We're past the midway point of September. College football is in full swing. The NFL is, well, the NFL. The National Hockey league has taken the ice and teams are in the midst of tuning up for the regular season with a smattering of exhibition games. It's just a matter of days until NBA Training Camp officially opens September 25th for the league's 30 recognizable logos. All of these happenings can only signal one thing - college basketball is right around the corner as well and guess who's coming to dinner, uh, make that Columbia? It's not Sidney Poitier! It's Christian Guess.
Of the six-man class head coach Cuonzo Martin and his staff have assembled to represent the reinvigorated program that is Missouri basketball, Guess may prove to be the most pivotal, the most impactful player with the most influential presence on the 2018-19 roster. The last signed in the 2018 class of newcomers that included 6'4" shooting guard Torrence Watson of Whitfield, 6'2" point guard Xavier Pinson of Chicago Simeon, 6'7" forward K.J. Santos out of Tallahassee, Florida, rugged 6'4" Javon Pickett, formerly of Belleville East and 6'8" forward Parker Braun of Overland Park, Kansas, a walk-on who played alongside Jontay Porter as a member of the MO-Kan AAU squad, Guess offers an upside that could earn him significant playing time as a true freshman. Guess brings passion, energy and tenacity that could make him a fan favorite, let alone the first player off of the bench. "Whatever the coaches need me to do."
"Chris is the most dynamic, the most exciting player who's been out here in the last 4 to 5 years" said Third Coast Hoops Steve Newton of the 6'6" small forward out of Shaker Heights High in Cleveland, OH. Watch the YouTube videos of Guess and you'll see for yourself why Newton heaped such high praise upon Guess. He averaged 12 points a game as a freshman at Cleveland's Glenville High, 22 points as a sophomore and after transferring to the Red Raiders, 26.2 points a game last year as a senior. He poured in a school-record 57 points in one game while scoring 20 or more in others 14 times. For his efforts, he was named a member of Cleveland.com's Fab 50 boys basketball team. How did this diamond in the rough wind up a Missouri Tiger? Guard Cullen VanLeer, who suffered a career-ending injury to his knee, was given a scholarship to complete work towards his degree. The coaching staff used the vacated basketball scholarship to nab Christian Guess.
Guess held offers from DePaul, Indiana State, James Madison, Kent State and had garnered considerable interest from Georgetown, West Virginia and Ohio State. All of the schools essentially backed off because Guess had yet to meet the 16-core courses required by the NCAA to be eligible to attend any its schools - all except Missouri who had been made aware of his exploits on the hardwood by Garfield Heights coach Sonny Johnson. After transferring from Glenville High, "he had some (academic) issues he had to repair" said basketball coach Danny Young. Shaker Heights is "an excellent institution academically which made sure he took the classes he needed to" get clearance from the NCAA Eligibility Center.
"We're going to get this done" vowed Martin and after signing him to his letter of intent stated in a press release "We're very excited to have Christian join our Mizzou Basketball family. He has tremendous athletic ability and a scorer's mentality. Christian's competitive drive and desire to get better will fit right in with our program."Together with assistant Cornell Mann, who was the lead recruiter for Guess' services, Martin may have landed one of the country's best kept secrets. Perseverance on Guess' part and patience on Missouri's may pay off in unimaginable ways once the season tips off. No one is more relieved than Guess who describes his game as being that of a Hacker, "a north and south kind of guy, end to end, open court." As for signing on to become a Tiger, he opined "It's big. I was kind of going through little, depressed moments where I wasn't eating good. I couldn't sleep. Once this came about, everything is like, okay, I can breathe again."
And relax and play ball again under the watchful eye of Cuonzo Martin. And eat good again starting at the training table, Shakespeare's Pizza or CC's City Broiler or Chris McDs. How about dining out with the team at Buckingham Smokehouse BBQ or Murry's or G&D Steakhouse? And sleep well again because his hard work, coupled with the support of a Shaker Heights program that prides itself on success in the classroom, has led to accountability in school and opportunity on the basketball court. Guess who's going to dinner? It's not Sydney Poitier! It's Christian Guess.
