Missouri’s push to keep elite in-state talent home just got another big win.
Four-star forward Cameron Barnes of Lee’s Summit (Mo.) West told 247Sports he is headed to Missouri, giving Dennis Gates another building block in a 2027 class that is starting to take shape around homegrown talent. Barnes’ official visit over the weekend was the final push, and he said the relationship with the staff and the culture Gates has built made the decision easy.
"The consistency that coach Gates has had with me along with coach (Kyle) Smithpeters and the rest of the staff and the love that they showed to me and my famil," Barnes told 247Sports about why he ended his recruitment. "Also just the culture that coach Gates has created."
Barnes now joins four-star combo guard Scottie Adkinson of Webster Groves (Mo.) High, who ranks No. 29 overall nationally, in Missouri’s class of 2027. Gates made it clear when he took the job that locking down the state would be a priority, and this class is giving that idea real traction.
A teammate of Adkinson’s with the MoKan Elite program on the Nike EYBL circuit, Barnes brings a different kind of value to the floor. He’s the kind of player whose impact goes beyond box-score numbers: strong, physical, willing to defend multiple spots from the wing to the post, effective as a screener and capable of making smart passes that help a team function.
"They think I can do a little bit of everything from one through five and that I fit with the positionless basketball that they want to play."
For Barnes, the choice also carries a hometown edge. He knows what it means to suit up for the state’s flagship program, especially with so many people around him already invested in Mizzou.
"It's a big deal. A lot of people where I am from are big Mizzou fans so it will be fun to represent the state of Missouri.
This is all just motivation for me. I feel like I'm one step closer to my goal of trying to make the NBA and Mizzou is the right place for me to be."
With Barnes on board, Missouri and Gates are now one of only a dozen programs with multiple four-star commitments in the class of 2027. And the Tigers are not done yet.
They’re still looking to land a third high school target from the senior class, with their focus on adding a skilled guard who can score and run the offense in stretches. At the top of that list is La Porte (IN) La Lumiere combo guard Devin Cleveland.
In Other News...
Mizzous New Ranking Puts Even More Pressure On What Comes Next
Missouris climb in the Week 3 AP Top 25 Poll was modest, but it still mattered: the Tigers moved from No. 20 to No. 19 after handling Troy, while also nudging up from No. 22 to No. 21 in the Week 3 LBM Coaches Poll. The rise keeps them in view nationally and adds a little more weight to every snap from here on out, especially with the SEC schedule about to stiffen in a hurry.
What comes next is where this ranking really starts to bite. Missouri is staring at a run of ranked opponents that includes No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Ole Miss, with Oklahoma waiting in the regular-season finale after the Tigers edged past the Sooners in the coaches poll. For a team trying to prove its place in the upper tier, the margin for error is about to get very small. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Golf Has A Chance To Turn Its Home Event Into A Statement
Missouris womens golf team has given itself a real chance to make its home event count, opening the Johnie Imes Invitational by taking the lead after two rounds at 9-under par. The Tigers have been steady across the board, with senior Addie Dobson setting the pace for the group and other Missouri names, including Melanie Walker and Addie Surber, sitting near the top of the board as the tournament heads to its final day.
Dobson has separated herself from the field and put Missouri in position to turn a solid start into something more meaningful, especially with the final round still to play. Walker has also stayed in the mix after back-to-back 2-under 70s, giving the Tigers another contender to lean on as they try to finish off a strong showing in front of the home crowd. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou's Win Over Troy Hid A Problem Fans Can't Ignore
Missouri got the win over Troy, but the tape offered a more complicated picture than the final score suggested. The Tigers offense never really settled in, even as the running game showed improvement and the defensive line took a step forward. It was the kind of performance that left the staff with a few encouraging signs and just as many reasons to keep digging.
Austin Simmons afternoon stood out for the wrong reasons, especially after the quarterback had looked sharper in earlier weeks. The bigger concern, though, came on the back end, where the secondary gave up multiple explosive plays that flipped the feel of the first half. For a team trying to stack cleaner outings, those lapses are the sort of problem that cant be brushed aside just because the result in the standings looked fine. [Read more 🡒]