In late November, Curt Lewis ended a string of recruiting visits when he took a seat behind the Missouri bench and quietly watched the Tigers dismantle Coastal Carolina.
Yet it was hard to get too excited.
Theoretically, neither side had much incentive to rush the process. Lewis, a sturdy 6-5 wing, was still in the early stages of a reboot after transferring to John A. Logan College from Eastern Kentucky. As for MU, the Tigers had formally inked three recruits two weeks earlier, wrapping up a top-20 class and filling all their known slots.
Waiting made sense for the player and program, too.