Thanks to the hiring of head coach Dennis Gates, Missouri basketball has been on an upward trajectory, despite being in the brutal SEC. Although the Tigers had one bad season in his second year, he led them to an NCAA Tournament berth in his first and third years. The recruiting has also been elevated, and the best example is that they just landed five-star recruit Jason Crowe Jr. out of California.
Jason Crowe Jr. is the second-highest recruit in Missouri basketball history. Michael Porter Jr. was the only one higher, but both were five-star recruits. He also committed to the Tigers over USC, Kentucky, and Texas. The commitment was announced thanks to a graphic by On3's Joe Tipton. His commitment is a historical moment for the Missouri basketball program.
The announcement by Joe Tipton said, “five-star Jason Crowe Jr. has committed to Missouri, a source told @Rivals. He's the program's second-highest ranked recruit ever, only behind Michael Porter Jr. The 6-3 guard and top-10 player chose the Tigers over Kentucky, USC, and others. It's a Monumental pickup for Dennis Gates.”
This commitment is a massive testament to what Dennis Gates has been building in Columbia, Missouri. This past season, they finished with a 22-12 record, and despite getting upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Drake, they were one of the more exciting teams in the country.
They play extremely fast-paced on offense, and that works in their favor. They were 10th in scoring offense at 83.6 points per game and eighth in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom with a rating of 124.4.
Crowe liked Missouri for a while, and what Gates and their program had to offer stood out the most, despite many thinking that Kentucky and USC were the two in the lead. Crowe's father played with Kentucky assistant Jason Hart, and the two remain friends, while USC prioritized him early in the cycle and stayed with him.
“Since early July, I have strongly committed to Missouri,” Crowe told ESPN. “And with today being my birthday, I thought it was the perfect moment to make it official.”
Missouri basketball and Dennis Gates made a strong push over the last few weeks after officially offering Crowe a scholarship in June.
“Coach Gates is a phenomenal coach and person, and his staff are great people,” Crowe said. “Our first conversation happened during the USA tryouts. He was genuine. We talked about family and connected on a meaningful level. Coach Gates is a family-first person. On the court, he's high-energy and competitive.”
Crowe is the first commitment in Missouri's 2026 class, although the Tigers are also pursuing fellow five-star prospect Toni Bryant.
