The Mizzou women’s basketball team made shockwaves in the WBB world with the announcement of 4-star point guard Natalya Hodge to the team. She is the third high school recruit of the Kellie Harper era; all of whom have been in the 2026 class.
Hodge was initially offered by Robin Pingeton, but was immediately reoffered by Harper under the change. The four-star point guard is from Knoxville, TN, a perfect fit for Harper geographically. Earlier this summer Hodge was given a 91 overall grade from ESPN scouts; that grade has since been upgraded to a 92.
Hodge has earned those accolades in full, earning TSWA AAAA All-State team honors in all three years of her high school career thus far. She has been extremely deserving, alreading surpassing 2,000 points as a member of Bearden High School while being voted the 2025 Knox News PrepXtra girls basketball player of the year.
Looking at her highlights below, Hodge has a strong ability to create offense for herself off-the-dribble. Whether it’s getting downhill to the rim or pulling back for a long jumper, she has the ability to shoot all these shots at a high clip. Having a point guard who can create for herself and be a three-level scorer has been a struggle for Mizzou since the departure of Sophie Cunningham, but these sort of skills add another offensive option for the Tigers.
She chose Mizzou over other historic/talented programs like Ole Miss, Florida State and Baylor. If this is what we can expect under Kellie Harper, than I’d expect Mizzou to start competing for a Sweet Sixteen sooner rather than later.
Like I preluded to earlier, Hodge joins Cecilie Brandimore and Ellie Muller as Tiger commits in the class of 2026. This gives Harper plenty of freshman talent and players to develop while still giving the team the opportunity to bring in proven commodities in the transfer portal.
While we have yet to see Harper’s Mizzou Tigers in action, the confidence in the direction of this program continues to grow every day. We will get our first look in an exhibition against Maryville at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at Mizzou Arena.