The Missouri men’s basketball team officially announced its three captains for the 2024-25 campaign on Thursday with Whitten Family Head Coach Dennis Gates naming Tamar Bates, Caleb Grill and Jeremy Sanchez to leadership positions.
Bates is in his second season at Mizzou and ranked as one of the most improved players in the country during his first season with the Black & Gold. He averaged 13.5 points per game as a junior in 2023-24, improving his scoring average by 7.4 from his sophomore campaign. He also set a school record with a free-throw percentage of 92.6, while shooting 49.5 percent overall from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range.
Grill is also in his second campaign at Mizzou. Appearing in just nine games last year due to injury, Grill averaged 8.4 points and a team-leading 5.8 rebounds. Transferring to MU from Iowa State, he led the Cyclones in 3-point percentage during the 2022-23 campaign, while leading the team in triples made in 2021-22.
Sanchez rejoins Gates after spending three years together at Cleveland State (2019-22). The graduate student then played the last two years at Saint Leo University, totaling 142 points, 80 rebounds, 65 assists and 31 steals.
In addition, Aidan Shaw will serve as a captain in training in 2024-25 with JV Brown and Anthony Robinson II as underclassmen captains and Annor Boateng as freshman captain.
The Tigers open the campaign on Monday night, playing at Memphis with a 7 p.m. tipoff.
