When Annor Boateng announced his commitment to the University of Missouri back in the fall of 2023, Mizzou fans were largely buzzing. And with good reason. The Tigers 2024 recruiting class topped the charts as the top ranked class in the country, and Boateng was the crown jewel of a class that consisted of five 4-star players.
Not everything has gone to plan, however.
Boateng was covered up by more exxperienced transfer wings during his freshman campaign, and played in just 17 games for a sliver under 8% of the minutes. Coming into his sophomore season, there were many of us who expected Annor to be solidly in the rotation, and a possible starter. Things looked on course when we watched the exhibition game against Kansas State, when Boateng went for 15 points on 5 shots from the field, and six FT makes in 7 attempts. He and Anthony Robinson were the clear standouts in that game… something we never really saw again for the rest of the season.
Shortly after the exhibition performance, Boateng was injured during practice and missed the first five games. It was mostly precautionary, as the Tigers early schedule was filled with cupcakes.
He was slowly ramped up, befor playing a season high 22 minutes against Bethune-Cookman. But Missouri was spinning it’s wheels a bit, and Dennis Gates early plans were thrown to the side by the time the SEC season came around, following embarrassing losses to Illinois and Kansas. The downside, Boateng was left out of the main part of the rotation. He didn’t play against Florida, and saw the floor for just 5 minutes against Kentucky.
Making matters worse, Annor was playing poorly. His sporadic stop-start action was clearly making him less comfortable on the floor, and his play suffered. He struggled to finish at the rim and finished the season shooting just 37.5% from inside the arc, and per Synergy, just 9-22 at the rim.
It would almost seem as though any time Boateng would do something right, fans would cheer a little extra. Boat’s struggles made the limited victories even sweeter. That’s why when he slammed home a putback dunk to put the Tigers up 15 points the crowd let out a joyous pop, and then the next play he was streaking towards the goal with a wide open lane. Everyone was anticipating a thunderous dunk. Instead, Boat slipped on his way up, turned the ball over, and left on a stretcher. It’s tragic really. With a chance to give himself a feel good moment and maybe even turn around his season, Annor got hurt.
I don’t know what’s in store for Boat’s future. He’s now had two seasons in a row of stilted development, and if you’ve used an eagle eye to watch all the Mizzou Hoops promotional videos, you haven’t seen Annor on the floor competing. What the injury was never fully disclosed, other than a left leg injury. He was out the remainder of the season and a timeline was never set. At least by a public statement. Maybe he’ll be ready to play this year and find a way onto the floor. I don’t know.
Everyone is rooting for him. He’s a great kid, and a good student. He’s got the talent. We’re all just waiting for him to put it together on the floor.