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Robin Pingeton feels really good about her team and the chemistry of the returning group, plus the two additions. But she knows they need to add a couple players through the portal. She hopes to sign two to three more this offseason. Obviously losing leading scorer and rebounder Aijha Blackwell is a blow. No one is going to spin her loss as a positive. But it's also fair to point out that Mizzou's two best wins this year - against South Carolina, at Florida - came without Blackwell. Maybe you can say that was a fluke. I don't think so.

We'll find out. Though I don't think that's a fair assessment. Junior college players can turn into great Division I players. They're usually not at the junior college level because they don't have the ability to play at the D-I level. Diarra was an international player who was raw and needed to develop. He did that at Garden City. East had already transferred once at the Division I level and needed a year junior college to raise his stock so he could transfer immediately back to a Division I program as a junior. Some skepticism over the two Cleveland State players would be more than fair if any other coach in America landed them; but Gates knows what he's getting in Gomillion and Hodge and knows what their value and their upside. I give him the benefit of the doubt on those two because he knows them better than any coach in America. Noah Carter had other high-major offers from programs that are better than Mizzou - or at least in the same tier.

Absolutely. Their production can be difficult to project sometimes because of the step-up in competition but once surrounded by better resources and teammates there are some junior college transfers who thrive in their new setting. They sometimes play with that added edge that you need on your roster. More often than not they come from a place with meager resources and facilities and they're forced to tough it out and build up some scar tissue and toughness.

I can tell you this much: The sky is not falling in that locker room. Now, Robin needs to add some pieces. And they have to be get better defensively. She knows that.

Ideally, he wants to add transfers who have two to three years of eligibility - not just the one-year rent-a-players. He wants to develop relationships with the top high school sophomores and juniors to lay the foundation of the program with HS recruits - and then supplement your roster needs with transfers. In the age of the transfer waiver high-major teams will probably be less inclined to recruit the under-the-radar high school prospect who needs a few years to develop. There's just not enough patience on anyone's part to invest that kind of time in a player who can't produce immediately. The players are less patient in that process and the coaches are most certainly less patient when they can go into the portal and find a more seasoned player who's ready to contribute right away.

Yes, condolences to Brian's family and friends and many coaches and teammates over the years at CBC and Arkansas. Just a tragic story. I don't know any more than what's been reported, that he suffered a couple heart attacks, was hospitalized in St. Louis and passed last week. I don't know if he had any health concerns that had gone undetected. But he was a great lineman at Arkansas. Was a big local pick-up for the Hogs staff at the time and he played well there under Bielema. Very sad.