The University of Missouri has announced a second addition to the 2023-2024 basketball roster via the transfer portal, as Indiana University guard Tamar Bates has announced, via Twitter, a commitment to MU, saying, “It isn’t the victory after all. But the fight that a Brother makes, A man when driven against the wall, Still stands erect and takes the blows of fate. M-I-Z Let’s gooooo we HERE!!!”
Bates is a product of Piper High School in Kansas City, Kansas, where he earned Kansas All-State honors in his sophomore and junior seasons. In preparing for collegiate basketball, he adding IMG Academy for his senior season. He had considered Missouri and coach Cuonzo Martin coming out of high school before deciding on Indiana.
With the Hoosiers, Bates has had uneven results over two seasons. In the 2022-2023 season, he played in 35 games for IU, with the 6’5″ product averaging 6.1 points per game. He chose Mizzou for the continuance of his career over interest from the likes of Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, and Tennessee.
In other news involving Mizzou basketball, the Tigers have agreed to a home-and-home series with the Memphis Tigers, with Memphis playing at Mizzou Arena next season, and Mizzou returning the favor with a game at the 18,400 seat FedEx Forum in downtown Memphis for the 2024-2025 season.
The matchup of Tigers should feature a pair of programs on the rise, with Missouri winning its first NCAA Tournament game since 2010 last month, in coach Dennis Gates’ first season in Columbia. Memphis is led by alum and former NBA All-Star Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, with those Tigers winning 26 games last season, and making the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
Memphis and Missouri have seen each other often over the past seven decades, with only Indiana, Iowa, and Saint Louis playing Missouri more since 1950 other than former Big 8/Big 12 and Southeastern Conference rivals. Memphis has won 7 games to Mizzou’s five in that time, however MU won the most memorable matchup, a 102-91 victory over #2 seed Memphis in the Sweet 16 of the 2009 NCAA Tournament in Glendale, Arizona.
