Mizzou Basketball 2023 Transfer Tracker

Jun 11, 2023 - 3:17 AM

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Update | June 5 to June 11: This has been fun, dear reader. But it’s time to retire the transfer tracker for this offseason. Since we fired up this running diary in mid-March, Missouri had some level of involvement with nearly 50 players looking for a new place to ply their trade and turned over five roster spots. Let this piece live as an archival record of retooling.

Update | May 29 to June 4: The wait is over. Missouri added a big man to its transfer class. Oral Roberts transfer Connor Vanover committed to the Tigers on Sunday night, rounding the front court with a stretch big in a literal and figurative sense. The decision came after 7-foot-5 center, who will use a grad-transfer year, visited Columbia during the middle of the week. His decision should round out the Tigers’ retrofitting this spring.

There’s also some minor housekeeping. Kansas transfer Ernest Udeh committed to TCU, although MU never became seriously involved in his recruitment. Meanwhile, Caleb Love committed to Arizona, choosing the Wildcats over Texas. MU never entered the fray, and this should bring to a close any conversation about the St. Louis native and CBC product winding up in Columbia.

Update | May 22 to May 28: The end of an eight-day dead period for recruiting didn’t elicit action from Missouri.

The NCAA’s deadline for players to withdraw from the draft and maintain college eligibility arrives Wednesday. Expect to see a flurry of announcements, including whether Kobe Brown will be back for a fifth season at MU. There’s also the potential for other veterans with a grad-transfer option to leave the draft pool and search for a new school.

It’s worth monitoring whether any interior players are among them. If Brown stays in the draft pool, the Tigers might have minutes and NIL dollars at their disposal. But that also assumes potential targets haven’t already back channeled elsewhere.

Otherwise, we’re close to the dog days of the offseason. Newcomers will soon report to campus, where the first summer session kicks off on June 5. Next month, players can go through voluntary workouts with conditioning staff.

Update | May 15 to May 21: MU’s roster retooling has mostly gone dormant. It did reach out to Kansas transfer Ernest Udeh Jr., and Caleb Love came back onto the market after he was unable to earn admission into Michigan.

Yet the three prime suitors for Udeh remain TCU, Kansas State and Duke. After some scuttle that he was primed to pick the Blue Devils, that momentum quickly died out. As for Love, MU’s need for his services diminished during April with the additions of Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill.

It’s been a month since MU hosted an official visit, and that won’t change anytime soon. An NCAA-mandated dead period arrived on May 18 and won’t lift until May 26.

Update | May 8 to May 14: Missouri’s search for a big continues after Jimmy Bell Jr. committed to Mississippi State on Tuesday, nixing an official visit to Columbia in the process. With that move, the board is effectively cleared. Sure, MU made initial contact with Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor, but he’s committed to St. John’s.

At this point, the portal deadline has come and gone. Sure, graduate transfers can move at any point, but the pool is talent is likely set. If MU is quietly involved with any potential transfers it could try to squeeze in visits early next week, before recruiting dead period arrives on May 18. That dead period lifts on May 26, and the NCAA deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft comes five days later.

This is all a way of saying that portal season is starting to wind down. We’ll see what moves the Tigers have left to make.

Update | May 1 to May 7: The biggest news is Florida State wing Matthew Cleveland committing to Miami. Missouri comes in second, again, for a highly coveted transfer. And if ever the Ricky Bobby saying of “If you’re not first, you’re last” applies, it’s in recruiting! Second doesn’t matter if you don’t get the guy. Earlier in the week, West Virginia transfer post Jimmy Bell announced two recruiting visits to Mississippi State and Missouri, he’ll be at Mizzou on the 10th - 12th.

Missouri also reached out to Kansas transfer big man Zuby Ejiofor.

Update | April 24 to April 30: Fitting that Mizzou picked up a commitment from Jesus Carralero on a Sunday. Until that news dropped, monitoring this transfer tracker had become somewhat tedious over the past couple of weeks.

Entering the weekend, MU’s search for interior help had seemingly hit a reset stage after Western Kentucky’s Jamarion Sharp picked Ole Miss on Friday. We shared a survey of the market as it existed for big men, and, at that time, the only public link was MU reaching reaching out to West Virginia’s Jimmy Bell Jr. Around midweek, though, MU clandestinely slipped Carralero in for a visit.

On the perimeter, there’s a holding pattern. Florida State wing Matthew Cleveland made a mid-week trip to Auburn for his last official visit, and he left to mull his decision in Tallahassee, where the semester is winding down. But he did stir up some anxiety among Mizzou Twitter with some social media posts on Saturday.

Word filtered out that MU contacted Texas Tech’s Jaylon Tyson at some point since the sophomore entered the portal on April 18. That said, Tyson’s still forecasted to land at Cal. If not Berkeley, Kansas, which hosted Tyson this weekend, is the other horse in the race.

There’s also some minor housekeeping. Tedrick Wilcox and Elijah Hutchins- Everett, each contacted weeks ago and out of the picture, made their commitments elsewhere. Meanwhile, McNeese State’s Christian Shumate is staying put in Lake Charles.

Update | April 17 to 23: First, let’s dispense with the bad news. Virginia post Kadin Shedrick, who had been Missouri’s only known primary target, committed to Texas on Sunday night. Now, the Tigers must pivot. They’ve been linked to Western Kentucky’s Jamarion Sharp, but otherwise, there’s not a readily apparent list of alternatives. Most of the other top-drawer transfers have come off the board. We’ll see how coach Dennis Gates and his staff react.

On Thursday, Iowa State transfer Caleb Grill committed to Mizzou, becoming the Tigers’ third perimeter addition this spring and backfilling for shooting departing the roster. That same day, Mizzou played host to Shedrick and Florida State jumbo wing Matthew Cleveland.

Now that Shedrick’s bound for Austin, attention turns to Cleveland. Not only did he take a trip to Columbia, but the rising junior trimmed his list on Saturday to MU, Auburn, and Miami. Travis Branham reported that the former top-25 recruit has already taken an official visit to Dade County and will be on the Plains in the middle of the week. In that same piece, Branham also said a decision could land between May 6 and May 19.

No one would turn their nose up at Cleveland, but for a second year in a row, the staff invested significant time in a big man prospect only to come up empty. Some stragglers might jump into the portal before it closes on May 11, but the number of quality prospects filtering into the pipeline has started to ebb. MU can also monitor another pool of players who declared for the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal. There might be several bigs looking for a new home if they withdraw.

Meanwhile, Graham Ike, Dalton Knecht, Chris Ledlum, Jace Carter, and Nick Timberlake all committed elsewhere. MU had not been significantly involved in those recruitments outside of initial contact.

Update | April 10 to 16: Let’s start with the good news: Tamar Bates committed to Missouri on Friday night to kick off a weekend with the program hosting three official visitors. One of those was Iowa State transfer Caleb Grill, but he apparently jetted out of Columbia without pledging his services and ventured to Morgantown to see West Virginia. The search for a big man also continues. On Thursday, Kadin Shedrick said a family matter forced him to postpone visits to MU and Texas. Three days later, he put out a new schedule, which includes trips to Duke and Xavier.

The board is always fluid, but Grill and Shedrick are the prime targets for this staff. That said, coach Dennis Gates and Co. did make a cursory call to Syracuse’s Jesse Edwards, who announced his departure and committed to West Virginia in less than a week.

There was also considerable hubbub when Florida State wing Matthew Cleveland, recruited by current MU assistant Charlton Young, put his name into the portal. MU made a call, and as long as Cleveland is on the market, it’s worth keeping tabs — even if the likelihood of him joining the Tigers seems slim.

Meanwhile, nine players who had received inquiries from MU committed elsewhere: Khalif Battle, Reggie Bass, Zack Austin, Reese Dixon-Watters, James White, Micah Handlogten, Jackson Paveletzke, Essam Mostafa, and Kel’el Ware.

When Bates committed, plenty of people also asked about MU’s scholarship availability. Rest assured, there’s room. Let’s say the Tigers wind up with Grill and Shedrick. NIL funds could be deployed to keep Kobe Brown and Isiaih Mosley in the mix. Welcome to a new era in recruiting.

Update | April 3 to 9: At the start of the week, we wondered when the board might start clearing up. That shift began unfolding by late Thursday and the end of a recruiting dead period. For Mizzou, though, there wasn’t inbound traffic. Caleb Love pledged to Michigan. Meanwhile, a visit was scotched with Fardaws Aimaq, and he picked Cal, where he’ll play for his former coach from Utah Valley. But MU did get welcome news on Sunday night: On3’s Joe Tipton reported that Kadin Shedrick has MU among his five finalists and will take a visit to Columbia on April 19.

Aside from Love and Aimaq, the remaining transfers who exited the discussion were those with whom Mizzou only made cursory contact: Jonathan Pierre, Camren Hunter, Keshon Gilbert, Freddy Hicks, Damian Dunn, Denver Jones, Tylor Perry, and L.J. Cryer. That leaves 20 names below, but we doubt it stays that way long. Kel’el Ware and Graham Ike appear close to committing. Meanwhile, Micah Handlogten, a freshmen big transferring from Marshall, had MU among his eight finalists. It’ll be worth monitoring whether new names get into the mix, particularly in the front court.

Update | March 27 to April 2: Missouri landed their first pickup out of the transfer portal with Colorado State transfer John Tonje. We’ve also added interest to Northern Arizona transfer Dalton Knecht and a confirmed meeting with Essam Mostafa. Virginia transfer post Kadin Shedrick has been in contact with a host of programs with Missouri being one of them. And former 5-star Kel’el Ware from Oregon is in the portal and reported contact with Mizzou. We’re also reporting Mizzou has been in contact with Caleb Love. Jamarion Sharp officially enters the transfer portal. Indiana guard and Kansas City native Tamar Bates entered the transfer portal and has reported interest from Missouri. Missouri is mentioned as having been in contact with Iowa State transfer Caleb Grill. Missouri has been reported to be in contact with Marshall transfer Micah Handlogten, a 7’0 freshman, and Steele Venters, a 6’7 wing and the Big Sky MVP from Eastern Washington. Eddie Lampkin committed to Colorado. Virginia transfer Isaac Traudt committed to Creighton. American forward Johnny O’Neil committed to Santa Clara. Ball State forward Payton Sparks has committed to Indiana.

Update | March 20 to 26: Added Freddy Hicks, a transfer option from Tarleton State. Added USC transfer, Reese Dixon-Waters. Demarcus Sharp committed to Austin Peay, following his coach from Northwestern State. Added Ball State transfer Payton Sparks who I missed added Missouri to his list of contacts. And Camren Hunter, a Central Arkansas transfer, listed Missouri in his top 5 schools. Last, St. Louis native and UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert listed Missouri in his schools he’s heard from since entering the portal. Added Eddie Lampkin after Jake Weingarten reported the Tigers have been in contact. Also updated with Ole Miss transfer James White who reported interest a few days ago and we overlooked at the time. Also Mizzou made contact with Wyoming transfer Graham Ike and Colorado State transfer John Tonje.

This post is strictly about the transfer portal and any contact Mizzou has made with players in the portal. For a full roster redux, make sure you check out the Mizzou Hoops Off-Season Roster HQ .

With the roster primer you should have a good idea of what the roster looks like now, and where the needs might be. We will use this post to keep any Transfer Portal Activity up to date. What we know is that Missouri is likely to fill its final spots via the transfer portal. The only exception being if Jarin Stevenson, a 5-star 2024 post player, decides to reclassify into the 2023 class. That is still a possibility and I would expect Mizzou to take Stevenson if he wants to come to Columbia.

So let’s dig in, and see who is available and on a pretty extensive list.

Point Guards

Demarcus Sharp, Austin Peay: Committed to Austin Peay
Camren Hunter, Central Arkansas: Returned to UCA after committing to Butler
Keshon Gilbert, UNLV: Committed to Iowa State
Tylor Perry, North Texas: Committed to Kansas State
L.J. Cryer, Baylor: Committed to Houston

Combo Guards

John Tonje, Colorado State: Committed to Missouri (Tonje Scholarship Math)
Denver Jones, FIU: Committed to Auburn
Damian Dunn, Temple: Committed to Houston
Jackson Paveletzke, Wofford: Committed to Iowa State
Reggie Bass, Central Michigan: Committed to Kent State
Caleb Love, North Carolina: Committed to Arizona

Wings

Tamar Bates, Indiana: Committed to Missouri
Caleb Grill, Iowa State: Committed to Missouri
Steele Venters, Eastern Washington: Committed to Gonzaga
Jonathan Pierre, Nova Southeastern (D2): Committed to Memphis
Freddy Hicks, Tarleton State: Committed to Arkansas State
Zach Austin, High Point: Committed to Pitt
James White, Ole Miss: Committed to UAB
Reese Dixon-Waters, USC: Committed to San Diego State
Khalif Battle, Temple: Committed to Arkansas
Jace Carter, U. Illinois-Chicago: Committed to Texas A&M
Nick Timberlake, Towson: Committed to Kansas
Chris Ledlum, Harvard: Committed to Tennessee
Dalton Knecht, Northern Colorado: Committed to Tennessee
Tedric Wilcox, St. Francis-Brooklyn: Committed to Hampton
Christian Shumate, McNeese State: Removed himself from the Portal
Matthew Cleveland, Florida State: Committed to Miami
Jaylon Tyson, Texas Tech: Committed to California

Combo Forwards

B.J. Mack, Wofford: Committed to South Carolina
Johnny O’Neil, American: Committed to Santa Clara

Posts

Jesus Carralero, Campbell: Committed to Missouri
Connor Vanover, Oral Roberts: Committed to Missouri
Payton Sparks, Ball State: Committed to Indiana
Isaac Traudt, Virginia: Committed to Creighton
Eddie Lampkin, TCU: Committed to Colorado
Fardaws Aimaq, Texas Tech: Committed to California
Micah Handlogten, Marshall: Committed to Florida
Essam Mostafa, Coastal Carolina: Committed to TCU
Kel’El Ware, Oregon: Committed to Indiana
Jesse Edwards, Syracuse: Committed to West Virginia
Graham Ike, Wyoming: Committed to Gonzaga
Kadin Shedrick, Virginia: Committed to Texas
Jamarion Sharp, Western Kentucky: Committed to Ole Miss
Elijah Hutchins-Everett, Austin Peay: Committed to Seton Hall
Jimmy Bell, West Virginia: Committed to Mississippi State
Zuby Ejiofor, Kansas: Committed to St. John’s
Ernest Udeh Kansas: Committed to TCU

This list attempted to note any reported interaction MU had with a transfer target. However, the nature of the portal means there are likely contacts that never become known publicly. We attempted to keep our accounting updated more information became available.