Mizzou alumni basketball game brings past and present Tigers together: 'A love of Mizzou'
With two minutes to go in the autograph session, the line still stretched around the corner of the concourse at Mizzou Arena. Close to the end, it split, with Team Carroll on one side and Team Bowers on the other.
With the players from both teams in the Carroll and Bowers Alumni Game needing to get down to the court to warm up, some fans weren’t going to get exactly what they came for.
Still, as the clock struck 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, they filed down into their seats.
The game was scheduled by Missouri basketball alums Laurence Bowers and DeMarre Carroll, as an attempt to both spark some fan excitement for the program, and raise money for charity.
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The donations at the game were to be sent to United Community Builders and the Carroll Family Foundation.
At the scheduled start time, the teams were announced, with some of Missouri’s top basketball and football players hearing their names called to raucous applause from the crowd estimated to be between 3,000 and 4,000 fans.
"This event means a lot to everybody in the building,” Bowers said from the microphone before the game started. “Not just us players. The common denominator in the room is a love of Mizzou.”
The game itself was not a particularly strong demonstration of the sport James Naismith invented, but that wasn’t the point. The players on the court played to the crowd, with former quarterback star Brad Smith throwing a football pass all the way down the court, much like he used to across the parking lot at Faurot Field.
The throw was incomplete, just overthrown enough to fly past the baseline. Soon thereafter, Bowers took a timeout to let a representative from UCB speak and conduct a shooting contest, which featured several rock-paper-scissors games as tiebreakers.
Smith later tossed an alley-oop to Jerrell Jackson, which invigorated the crowd.
At halftime, after a drumline show, the floor was given to current MU head coach Dennis Gates, who implored the fans to support the 2022-23 Tigers
“We need you in this building to give us an unbelievable atmosphere,” Gates said. “We need each and every last one of you guys.”
Team Bowers took over and held off a late run by Team Carroll to win 87-86 in a game most won’t remember for the final score. Afterward, fans packed the court for photo opportunities and another chance at getting autographs from their favorite players.
Players from both teams reported they had enjoyed the experience. Former Missouri quarterback James Franklin, who played for Team Bowers, said it all came together for him after taking a hit.
“My favorite part was when I got laid out,” Franklin said. “The contact, getting hit. It felt normal, it felt back at home.”
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Another ex-Tigers quarterback, Hickman alum Corby Jones, had the exact opposite experience.
“I had fun because I didn’t play,” Jones, who rode the bench for Team Carroll, said. “I told him I wasn’t going to play. Basketball’s not my thing. I haven’t touched a basketball in about 20 years and I wasn’t great when I played, so I’m going to sit out and let the guys who know what they’re doing take care of business.”
Besides the aforementioned players, participants in the game included Jeremy Maclin, Phil Pressey and Sean Weatherspoon. Norm Stewart was in attendance, getting shouted out by Gates. Gates and Stewart sat next to each other during the game.
Current Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. made an appearance, helping coach Team Bowers.
Matt Stahl is the Missouri athletics beat reporter for the Columbia Daily Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @mattstahl97.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou alumni basketball game brings past and present Tigers together
