in 2025

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

Read the full transcript of Mizzou beat writer Eli Hoff's sports chat

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

Mizzou records worst baseball season in 66 years. 'We need to get back on track,' AD says

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Eli Hoff in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday. Scroll past the chat window for a full transcript.

Transcript

Eli ±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýHappy Thursday, all, and welcome to this week's Mizzou chat. One week from today, Eli Drinkwitz will just about be on stage at SEC media days in Atlanta. The dawn of talking season burns bright on the southeastern horizon! In the meantime, I'll be around for the next couple hours to take your questions.

Tom O: From your reporting Drink is striking out on a lot of HS players he has invested a lot of time and money to recruit. In some publications we are ranked in the 70s with lesser schools having much better success. Do you think this is a one off or is Drink courting much better players so we are competing with the big boys or is it just money.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýWhat's going on with Mizzou football recruiting right now seems like the most pressing question. I'm writing about it more tomorrow's paper/website, and the short answer is that it's hard to get a read other than it being uncharacteristically not good.

A Drinkwitz class has never come in at worse than No. 32 in 247Sports rankings. (The 2020 class came in at 50, but he'd just been hired so it's not a fair eval.) Right now, the Tigers are at No. 72. Only four players who visited this summer are still uncommitted, so without some flips or new leads, so to speak, the well is running dry.

It seems pretty clear that while Drinkwitz has done well has a high school recruiter, he's increasingly prioritizing the transfer portal. The side effect of that is smaller, less-talented high school classes — but I don't think the plan was to let that happen to this degree. Maybe after seeing what happened with the 2024 class (Nwaneri, Lacy, Crutchfield, etc) there's less of a budget for this cycle. If that's the case, I'd understand why. 

I don't think I'd buy into the notion that MU has just gone after bigger fish. Of the 33 visitors this summer, 10 committed to Missouri and four are still on the board. Of the 19 who've committed elsewhere: 5 are going to other SEC schools, 6 are going to Big Ten schools, 4 are going to ACC schools and 4 are going to Big 12 schools. It's not like they're all going to 'Bama or Georgia.

Drinkwitz has done well with the 3-4 players he adds late in the cycle once the season has started. If he can do that again this year, the class looks all right in the end — not great, but not like it does now. At the moment, I'd call it more anomaly than cause for panic, but I'm not sure that top 20 high school classes will be the norm going forward. 

Ken S: I came here to ask questions about football recruiting as well. I have no reason to think Drink won't get a good group of players he wants. His recruiting has been great. I wonder if this is an NIL problem. Perhaps Missouri is trailing SEC schools in NIL cash to land the recruits it will take to sustain. Thanks.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýThat's my inclination. With budgets becoming (theoretically) more finite under rev share, schools are going to need to increasingly decide whether to cut back what's available for freshmen or what's available for upperclassmen transfers. We don't know the specifics, but I just keep coming back to that "production over potential" remark Drinkwitz made in December. Maybe some other SEC schools are divvying up funds differently. It's also worth noting that nothing, as far as money goes, has been signed at this point. Given the changes in spending rules and uncertainty around what is and isn't OK as an NIL deal, I'd guess there are more than a few offers to freshmen around the country that won't materialize as promised. Maybe that shakes things up a little later in the cycle.

¸é³Ü²õ²õ:ÌýEli, just a compliment this morning, no questions. I've enjoyed your Mizzou "Top 25" lists this week. We could nick pick each other on the rankings, but the overall looks right. And yeah, you've got to go with Chase Daniel in the one spot in the Top 25 Athletes. HIs impact on Mizzou sports is unmeasurable.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýThank you! I'm glad you enjoyed them. The lists were a lot of fun to put together. As I wrote in my column about how I came up with them, there's plenty of room for debate and suggestions, which is part of the fun in my eyes. 

Ken S: I saw you had done a Top 25 and was fully prepared to argue with your picks, as I am pretty sure I am you father's age, but I cannot argue. I think I would have found a way to get James Franklin on the list (I think he is so underrated), but I couldn't tell you who to remove. I have always thought had Danario Alexander been able to stay healthy he would have been so much more special.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýThe easy part is thinking of more names. The hard part is figuring out who'd have to come out to make room for them! We share a view of Franklin's time at Mizzou and that he's underrated. I would've loved to get Henry Josey on there too. In the end I just couldn't make a case for either of them over those who did make the list. There could easily be another 25-deep list of honorable mentions.

Palmetto State Fan: Let's pretend you are Sam Horn. What is your decision? Football, baseball, neither and play baseball the spring of 2026 and then see what the MLB has to offer?

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýAssuming I want to be a pro athlete, baseball. Probably in 2026 if I'm not a starting quarterback at that point. If a team will draft me now and let me play football this fall before joining the farm system, great. If not, sign out of the '26 draft. To be clear, that's what I would do. I don't know what kind of opportunities or money has been or will be offered to him for either route. That'll obviously factor into his eventual decision. I don't blame him for doing both as long as he can.

²ú¾±²µ°ù´Ç²Ô:ÌýEli really enjoy your coverage of Mizzou sports. When does fall football practices start and also when does the men's bball practice start and when will you be able to watch practices.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýI'm guessing the fall camp schedule will come out very soon, but I'd expect a start of July 28, give or take. If media access looks the same as the last couple of years, we'll get to watch individual drills during a few practices per week. Of course, I'd love to get more to bring y'all some actual insights/observations into who's looking good, but Mizzou doesn't really differentiate between access for writers and for those with cameras so if they're doing something they don't want filmed, we generally don't get to be there. 

Men's basketball summer practices have been ongoing. Last year I was invited to one, we'll see if that happens again this year. They'll get a break in August and then pick back up for the true preseason during the school year.

Palmetto State Fan: So, here we are, Eli. The judge has signed off on the settlement and already I have read where schools are exploring ways to get around the rules, lawsuits have and will be filed, and IMO this settlement may (repeat: may) clean up the mess that is currently college athletics. To have a sustainable model, both sides must abide by the terms and conditions of the agreement and swiftly and harshly punish those that wish to thwart an agreement. When oh when will the universities finally realize everyone needs to adopt a "professional model" with contracts, etc. Folks need to watch the ESPN 30:30 program that follows the destruction of the SMU football program and how college administrators, agents, parents, and athletes can convince themselves it is fine to break (or at best bend) the rules. It's called "Pony Excess" and many things in the 1980's are still in-play in 2025.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýYour point about needing both sides to make this sustainable is an important one. I've heard something similar from a lot of the people in college sports I've talked to. "The new rules could be a good thing, but only if everybody follows them," more or less. The problem is that it's hard to imagine everyone complying so politely. And even more so, it's that the rules are still a mess. The NIL clearinghouse is already running behind, which is costing athletes money. They're issuing clarifications that aren't really clear at all about what is and isn't OK. At a minimum, that is eroding trust in this new system.

Still, it could be a good thing if NIL is what it was originally intended to be and the rev share cap reins in overall spending a bit. Players might well take a pay cut in the next year, but the stars will still do quite well for themselves. There are contracts, even multi-year deals being signed now, but the issue is enforcement. Frankly, that's the issue with all of this. 

And while making athletes employees would provide even more stability, that comes with collective bargaining and some more legal structures that I don't think athletics departments can afford. 

Great shout on the SMU 30 for 30 episode. At some point, I'd love a candid retrospective on 2025 in the college sports world with some of the money and deal-cutting and rule-bending that has taken place around the start of the House settlement. We're seeing a very, very wild west play out even as it should become a lot tamer very quickly.

Palmetto State Fan: Last question today. Is it your assumption or not that Horn is getting $$$ from the $18.5 million Mizzou has to distribute and/or getting NIL $$$. What is your estimate as to the going rate for a back-up SEC QB and a seldom seen SEC pitcher with Horn's background?

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýGood questions here, to which I don't know the answer. I'd assume any football player who stands a real chance of playing this fall is getting some rev share money. I'm not aware of any external NIL deals that Horn has, so that would be where he's getting money. I'd guess the rate for a backup QB varies a lot. Schools with a QB competition probably have a more expensive backup than those with an undisputed starter. I'd love to see that breakdown across the conference, though, because it would be a fascinating look at the cap management aspect of this.

Palmetto State Fan: BTW, Mike "The Mullet" Gundy came out today in favor of making college athletes employees, negotiating with their "union", establishing a "salary cap", establishing entry level salaries for all high school recruits and, in general, fixing what is now an unsustainable model (in Coach Gundy's words).

Hoff: Maybe I'm making too sweeping a paraphrase here, but I believe most if not all Big 12 coaches said they'd be in favor. Of course they would be. They'd get all of the benefits without any of the headaches that their bosses in the athletic departments would suffer. What works great for those in headsets and helmets might not for those (figuratively) in suits back in the office.

°ä´Ç²Ñ´Ç83:ÌýI was excited when Mizzou landed 4 Star Marquis Gracial. After 3 years in the system, haven’t seen much of him, yet he’s stuck around. What’s the likelihood he has a breakout year?

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýCertainly possible. Gracial will be in the defensive tackle rotation. I'd expect that to be four-ish deep again this year. Chris McClellan is the top option there. Then it's Sterling Webb, Gracial, Jalen Marshall and Sam Williams. If it's going to click for Gracial, this is pretty much the year it needs to happen. 

Evil Calvin: Reel it all back in. They've been given an inch and now taking a mile. Athletes get a free college education, room and food. Most people can't afford that. They should be happy to get a nice education and play ball. IF they are good enough...then they will get a pro contract. Otherwise shut up and play ball.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýTell that to the courts. They're the ones unraveling all of this bit by bit because very little of the college sports model is standing up to legal tests these days. 

°ä³ó°ù¾±²õ:ÌýWhat is going to happen with the Cross Country and Track and Field program under the new House settlement? I understand I might be the only one who cares.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýI'll tell you that I, at least, care. I was a high school runner so I have an appreciation for both cross country and T&F. They probably aren't getting much rev share money, if any. Neither sport brings much money in, but they don't cost a whole ton to operate either. With the Gans Creek course (which hosts the NCAA cross country championships this fall), new indoor track and re-surfacing coming soon for the outdoor track, their facilities are in a great spot. We'll see what the impact of roster limits winds up being. It might not be great for running sports around the country, but I'd say Mizzou XC/TF is better positioned than most to be all right in this era.

We'll end this week's chat there. Thanks to everyone who came by! Next week's timing will look a little bit different because of Mizzou's slot during media days, but we'll still make it happen. Talk then!

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The blockbuster House vs. NCAA legal settlement temporarily restored some sanity to major college sports, but the chaotic industry still lacks sensible structure.

The House settlement directs colleges to distribute up to $20.5 million revenue-sharing funds to athletes, in addition to any name, image, likeness payments they earn. This settlement also attempts to constrain those NIL payments, which got utterly out of hand with over-eager boosters throwing their disposable millions at teenage recruits.

Buying blue-chip talent for your alma mater is apparently far more fun than getting your name on the geology building on a back corner of campus.

Participating schools got a jump on circumventing the new rules by preemptively funneling NIL dollars to athletes before the settlement took effect July 1. Expect the workarounds to continue apace, given the win-at-whatever-cost mentality within the industry.

Boosters who became empowered in the NIL era won’t surrender that clout without a fight. Neither will the agents who negotiate on behalf of the athletes who can bounce from school to school, shopping for the best deal.

And don’t forget about the lawyers who can’t wait to file the next lawsuit against the college sports industry, given the high success rate of such anti-trust litigation in recent years.

How long will the new rules hold up against all the pushback certain to come?

Our guess: not very. Coaches, athletic directors and conference commissioners will just have to keep winging it in an ever-changing landscape.

The new College Sports Commission will try to enforce the revenue-sharing system, but let’s see if it actually has any muscle.

The new NIL Go portal will police third-party deals, assessing them against standards of fair market value and valid business purpose. But this is America, where the free market rules.

We’re guessing the courts will keep agreeing with that argument when the next round of lawsuits are filed.

Having ceded control over these financial matters, the ever-feckless NCAA will focus on enforcing eligibility issues. But how will it maintain the “student-athlete� ruse in an industry that has finally gone full pay-for-play?

Now that college football and basketball have become so lucrative, many players want to extend their time on campus. For instance, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia gained a sixth year of college eligibility with an injunction that effectively ruled that his two junior college seasons didn’t count.

Good for him. Pavia is a fabulous quarterback getting paid handsomely to play at an elite university in one of this country’s best cities. Why would he want to leave this gig for an uncertain pro career?

It’s not hard to imagine additional antitrust lawsuits erasing arbitrary limits on how long athletes can play college sports. Because unathletic students can stay in college as long as they can find new degrees to pursue, why can’t quarterbacks and point guards do the same?

The college sports industry is still doing fine despite all this tumult. But college presidents, athletic directors and coaches would welcome a sturdy operational model that finally ends that madness.

Many industry leaders wish Congress would find a solution, although that places outsized confidence in our legislators. Some are hoping for a magic-wand solution via a presidential executive order, but the White House has bigger fish to fry these days.

Here’s a thought: What if colleges reversed course by hiring players as school employees? What if the power conferences allowed the players to unionize, thus allowing schools to negotiate collective bargaining agreements with a players association?

Bryan Seeley, chief executive officer of the College Sports Commission, is confident the industry doesn’t have to go that far.

“College sports is its own unique thing, and what makes college sports great needs to remain,� Seeley told The Athletic. “Some of the system we’re going to bring for enforcement is a system that has been used in the pro sports world. ... But I don’t view this as the professionalization of college sports. Working with schools and working with student-athletes is going to be quite different than working with professional sports teams and professional athletes.�

But is it really?

The players have agents these days. Football and basketball programs have general managers to deal with agents. The 22% revenue share this settlement guarantees athletes is more like a pro-level 50% share at major schools, when scholarships, housing and other benefits are factored in.

College football and college basketball are looking much more like the NFL or the NBA but without the federally enforceable collective bargaining agreements that maintain order.

Schools have fought to prevent athletes from gaining collective power, but legal losses created a free-for-all that benefits the athletes. Their lawyers will keep winning anti-trust lawsuits because the “system� is still a mess.

The college sports industry is long overdue to find a better way.

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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Coming up with a top 25 ranking of the best Mizzou athletes from the past 25 years proved to be a tricky business.

Watching old highlights posted to YouTube of Jeremy Maclin returning kicks and Kareem Rush knocking down shots made for a fun kind of research. Pondering athletes’ accomplishments across sports and which would get left off the list was thornier.

It was never going to be a perfect result because there is no consensus on lists like these, so let’s talk about my thinking and some of the imperfections.

I’ve been glad to receive comments and notes from some of you readers after the rankings ran here. That was my hope: I was born halfway through Rush’s time at Missouri, for reference, so it was fun for me to read memories of what was to me a research-necessary history.

Among the submitted omissions and feedback for this trip down memory lane were suggestions that:

• Running back Cody Schrader should’ve been ranked higher than No. 21.
• Discus thrower Mitch Weber, a two-time NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier and rare collegiate athlete to make the U.S. Olympic trials finals, should’ve made the list.
• Swimmer Fabian Schwingenschlogl, who in 2016 won the national 100-meter breaststroke title and was a nine-time All-American, should’ve made the list.
• Linebacker Nick Bolton, a multi-year All-Southeastern Conference pick and 2020 second-team All-American, should’ve made the list.
• Defensive end Justin Smith, who notched a then-school record 11 sacks in 2000, should’ve made the list.
• The list (and previous rankings of the best football and basketball games) should’ve never existed in the first place.
• I must have skipped class the day the rest of Mizzou’s journalism school learned how to use Google.

As a result of the record-book reading, highlight-watching and several dozen Google searches, there were a few others who narrowly missed out on a spot in the top 25 here. Running back Henry Josey, plus volleyball stars Molly Kreklow and Lisa Henning received the closest consideration.

After coming up with the 25 athletes who made the list, ranking them became the next challenge. I set myself a ground rule that I wouldn’t factor an athlete’s professional career into their ranking — this was about what they did at MU.

It’s why Max Scherzer, a lock for the Baseball Hall of Fame, came in eighth. If the list ranked pro careers, he almost certainly would’ve been No. 1. His 2005 campaign at Missouri, which saw the right-hander post a 1.86 ERA and 131 strikeouts, was fantastic, but there were other athletes whose times in Columbia produced more.

So came the next challenge: comparing athletes from different sports. Picking between Maclin (two-time All-American, 5,609 all-purpose yards in two seasons) and Sophie Cunningham (all-team leading scorer with four NCAA Tournament appearances and an All-American season) was one such example.

I put Maclin at No. 6 and Cunningham at No. 5 in part because the latter propped up a program in a way that the former just didn’t need to. But is that a fair distinction to use when any given football team has more contributors than any given basketball team?

You see the kinds of dilemmas that arise with an endeavor like this. Even with that consideration, I felt Chase Daniel was worthy of the top spot on the list.

He’s statistically the best quarterback to play for the Tigers, with the two best passing seasons in program history to his name, plus all-time marks in career passing yards and touchdowns. And most relevant to the rankings, Daniel was the face of the MU program during the 2007 season that produced its most prominent peak of the 21st century.

That stood out sharply in my mind as I ordered the top 25.

I also found myself wondering what a “top 25 of the past 25 years� list will look like in 2050. College sports changed so starkly during the final five years of the quarter-century that made up this list.

DeMarre Carroll, who came in at No. 18, was required to sit out a season when he transferred from Vanderbilt to Mizzou. Schrader, who was No. 21, didn’t when he transferred in from Truman State some 15 years later.

Otherwise, nearly every athlete on this top 25 started and finished their careers at one school: the University of Missouri. I can’t imagine that’ll be true of the best athletes of the next 25 years.

The natures of time and memory make it difficult for an athlete to come into a program as a relative unknown, leave after a season or two and leave a particularly strong legacy there. Sure, Schrader and Carroll did it. Some others probably will too.

But I hope the ability to make lists like these, to have debates over great athletes like these, don’t fall by the wayside of college sports’ evolution. Part of the fun, the attachment of college athletics is seeing athletes grow up and go on to careers in pro sports or various industries — and then looking back fondly at their time in school colors.

This was an attempt to sort out the best of the past 25 years at Missouri, but it was mostly an appreciation — and a hope that we can do this again in another quarter-century.

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou athletes of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou men's basketball games of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou football games of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 most important Mizzou football players in 2025

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Former Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel was arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated late Monday night in Camden County.

Pinkel, 73, was arrested at 11:46 p.m. Monday at an unspecified location in Camden County, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol arrest report.

According to , he was held at the Camden County Jail and then released.

While the highway patrol’s report said Pinkel would be charged with a DWI, court records did not show charges filed as of Tuesday afternoon. It’s not clear what led to Pinkel’s arrest or if any field tests were conducted.

In a statement to the Post-Dispatch, Bogdan A. Susan, an attorney representing Pinkel, said the coach would plead not guilty to any DWI charge.

“I have spoken to Gary and asked him to not make any statements at this time,� Susan said. “He is retired and a private citizen. While the situation is unfortunate, he is entitled to a defense. He will be entering a plea of not guilty. These cases take time, and we will respect and follow the appropriate judicial procedures to its conclusion. Until that time, it is important to keep in mind that individuals are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.�

Pinkel, a College Football Hall of Fame coach, holds a career record of 191-110-3 from tenures at Toledo and MU. He coached the Tigers from 2001 to 2015 and was briefly a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.

This isn’t Pinkel’s first DWI arrest.

While coaching at Mizzou, he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated following a Nov. 16, 2011, arrest. During that incident, Boone County Sheriff’s deputies pulled Pinkel over near U.S. Highway 63 and Broadway in Columbia. The coach told the deputies that he drank two “jumbo� glasses of wine and declined a field sobriety test.

Pinkel received a 30-day suspended jail sentence and two years of probation for that offense. MU suspended him for one game and issued him a fine.

“I’ve taken full responsibility for my lack of judgment and poor decision,� Pinkel said during a 2011 news conference to address that DWI. “I’ve hurt and disappointed a lot of people. ... Now, it’s up to me to begin earning everyone’s trust and respect back. This will never, ever happen again.�

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou athletes of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou men's basketball games of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou football games of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz and Illinois coach Bret Bielema were among the 26 coaches named to a preseason watchlist for the Dodd Trophy, which is awarded annually to the best head coach in college football.

This is the second year in a row that Drinkwitz has received the nod from the Dodd Trophy. Though he wasn't a preseason candidate in 2023, he wound up a finalist for the award that season. 

Bielema did not make the list in 2024.

The SEC placed eight of its 16 head coaches on the watchlist, including Drinkwitz. Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), Mike Elko (Texas A&M), Josh Heupel (Tennessee), Brian Kelly (Louisiana State), Steve Sarkisian (Texas), Kirby Smart (Georgia) and Brent Venables (Oklahoma) also made the list. 

The watchlist included five Big Ten coaches, five Big 12 coaches, four from the Atlantic Coast Conference and one each from the American, Mountain West and Independent ranks.

Mizzou has won 10 games in back-to-back seasons, which has raised Drinkwitz's national profile. As he heads into his sixth season coaching the Tigers, he'll need to replace lost production at key positions, including quarterback, running back and multiple spots along the offensive line.

Illinois, meanwhile, is expected to contend for a spot College Football Playoff after last season's breakout campaign. Bielema's talented returning core for his fifth season in Champaign is headlined by quarterback Luke Altmyer.

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou athletes of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou football games of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 most important Mizzou football players in 2025

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

COLUMBIA, Mo. — And finally, the best athletes of the past 25 years.

Over the past few days, the Post-Dispatch has looked back at the first quarter of the 21st century in Mizzou sports, picking out the best football and men’s basketball games of that span. Next comes the most competitive and most debatable list: the best 25 athletes to come through Missouri since 2000.

It’s difficult to weigh performances from different sports and eras, making this a highly imperfect science. These rankings largely ignore athletes’ professional accomplishments to highlight what they did as Tigers.

Here’s this beat writer’s rundown of the most impressive Mizzou athletes of the past 25 years, ranked from No. 25 to No. 1.

25: Martin Rucker (football, 2004-07)

Rucker earned All-American honors during Mizzou’s remarkable 2007 season in which the tight end caught 84 passes — a program record at the time — for 834 yards and eight touchdowns.

24: Chase Coffman (football, 2005-08)

Coffman’s 247 career receptions and 30 touchdowns are both MU records. He was an All-American in 2008 and won the Mackey Award, given to the nation’s best tight end.

23: Helen Hu (gymnastics, 2020-25)

Specializing on the balance beam, Hu was twice an All-American in the event and won the individual national title in 2025.

22: Danario Alexander (football, 2006-09)

Mizzou’s career receiving yards leader put together one of the most statistically impressive seasons in 2009 when the wideout caught 113 passes for 1,781 yards and 14 touchdowns — all three records.

21: Cody Schrader (football, 2022-23)

After walking on as a transfer with the Tigers, Schrader became one of the best stories in college football in 2023. The running back posted a Missouri record 1,627 rushing yards during that breakout season for the program.

20: Rickey Paulding (basketball, 2000-04)

A prolific dunker, Paulding started every game during his final two seasons in Columbia. He averaged 17.4 points per game as a junior during the Tigers’ 2003 Elite Eight run.

19: Aaron Crow (baseball, 2006-08)

Crow’s 2008 season earned him the designation of the best pitcher in college baseball: 11-0 with an ERA of 2.35, 127 strikeouts, four shutouts and a 43-inning scoreless streak. As a freshman in 2006, his first win was a complete game to beat Pepperdine in a postseason elimination matchup and make Missouri the first No. 4 seed to ever win an NCAA Regional.

18: DeMarre Carroll (men’s basketball, 2007-09)

The “Junkyard Dog� transferred to Mizzou from Vanderbilt, where he became a first-team all-Big 12 pick with 16.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in the Tigers’ 2008-09 Elite Eight season.

17: Shane Ray (football, 2012-14)

Ray was an All-American in 2014, when he notched 14 1/2 sacks, three more than the next closest pass rusher in the Missouri record books. The year prior, his 73-yard scoop-and-score gave MU a Cotton Bowl win over Oklahoma State.

16: Rhea Taylor (softball, 2008-11)

Taylor stands as one of collegiate softball’s best leadoff hitters, a three-time All-American who led the Tigers to three straight Women’s College World Series appearances. She hit a Mizzou-record .452 as a junior and finished with a .402 career batting average.

15: Sean Weatherspoon (football, 2006-09)

“Spoon,� pronounced by Missouri fans with more vowels than appear on the page, was twice a second-team All-American and thrice an all-Big 12 pick. The linebacker made 413 career tackles, including 155 during the 2008 season.

14: Keegan O’Toole (wrestling, 2020-25)

O’Toole was the first MU wrestler to earn All-American honors five times, with his most recent coming with a torn ACL this past season. He won two national titles and four conference championships at 165 pounds and is second in program history in career win percentage (108-5).

13: Arthur Johnson (men’s basketball, 2000-04)

Johnson started 123 games as a big man and came just shy of averaging a double-double with 16.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game during the 2002-03 season. He holds the Missouri record with 245 blocks.

12: Drew Lock (football, 2015-18)

There are two quarterbacks atop most Missouri passing records. One is later to come on this list, and the other is Lock, who overcame a rough debut season to finish with 12,193 career passing yards and 99 touchdowns. He was the SEC’s most efficient and productive passer in 2017, when he threw for 3,964 yards and 44 touchdowns.

11: J’Den Cox (wrestling, 2014-17)

Cox holds MU’s best winning percentage, with 136 wins and only five losses during his collegiate career. He was a four-time All-American and won three national championships, never finishing worse than fifth in the country.

10: Brad Smith (football, 2001-05)

Mizzou’s first star of the Gary Pinkel era, Smith started every game from 2002 to 2005. When he left MU, he held 69 school, Big 12 and NCAA records, including what was at the time the most rushing yards by a quarterback: 4,289, which is still the most of any Missouri player at any position.

9: Chelsea Thomas (softball, 2009-13)

Mizzou’s best-ever softball pitcher finished her career 111-31 with a 1.23 ERA, 1,174 strikeouts, eight no-hitters and three perfect games. She was a three-time All-American and the Tigers’ ace during their three Women’s College World Series appearances.

8: Max Scherzer (baseball, 2004-06)

Scherzer went on to become one of the most successful pro athletes to come out of Mizzou, and his 2005 breakout season with the Tigers was one of the best the program has seen. He led the Big 12 in ERA (1.86) and strikeouts (131) to be named the conference’s pitcher of the year and an All-American.

7: Marcus Denmon (men’s basketball, 2008-12)

Denmon was an All-American who led Missouri with 17.7 points per game during the 2011-12 season that saw the program leave the Big 12 with 33 wins and a conference championship. He is one of two MU men’s basketball players this century to be named first-team all-conference twice in their career.

6: Jeremy Maclin (football, 2006-08)

Is Maclin the most electric football player to ever don the black and gold? He’s the only Mizzou player to ever be a two-time All-American and did so with just two seasons of action. Maclin finished with 5,609 all-purpose yards. During his freshman season in 2007, he notched 2,776 all-purpose yards: 1,055 receiving with nine touchdowns, 375 rushing with four scores on the ground, 1,039 yards of kickoff returns and three overall return touchdowns.

5: Sophie Cunningham (women’s basketball, 2015-19)

Cunningham left MU after leading the program to four NCAA Tournament appearances as the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer with 2,187 career points. She was an All-SEC player three times and All-American once, posting career shooting splits of 50.1% from the field, 40.3% from 3 and 83.9% from the free-throw line.

4: Ben Askren (wrestling, 2004-07)

Askren finished his collegiate career as a four-time All-American and two-time national champion. He went an incredible 87-0 over those final two seasons and won the Dan Hodge Trophy, given to the nation’s top wrestler, in 2006 and 2007 — just the second in NCAA history to earn the award twice. In positive news after his recent health scare, Askren’s wife Amy shared he has received a double lung transplant.

3: Karissa Schweizer (cross country/track, 2014-18)

Schweizer, a distance runner, is Missouri’s only six-time national champion and has 10 All-American honors to her name. She won individual championships in the indoor 3,000 meters, indoor 5,000 meters twice and outdoor 5,000 meters twice. She holds eight MU records, plus one NCAA indoor record.

2: Kareem Rush (men’s basketball, 1999-2002)

Rush is one of three players in Mizzou history with 1,500 points, 200 made 3s, 400 rebounds, 100 assists and 100 steals — and his career 3-point percentage of 43.9% is still a school record. He averaged a Big 12-best 21.1 points per game as a sophomore, then 19.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game on the Tigers’ 2002 Elite Eight team.

1: Chase Daniel (football, 2005-08)

Daniel owns the two best passing seasons in Missouri football history, plus the career passing yards (12,515 yards) and touchdowns (101) records. As the Tigers climbed to No. 1 in the country in 2007, Daniel threw for 4,306 yards and 33 touchdowns, finishing fourth in Heisman Trophy voting.

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou men's basketball games of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou football games of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 most important Mizzou football players in 2025

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Now, for a look at what’s happened on the hardwood over the past 25 years.

After ranking the 25 best Missouri football games since 2000, the Post-Dispatch’s attention is turning to Mizzou men’s basketball for its best showings.

What qualifies a game for this list is subjective. Most, but not all, were wins. Many featured memorable shots or performances. Some made the cut for the impact they had on the MU program.

These rankings are part of a Mizzou-centric “top 25� series that has been rolling out occasionally during this point in the summer. The next batch will sort out the top MU athletes across all sports of the past 25 years.

But for now, a drive into memory lane for the best Missouri men’s basketball games since 2000, ranked from No. 25 to No. 1.

25: Missouri 86, Clemson 78 (March 19, 2010)

No. 10-seeded MU swarmed seventh-seeded Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, forcing 20 turnovers as Kim English and Keith Ramsey each scored 20 points.

24: Missouri 69, No. 21 Kentucky 60 (Feb. 3, 2018)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be the NBA’s Most Valuable Player now, but Cuonzo Martin’s defense held him to five-for-16 shooting from the field as the Tigers beat the Wildcats for the first time in 11 tries.

23: Missouri 63, No. 12 Gonzaga 61 (Dec. 30, 2004)

Neither team scored in the final 85 seconds, but the frigid finish let Kevin Young’s free throw — one of just two points scored by the Tigers in the last eight minutes — stand as the clinching moment.

22: Missouri 81, No. 6 Illinois 78 (Dec. 13, 2020)

Braggin’ Rights looked a little different in its pandemic-affected 2020 edition, held in Mizzou Arena instead of 51ºÚÁÏ’ Enterprise Center. A late floater from Xavier Pinson was the icing on the cake with just 578 fans in attendance.

21: Missouri 83, No. 5 Florida 82 (Jan. 14, 2025)

The Gators went on to win a national championship, but they couldn’t beat the Tigers earlier in the season. Timely defense and free throws allowed Mizzou to hold on for a remarkable upset of UF on the road.

20: Missouri 63, No. 5 Florida 60 (Feb. 19, 2013)

That wasn’t the first time the Tigers knocked off a top-five Florida team. Laurence Bowers’ double-double helped Mizzou wipe a 13-point deficit to beat the Gators in Columbia.

19: Missouri 70, Georgia 68 (March 15, 2001)

MU’s last play of this NCAA Tournament win was drawn up for Kareem Rush. But when the Bulldogs double-teamed him, he off-loaded the ball to Clarence Gilbert, who sank a 15-footer with 0.9 seconds left to set up a second-round game against Duke.

18: Marquette 101, Missouri 92 (OT, March 22, 2003)

It takes a lot for a loss to make this list, but individual showings from two Tigers qualify it. Rickey Paulding scored 36 points with nine made 3s, while Arthur Johnson added 28 points with 18 rebounds. Dwyane Wade posted 24 points, eight boards and seven assists for Marquette.

17: Missouri 83, Marquette 79 (March 22, 2009)

Mizzou’s revenge came six years later in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, when a freshman English rose from the bench to make a pair of free throws with 5.5 seconds left in the stead of an injured J.T. Tiller.

16: No. 15 Missouri 110, No. 4 Alabama 98 (Feb. 19, 2025)

Smoke alarms forced an evacuation of Mizzou Arena after this game and prompted Alabama coach Nate Oats to joke that he’d known the Tigers were on fire much earlier in the night. The Tigers outpaced a notoriously high-octane Tide for their third top-five win of the season, which hadn’t happened since 1988-89.

15: Missouri 102, Memphis 91 (March 27, 2009)

John Calipari’s No. 2 seed Memphis team had won 27 games in a row before it met third-seeded Mizzou in the Sweet Sixteen. Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year J.T. Tiller brought the scoring punch with 23 points for MU. Freshman Marcus Denmon swished a first-half buzzer beater from three-quarters of a court away.

14: No. 15 Missouri 85, Vanderbilt 82 (OT, Dec. 8, 2010)

Denmon stole the ball from the Commodores with 5.8 seconds left and created a three-point play the old-fashioned way to take command of an overtime win.

13:ÌýMissouri 86, No. 6 Tennessee 85 (Feb. 11, 2023)

Down two points with 4.2 seconds left, DeAndre Gholston caught an inbounds pass under his own basket and made it halfway up the floor to the second S in the “Tennessee� script across the Vols’ hardwood when he pulled up for his second made buzzer-beater of the season.

12: Missouri 73, No. 4 Oklahoma 64 (March 4, 2009)

Sooners star Blake Griffin scored 16 with 21 rebounds, but Mizzou held OU to a season-low in points to finish the 2008-09 season undefeated at home.

11: Missouri 69, No. 16 Texas 65 (Feb. 4, 2009)

Zaire Taylor carved into the lane for a tough bucket and foul with 5.5 seconds to beat the Longhorns in Austin for the first time since Norm Stewart was still coaching the Tigers. And just five days later…

10: No. 17 Missouri 62, No. 16 Kansas 60 (Feb. 9, 2009)

…Taylor struck again, knocking down a 10-footer from just outside the lane with 1.3 seconds on the clock to beat the Jayhawks. Fans stormed the court after the Tigers completed a comeback from down 14 points at halftime. The next season…

9: Missouri 69, Iowa State 67 (OT, March 2, 2010)

…Taylor did his thing once more, driving the length of the floor to bank in a layup at the overtime buzzer for a road win against the Cyclones.

8: Missouri 112, No. 18 Iowa State 109 (4OT, Jan. 13, 2001)

It was the first and only quadruple-overtime game in Mizzou men’s hoops history. Gilbert shot, shot and shot some more, scoring 43 points and blocking a last-second shot in the final overtime to seal the win.

7: Missouri 93, No. 6 Oklahoma State 92 (2OT, Feb. 24, 2004)

Paulding scored 31 and Johnson added 29 — including the game-winning part of free throws with 30 seconds left in the second overtime — to snap an 11-game winning streak for the Cowboys and send fans rushing the Hearnes Center floor.

6: No. 5 Missouri 90, No. 12 Baylor 75 (March 10, 2012)

The Tigers left the Big 12 as conference champs behind 19 points from English, winning in front of an MU heavy crowd in Kansas City.

5: No. 14 Missouri 73, Baylor 60 (March 14, 2009)

Which Big 12 tournament title win was more rewarding? The 2009 edition, led by DeMarre Carroll’s 20 points, was Mizzou’s first since Stewart’s last Big Eight title in 1993 cleansed the palate after a trying few seasons in the ‘00s.

4: Missouri 89, Kansas 86 (OT, Jan. 16, 2006)

Thomas Gardner scored 40 points, draining two free throws with one minute left in overtime to sink the Jayhawks — but the story of this game were free throws that didn’t go in. KU’s Christian Moody was fouled while trying to dunk with 0.4 seconds left in regulation and the score tied. A made free throw would’ve won the game for the visiting Jayhawks, but with the help of a rowdy crowd, he missed both, sending the game to OT and an eventual Mizzou win.

3: Missouri 76, No. 1 Kansas 67 (Dec. 8, 2024)

Since resuming in the 2020s, the nonconference version of the Border War hadn’t been especially competitive. That changed when the top-ranked Jayhawks came to sold-out Mizzou Arena in December. The Tigers led for 38 minutes, holding on past a KU rally thanks to a key triple from Mark Mitchell before a late flurry enhanced the margin of victory and cued a court-storming. Down went No. 1 Kansas at the hands of Missouri.

1 and 2: No. 4 Missouri 74, No. 8 Kansas 71 (Feb. 4, 2012); No. 4 Kansas 87, No. 3 Missouri 86 (OT, Feb. 25, 2012)

It’s a magical thing when one sporting event lives up to its narrative billing by becoming a classic. It’s something else entirely when two games between two bitter rivals pull it off, and why the final two regular season meetings between MU and KU in the Big 12 are etched together in memory.

With ESPN’s GameDay in town for the Columbia matchup, the Jayhawks led 71-63 late in the second half. Then Denmon rattled off nine straight points in 72 seconds, single-handedly flipping the game to the Tigers.

A few weeks later when the rivals met in Lawrence, controversy became the lasting image. A 19-point Missouri lead withered away, but Phil Pressey had the ball with the score tied in the final seconds of regulation. He drove to the rim where he was bodied by Kansas’ Thomas Robinson, who got away with a block — but should it have been a foul? No whistle arrived, and KU came out on top in overtime.

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 best Mizzou football games of the past 25 years

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch

Mizzou Sports News

The 25 most important Mizzou football players in 2025

• Eli Hoff | Post-Dispatch