Mizzou Pledge Jason Crowe Jr. Speaks on Decision, Relationships and More

If you haven't heard by now, the Missouri Tigers and Dennis Gates landed the commitment of five-star combo guard Jason Crowe Jr.

from Inglewood, California.

It's huge for a variety of reasons, but the connections and relationships that Crowe Jr.

and his father created with the Missouri coaching staff made all the difference.

Everything started with Gates and his assistant coaches, going the distance to make Crowe feel like a priority.

He was the first person to call me from the staff, so that was a good thing, Crowe Jr.

said of Gates in an interview with MissouriOnSI .

He's a genuine person, doesnt sugarcoat anything, loving guy, fun guy, and also a competitor.

Crowe Jr.

and Gates have one very similar trait in common: they are both ultra-competitive.

They also don't like to lose.

Those are pretty good traits for a head coach in the Southeastern Conference and the sixth-best player in the country.

I would make that perfect match because we're both competitors and we just want to win, Crowe Jr.

said.

We both have this same end goal.

The relationship between Crowe Jr., Gates and the other coaches is part of why Crowe Jr.

ended up with the Tigers.

There's another member of the Missouri basketball staff that made an inevitable impact.

That guy is general manager Tim Fuller, a recent addition to Gates' coaching staff.

This is the first major way in which Fuller's presence has been felt, and it's certainly a big one.

The two first kicked off a relationship earlier in Crowe's basketball career, where Fuller tried to get him to join a program he aided in.

He tried to recruit me to Overtime Elite, so I have a relationship with him already, Crowe Jr.

said.

Crowe's father and Fuller also have some history.

They interacted in the early 2000s while Fuller represented NBA legend Paul Pierce, which gave Crowe Sr.

a front-row seat to how Missouri's new general manager operates.

During that time, it came very clear to Crowe Sr.

that Fuller had the skills and connection ability to be a location that he would want his son at.

He also believes that Fuller can help Crowe Jr.

elevate to being a higher level of player.

He's a guy that I've had a chance to watch grow because of his authenticity, his work ethic and his ability to connect people in situations to benefit so, he that's why I think Missouri is going to benefit from him, and that's how we had a certain level of belief that he can help, Crowe's father told MissouriOnSI.

Fuller's ability to connect with others and 'wow' people seems to be one of his best skills.

He did just that with the Crowe family.

What I know about Tim is he's a connector, Crowe Sr.

said.

That's his specialty.

That's why they brought him back to Missouri.

Outside of what led to Crowe Jr's commitment, he had a special moment during his commitment ceremony.

He celebrated his 17th birthday with his family on the same day and now, with the decision gone, has plenty of pressure off his chest.

That feeling was a great feeling.

Feels like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, Crowe Jr.

said.

Don't really have to worry about any more recruitment questions or things like that.

I can just really just focus on just playing basketball for my senior season.

With that weight off of his shoulders, Crowe Jr.

can now focus on what lies directly ahead of him, while reflecting on his recent successes.

The recent Missouri commit just finished up dominating on the Nike EYBL circuit and has a final high school season to play in.

It was the last time I would be playing AAU, so it was just good going out how like I did, playing well, and I felt like I showed a really good side of my basketball game, Crowe Jr.

said.

With his EYBL and Peach Jam time complete, part of his next focus will shift to the city of Columbia.

Crowe and his family aim to spend time there and visit multiple times, being able to shift their focus to one school in the recruitment process instead of multiple.

Now you can go to Columbia instead of going to four different other places.

You can build, you can build a relationship with that community, that staff, Crowe Sr.

said.

You can now grow on that commitment.

Crowe Jr.

and his family will spend plenty of time in Columbia as the season goes along.

He also plans to visit at some point in September.

From the outside, the reasoning for Crowe Jr.

landing with the Tigers may be puzzling, given he had teams like Kentucky, USC and UCLA knocking at the door.

He isn't going to Missouri because of a certain amount of money, according to himl.

Ive seen all this stuff, about a bag and about all this type of stuff.

Well, my family, that's not our desire, Crowe Sr.

said.

Our desire is for our son to be able to be in an environment where he can enjoy himself, be coached hard and be able to elevate, be able to bring value to a program.

Crowe Jr.

is a massive commitment for the Tigers and from the sounds of it, it seems like he plans on making his presence felt in Columbia before he is on campus as a student athlete.

In the meantime, he has a senior season to embark on.

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