COLUMBIA, Mo. _ Jordan Barnett has tried to ignore the outside buzz that grew dramatically since Missouri's basketball program became a recruiting powerhouse immediately after Cuonzo Martin was hired in March.
As far as the senior forward is concerned, he would rather work on improving his game and focus on getting to know his new teammates.
"If you're listening to all that outside noise then it's going to mess up your mindset in a way," Barnett said. "And it just might end up not being too good for the team. Just focus on everybody in the locker room and the coaches and our inner circle."
Mizzou's deeper and more talented inner circle, however, is the reason Barnett appreciates and understands the buzz surrounding the Tigers' basketball program.
He is as excited as most Tigers fans are about a deep freshman class that includes Michael Porter Jr., the nation's No. 1 recruit in the 2017 class. In this day and age, there are very few unknowns in the elite basketball world. Most of these kids have played against each other or seen each other at youth tournaments.
Mizzou's returning players had seen Porter, East St. Louis forward Jeremiah Tilmon and point guards C.J. Roberts and Blake Harris play on television or in person at some point in the recruiting process.
Martin finally got his talented crop of freshmen and graduate transfer Kassius Robertson together with his returners Monday for the start of summer workouts at Mizzou.
The skill level and talent were obvious immediately.
Suddenly, Mizzou fans aren't the only ones excited to see what Porter and the rest of the new players can do to help the returners.
"We all think we're capable of having a really special run," Barnett said. "We all think that and we're working very hard at it because we can see where we can be in the future. We're all visualizing our future this season. I can't wait to get started."
It's not often that a team that won only two regular season SEC games and an SEC tournament game one season can start the next summer workouts with the optimism that now surrounds Martin's team.
"It's a great transformation actually," junior forward Kevin Puryear said. "I'm really glad to have coach Martin on board with us and also the freshmen. Just in the short time that we've known them we've gotten along really well with them.
"We're taking them in. They're part of our family, so we treat them as such. We're starting to build that relationship. It's just been a real fun ride from the start."
It would seem unfair to expect the Tigers to contend for the SEC title right away, but an NCAA Tournament bid is more than a reasonable expectation.
It will be interesting to see how quickly Porter adjusts to college ball. The 6-10, 215-pound prodigy is so talented, Mizzou might have him for only a year because NBA riches will surely be at his disposable after one season in Columbia.
Welcoming new teammates is only one adjustment underway. Barnett, Puryear and the rest of the returning players must adjust to a new voice and style. The tempo promises to change.
Martin expects his team to play at a much faster speed than Barnett and Puryear were accustomed to under Kim Anderson.
"Coach Martin is very big on pace of play and speed," Puryear said. "That's what we've all been adjusting to. When we get there it's going to be a great thing because we're going to be able to get down the court at a fast rate and get into transition."
The returners and the newcomers must also prepare to check their egos this season. Some of Anderson's former players will be challenged for playing time like never before at Mizzou.
The star freshmen are hungry and talented. They will challenge the returners for minutes from the start of the season.
With so much hype surrounding Porter and the rest of Mizzou's talented recruiting class, the returning players have been asked quite a bit in recent months about potentially losing playing time.
"Of course every school wants to have talented freshmen, so of course I'm excited to have them as a returner, and having them, of course we're going to compete at the highest level," Puryear said. "At the end of the day coach Martin is going to put the five guys out there that are most ready to play.
"All I got to do is just worry about me and worrying about being a leader and bringing what I can to the table to help us win games."
These summer workouts will provide the Tigers an opportunity to build the team camaraderie that will be crucial when players are expected to think more about the team than their individual playing time.
Martin wants his players to start building genuine relationships. He urged the returners in April to be real and honest with each other. To become a team, they must learn to help each other and understand that ultimately the best players will play. They must compete for their playing time, and that competition officially got underway this week.
"For me it's pure excitement," Barnett said. "I really can't wait to get started with all this and see where it all ends up because this team has a real chance of doing something real special. It might bring all the excitement in the world out of the Mizzou fan base, and I can't wait to see how that manifests itself in the future."
