July is always a slow time for us college basketball nerds. If you’re plugged into the RockM.plus forums, maybe you’ve tuned in to see what’s up with the latest on from Matt Harris on the 2026 and 2027 recruiting targets. Most fans treat this is a time to tune out as we wait for football season.
Me? I’m already in preseason prep mode and we’re just a few months away from beginning our seasonal preview stuff. Before that though, it’s time to explore our playing rotations! This is probably my favorite offseason project. Mostly because it’s fun to take the gauge of the fanbase. You have a finalized roster, so let’s see where the fans think those minutes are going to?
In previous years I didn’t set up a Google Form so counting the tallies was far more difficult. I did it all manually. Fortunately there wasn’t a huge amount of submissions so hand counting was easy. This year I set up a Form and we tripled responses. Looks like that’s the way to go from now on.
As of Friday night we had 107 responses, so thanks to everyone who took the time.
Now, before we fully hop in here I feel I need to do a little explaining. Because each year I perform this exercise and each year someone brings up the fact that said coach is more likely to play more than just 8 players. This critique has grown since Dennis Gates has taken over at Missouri.
Yes, I am aware that Gates and his history shows a preference for deeper lineups. I do noot expect Gates to just play 8 players. However, since the dawn of basketball there have been rosters where one player plays more than another. And usually there will be someone who plays the most minutes and someone who plays the least. Most College lineups tend to have a very strong 7 or 8 players and then a mix of minutes get thrown out past that. Even if you think Gates is going to play 10 or 11 regularly, someone is still going to be 1st and someone will be 8th.
Which is what makes this fun.
So who is in your top 8?
To begin, let’s look at how things played out last year. Unlike two years ago when we had some serious bad injury luck, this past years team was (largely) injury free. At least to the main contributors. This is the order of the votes, next to them is their percentage of minutes played, and then where that placed in the team:
Tony Perkins – 54.4% (5)
Tamar Bates – 64.5% (2)
Mark Mitchell – 66.9% (1)
Jacob Crews – 31.2% (9)
Caleb Grill – 55.7% (3)
Marques Warrick – 32.6% (8)
Josh Gray – 37.5% (7)
Anthony Robinson – 55.6% (4)
Annor Boateng – 7.9% (12)
Peyton Marshall – 7.2% (14)
Aidan Shaw – 18.7% (10)
Trent Pierce – 41.2% (6)
Marcus Allen – 17.4% (11)
TO Barrett – 7.3% (13)
Trent Burns – 0% (15)
Overall the voting was pretty solid. The big miss was Crews being too high, coupled with Ant being well below. Ant’s progress directly contributed to Perkins limit of minutes, although Tony also was dealing with an early season lingering injury which held him back, especially during the softer part of the schedule. And most everyone missed on Trent Pierce who saw just three votes on 41 ballots.
Who is everyone bought in on this year? I posted the Google Form to the RockM+ forums, BlueSky, Twitter, and left it within a few of the Morning Commutes here on RockMNation. I haven’t closed the Form yet and people are still free to vote, but I’m stopping the counting at the first 107 entries. Here is where things stand:
Mark Mitchell: 107 – 100%
Anthony Robinson: 107 – 100%
Trent Pierce: 107 – 100%
Sebastian Mack: 99 – 92.5%
Annor Boateng: 93 – 86.9%
Jacob Crews: 92 – 86%
T.O. Barrett: 82 – 76.6%
Jevon Porter: 73 – 68.2%
Shawn Phillips: 46 – 43%
Trent Burns: 33 – 30.8%
Jayden Stone: 10 – 9.3%
Aaron Rowe: 2 – 1.9%
Luke Northweather: 1 – 0.9%
Nicholas Randall: 1 – 0.9%
I feel like this is about what I expected. Mark, Ant, and Trent were all top 8 guys returning so it makes sense that everyone would think they’ll be top 8 again. Barring an injury to one of them, I think they all safely are in the mix.
I think Sebastian Mack will play a lot and he will likely be in the top 4 when this is all said and done.
After that, things get interesting, and you can see the voting begins to fall apart a bit. Most of us think Annor is going to step into a larger role, it only makes sense. He’s no longer blocked by talented seniors in their farewell tour, and he’s immensely talented. Crews played like a member of the top 8 in the second half of the season, so that feels likely with it being his second season under Gates.
Missouri guard Anthony Robinson II (0) makes a pass in the first half of a game against Howard on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Mizzou Arena. (CAL TOBIAS/ROCK M NATION)
Safe in their role:
Mark Mitchell: You return an All SEC player that guy is going to be safe in his role.
Anthony Robinson: You return an All SEC defensive player and your starting point guard, that guy is safe.
Will play, but figuring it out
Trent Pierce: I feel comfortable with Pierce in the top 8, but I think he minutes could fluctuate a bit, and he could see minutes all over the floor.
Sebastian Mack: I considered plugging Mack into the safe section, but I had Perkins safe last year and Ant usurped his role a bit. So I’m leaving a crack for T.O. or even Aaron Rowe to step in and bleed some time away from Mack.
Annor Boateng: The early favorite to start on the wing according to fans, but will Boat take the step many expect him to?
Jevon Porter: I think the staff is pretty excited about Jevon and the versatility on offense he can provide.
Jacob Crews: Year 2 for the sharp shooter and with possibly an even greener light?
Fighting it out inside:
Shawn Phillips: Obviously Phillips is the most experienced, but he’ll have competition.
Trent Burns: You can teach 7’5 and Burns has the staff very excited with his ceiling.
Luke Northweather: Don’t overlook the local who can stretch the floor.
Nick Randall: I don’t think Randall will play a ton, but I he’s such a willing effort guy on both ends he could surprise a bit.
Can they move up?
T.O. Barrett: I could see Barrett landing anywhere from the starting 5 to outside the top 10 in minutes. He’s got to find consistency on offense, and if he can make a few outside shots? Even better.
Jayden Stone: Nobody really knows what to make of the Aussie, but a role similar to Marques Warrick could make sense, “In case of emergency break glass” type.
Aaron Rowe: The former highly rated freshman point guard is looking to reassert himself, the longer term goals seem to fit and few can fly up and down the floor like Rowe. Is he ready for college minutes?
So what do you think? How did everyone’s votes shake out?