COLUMBIA, Mo. — If the transfer portal is a matter of mixing and matching, there’s been plenty of the former and not so much of the latter this offseason.
The window for college basketball players to enter the portal is close to halfway gone, even though the postseason is just about to wrap up. They have until May 1 to enter and can pick their new schools at any point, even after the start of May.
By the On3 recruiting service’s tracking, there are upwards of 800 players in the transfer portal now, a number that will continue to rise as the window stays open. That’s a lot of film for coaches to sift through, a lot of statistics to crunch and a lot of calls to make — perhaps some of the reasons why fewer than 10% of the players who have entered the portal this offseason has committed to new teams.
Missouri, considered to be in need of three or so portal additions, has been relatively quiet since the portal’s opening.
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The Tigers were a quick customer when it came to signing wing Jacob Crews, a well-rounded option who brings size and shooting to the perimeter and some experience to a locker room that likely will be heavily comprised of underclassmen.
Crews, who left the University of Tennessee-Martin, came out of the portal quickly in part because his window opened earlier when the Skyhawks’ coach took a different job.
Crews’ stats at UT-Martin — 19.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game with a 41.4% 3-point shooting clip — and 6-foot-8 frame are an intriguing mix. Crews told the Post-Dispatch he likes to use his size and guard skills to exploit mismatches when smaller or slower players are matched up with him.
But a player of Crews’ mold wasn’t quite along the lines of Mizzou’s needs at the start of the offseason. The Tigers are in particular need of a primary ball-handler to replace the outgoing Sean East II and could also use help in the post.
And since Crews’ commitment, there haven’t been many signs of other additions being on the immediate horizon.
Only one player officially has visited the MU campus: Iowa guard Tony Perkins.
In an announcement very much similar to the high school recruiting process, he cut his list of portal suitors to six: Mizzou, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Oregon and Indiana. The Tigers seemingly would stack up well against some of those competitors — particularly Arkansas, which is without a coach following Eric Musselman’s departure for Southern California.
Perkins, who will be playing his fifth season of college basketball, might be more of a combo guard than a primary point guard option, though his role with the Hawkeyes is not necessarily indicative of how MU coach Dennis Gates would want to use him.
Perkins has started 66 games across the past two seasons for Iowa. He scored 14 points per game this season, also averaging 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists.
He does have some limitations as a shooter, having shot under 30% from 3-point range last season, slightly below his career mark. As most players are, he was a better 3-point shooter when in off-ball catch-and-shoot situations, making 36% of those looks. Making midrange jumpers off the bounce at a 39% clip limited some of his efficiency.
Perkins has plenty of familiarity with running the pick and roll — and running in transition — which could be part of his appeal to Missouri.
When it comes to finding a helpful big man, the Tigers could be banking on pre-existing connections.
On one front, there’s forward Tarris Reed Jr., who’s departing Michigan after a disappointing season and coaching change there. He spent much of his high school career at Chaminade, where he was a Post-Dispatch All-Metro boys player of the year in 2021.
Reed started 31 games in his second season with the Wolverines, averaging nine points and 7.2 rebounds per game — plus nearly 1.5 blocks per outing.
His effectiveness on post-ups and as the roller out of pick and rolls were only average, according to Synergy’s tracking. But he posted a solid defensive rebound rate of 19.9% to wind up as one of the Big Ten’s best bigs while working on the block, even as a second-year player.
And as a ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area product, Reed already has a connection to his home-state program. The concern thus far has been that he has visited Kansas State, though how much that limits Mizzou’s chances isn’t clear.
Also on the frontcourt radar is Jevon Porter, who’s in the portal after two years at Pepperdine. He — and his family, including brothers Michael Porter Jr. and Jontay Porter, as a start — are no strangers to MU, and Jevon Porter starred for Father Tolton in Columbia during his high school days.
Last season, he averaged 16.2 points with 5.9 rebounds and roughly a block per game. He stood out on the offensive glass, grabbing 9.1% of available offensive rebounds and landing in the 83rd percentile nationally on putbacks.
But as the NCAA Tournament ends and the coaching carousel continues some of its early churn, the Tigers still are early in their transfer portal process — and still will be able to find plenty of talent on the board.