Jakeenan Gant: Meet The Four Star Missouri Tigers Basketball Recruit

The Missouri Tigers bench reacts during the second half at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dak Dillon-USA TODAY Sports

Missouri Tigers’ recruit Jakeenan Gant is going to remain steadfast in his commitment to play basketball for Mizzou.

As The University of Missouri Tigers starts a new era of basketball led by recently hired head coach Kim Anderson, there has been a flurry of questions as far as what would change on both the roster and coaching bench.

Fortunately on Tuesday, it was announced that assistant coach Tim Fuller would be retained for the 2014 season. Fuller is a well respected assistant coach, who is known nationally as a talented recruiter.

His importance was evident on Wednesday, as Missouri was able to come to an agreement to keep Fuller on for at least another year.

The other big boost came when it was confirmed that Four Star recruit Jakeenan Gant would stick with his original plan to come to Mizzou in the fall, despite former  head coach Frank Haith bolting for The University of Tulsa.

Coach Fuller reportedly played a big role in being able to keep Gant committed to Mizzou. It was also reported that longtime UCM assistant coach Brad Loos would be joining Anderson on his Missouri staff which should prove vital as he has 12 years of coaching experience under with Anderson.

This is fantastic news for a few different reasons. For one, Missouri knows it’s getting a talented player in Gant, who was the Mr. Georgia of High School basketball last season. He is rated as the 52nd ranked player Nationally on Rivals and is a natural scorer.

It was reported that Missouri retaining Tim Fuller would go a long way in keeping both Jakeenan Gant and also Namon Wright, another four star commit.

Fuller has a great reputation as a recruiter, and keeping him on for at least another year will allow him to serve as a bridge so to speak for Kim Anderson as he makes the transition from D-2 to D-1.

Standing at 6 ft 8 and weighing around 200 lbs, Jakeenan Gant is an ideal number four and perfect definition of a power forward. At Effingham County High School Gant averaged 19.3 points per game, 9.8 rebounds per game, and a jaw dropping 4.1 blocks per game.

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He was the “Mr Georgia” of high school basketball in his senior year, and fielded offers from schools such as Indiana, Florida, and Syracuse.

Gant has a nice mid range jump shot, but is definitely more of a threat putting the ball on the floor and attacking, rather than sitting on the perimeter.

He plays with superb energy on the court, and is excellent getting to the rim. He is particularly dangerous out in transition, and possesses a knack for finding creative ways to score the basketball.

He looks like not only a superb basketball player, but just a gifted  athlete as well,  and would be a fantastic foundation for head coach Kim Anderson as he embarks on the biggest challenge of his professional career.

He plays with superb energy on the court, and is excellent getting to the rim. He is particularly dangerous out in transition, and possesses a knack for finding creative ways to score the basketball.

He looks like he has a ton of potential defensively as well, and would be a fantastic foundation for head coach Kim Anderson as he said multiple times how much he wants to push a strong defensive team and a hard nosed approach for Missouri going forward. Defense was by far the biggest weakness in Frank Haith’s three year run at Missouri. This past season in particular, was especially awful.

Gant could be a special player for years to come and it doesn’t take long while watching this kid to see what all the hype is about. Check out the link below for some really fun highlights of Jakeenan Gant. And if you love dunks, this is a must see video.

Wednesday was a very successful day for Missouri Basketball, for both future recruiting and for the 2014 squad as well. The next step will be to retain a commitment from four star player Namon Wright who is rated number 73 on Rivals.

There are many question marks for Kim Anderson as he looks to establish a winning tradition at Mizzou, but so far, he’s off to a pretty good start.

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