While the Dennis Gates era at Missouri Basketball has yet to officially begin on the court, it has begun on the recruiting trail however with the Tigers recently picking up their first big recruiting win under the former Cleveland State head coach.
Missouri Basketball picks up first recruiting win of Dennis Gates era with 4-star SF Aidan Shaw
After Missouri parted ways with former head coach Cuonzo Martin, the Tigers top commit of their 2022 class Aidan Shaw announced back in mid-March that he would be reopening his recruitment.
The nation’s No. 52 overall prospect according the 247Sports Composite, Shaw instantly became one of the top remaining uncommitted prospects for the Class of 2022. However, the four-star small forward would not stay uncommitted for very-long as Shaw announced on Wednesday afternoon that he was recommitting to the Tigers.
It’s time ⌛️ pic.twitter.com/NabEahHo2k
— Aidan Shaw (@TheAidanShaw) April 6, 2022
A talented two-way player at 6-foot-8, Shaw attends Blue Valley High School in Stilwell, KS where the four-star is rated as the No. 3 overall player in the state of Kansas, as well as the No. 14 overall small forward nationally.
Now composing the SEC’s No. 8 ranked 2022 class, Shaw joins three-star guard Christian Jones as the two names currently in the Tigers first class under Gates, as well as instant-impact Milwaukee transfer DeAndre Gholston.
As mentioned previously, the addition of Shaw is a big recruiting win for Gates to begin his time in Columbia as the four-star is the No. 12 highest-rated commit in Missouri Basketball history. On the court as well, Shaw should be an instant-impact player for the Tigers in 2022-23, one that will likely start a significant number of games next season.
One of the multiple coaching changes within the SEC this offseason, Gates as mentioned previously comes to Missouri from Cleveland State where he won two Horizon League regular season titles with the Vikings. While the jump from the Horizon League to the SEC is a big one, the Gates era at Missouri is already off to an impressive start with the re-addition of Shaw to the Tigers 2022 class.