Montaque “Teki” Gill-Caesar. Photo/kyrecruits.com
Mizzou Basketball added Montaque “Teki” Gill-Caesar of Vaughan, Ontario, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound small forward that attended Huntington Prep in Huntington, W. Va., for the 2014 recruiting class on Saturday. Gill-Caesar,the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year in West Virginia, will be immediately eligible for the 2014-15 season after graduating high school last spring.
“Teki is an outstanding addition to our family and fills a position of need for us on the wing,” Head Coach Kim Anderson said. “Teki has all the tools to be a big time talent over the course of his college career and fits extremely well with the young perimeter players we have in the program because they are so versatile. He can shoot the ball on the perimeter, he can attack the rim off the bounce, he can use his size and leaping ability to rebound over bigger players and he has great presence on the defensive end of the floor. He will have an opportunity to come in an contribute right away and gives us another important influx of talent as he joins Keith (Shamburger) in arriving next month.”
Gill-Caesar was listed as the top player coming out of Canada in 2015 by ESPN.com. Last season at Huntington Prep (28-5), Gill-Caesar averaged 16.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals for the Fighting Irish, which was coached by current Mizzou assistant coach, Rob Fulford. He was a fifth team All-America selection among the class of 2015 by Max Preps and finished the year No. 2 Huntington Prep in scoring. He was also named one of the Top 10 International Draft prospects that played high school basketball in the United States in 2014 by Max Preps.
“Having the opportunity to continue coaching Teki is tremendous, not just for me, but my entire family, because we developed such a strong relationship during our two seasons together at Huntington Prep,” Fulford said. “Teki is certainly a talent, but he really is a better person. Our fans will see that once they get to know him. He is such a genuine young man and has an engaging personality. He fits the type of student-athlete Coach Anderson will recruit to Mizzou.”
Gill-Caesar is excited about reuniting with his former coach and is ready to get working under Coach Anderson.
“I’m so excited to be joining the University of Missouri family and cannot wait to get on campus and get to work,” Gill-Caesar said. “Everything about my visit to Mizzou was perfect, but I wanted to be thorough make the decision that was best for me and my family. I already had great relationships with Coach Rob (Fulford) and Coach Fuller, but having a chance to meet Coach Anderson and get to know him on a personal level just put everything over the top. I want to thank my family and everyone at Huntington Prep for their support and I’m ready to be a Missouri Tiger.”
Prior to his time at Huntington Prep, Gill-Caesar played his freshman season at Vaughan Secondary School in his hometown of Vaughan, Ontario.
