From the portal, to the basketball wins. Since my last Commute post (last Friday) we’ve posted 54 different articles on here and Rock M+.
Mizzou football has added 11 different players since the portal opened last Friday, and that’s not including them signing Austin Simmons to an NIL deal, thus securing a commitment for, well basically now,
since Ole Miss fell to Miami in the semi-finals last night.
There was only one commitment yesterday and it felt like we should all start freaking out. So they just added an assistant QB coach in former Florida State staffer Brendan Bognar. A former Murray State QB, Bognar is a native St. Louisan who was a graduate assistant coach at Troy under Chip Lindsey.
The good news is the portal is still open, there is a dead period coming up, but still plenty of time for commits and visits.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
So let’s get too all the news from yesterday, and it was a lot of news. Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way here.
- WBB went to Nashville to take on top 10 ranked Vanderbilt, and things didn’t go well:
The SEC gauntlet continues to be unkind to Kellie Harper in year one, as Mizzou women’s basketball was outgunned against No. 7 Vanderbilt 68-99. The Commodores held an 11-point lead at half but really took control, outscoring the Tigers 51-31 in the second half.
Vanderbilt becoming an absolute unit in all sports is not something you probably anticipated or were even full aware of. There’s always been a lot of money, so perhaps it was the NIL era that really turned things around. Vandy football won 10 games for the first time in school history. Men’s basketball is 15-0 and 6th in Kenpom, and the women are now 15-0 and ranked 7th in the AP poll. Pretty incredible.
The women won 12 games just three years ago, and the men won 9 two years ago.
Now to the good news!
Continuing the fun of the Mizzou basketball win at Rupp, Matthew Gustafson penned a sidebar which invoked Secretariat if you can believe it:
Missouri men’s basketball outpaced Kentucky with an equally surprising surge Wednesday night at Rupp Arena, just 20 miles from Big Red’s eternal resting place, to make history of its own.
The 73-68 final gave the Tigers their first-ever win over the Wildcats on the road, breaking a nine-game losing streak that dated back to 1960 — 13 years before Secretariat’s run to the Triple Crown. MU also advanced to 2-0 in SEC play for the first time since joining the conference in 2012.
I’m a little slow getting Study Hall up. We adopted a puppy and he’s gotten in the way a bit of the time needed to write. But I’ll have it here shortly. There were some really interesting stats to pull out from the win.
- Mizzou Football added another big piece when Arizona State offensive tackle Josh Atkins committed:
Atkins started his college career at Houston in 2021, but never played a snap in two years. He transferred to Hawaii in 2023 and his career took off from there. Between one season with the Rainbow Warriors and two seasons in Tempe, Atkins made 39 consecutive starts and played over 2,000 snaps.
Atkins brings a lot of experience, and for a lot of O-Lineman getting on the field for reps helps them become difference makers. Which Atkins certainly is at this point.
- The recruiting resets are rolling in, first up was Austin Simmons, Rory tackled just what the Tigers are getting in the Ole Miss signal caller:
The Ole Miss transfer, hailing from Pahokee, Florida, was a four-star recruit out of high school and a top-20 quarterback. He also had an interesting journey to Oxford. Originally, Simmons was committed to the Florida Gators in the 2025 class until he reclassified to 2023, graduated two years early, and enrolled at Ole Miss. Oh — he also played baseball at Ole Miss before a UCL injury pushed him to focus on football. Remind you of any other Mizzou backup quarterbacks?
Simmons is difficult to peg because he was the Ole Miss starter at the beginning of the year before he got hurt. It’s reasonable to expect he’ll win the job.
- Next up is my favorite addition so far, Auburn Linebacker Robert Woodyard, Jr:
The former Auburn linebacker won’t have to change his stripes as he moves from one Tiger Town to another. Woodyard, Jr. will enter the 2026 season as a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility. What Mizzou lost in Trotter they seem to have gained again in Woodyard, Jr., who started for an exceptional Auburn defense last year and tallied 67 tackles, seven tackles for loss and two sacks in 2025.
I loved Trotter when he was signed (Josiah not Jeremiah!) so I guess you could say I’m a bit of a linebacker guy. Woodyard could be a force in a rebuilt defense next year.
- Meanwhile Sammy dropped a Reacts post on which returning freshmen will have the biggest impact. Votes are coming in for Zollers, Lange, Olugbude, or ‘Other’.
On the Forums
Dakota Terrell, a Mizzou freshmen tight end, is leaving the team to focus on playing basketball. And Matt Watkins dropped an update on the Mizzou MBB tournament picture. Plus we’re still buzzing about the Kentucky game.
Rock M Radio: Burning down Rupp
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