6 Early Transfer Portal Targets for Mizzou Basketball

The college basketball transfer portal officially opens April 7, but there's already been hundreds of players reported to have intentions of entering it.

While the production results have varied from home-runs to clear-cut misses, Missouri has been rather active in the portal for each of its four offseasons with head coach Dennis Gates at the helm. In fact, Missouri's top two scorers in the 2025-26 season and top three scorers in the 2024-25 season were all transfers — Mark Mitchell (2x), Jayden Stone, Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill.

Given that Mitchell and Stone, along with three other seniors, have presumably exhausted their eligibility, Missouri now has at least five open roster spots to fill. Three of those will be handed off to incoming freshman Jason Crowe Jr., Toni Bryant and Aidan Chronister, meaning there's still two open spots before any other Tiger enters the portal.

Here's six candidates for Missouri to target of the few hundred players with early reported intentions of entering the portal.

Kyle Evans, C, UC Irvine

Missouri will be in the market for a starting center, so why not target the nation's leading shot-blocker? Evans swatted a monster 3.3 shots per game the past season, while also pouring in 12.1 points and 8.7 rebounds in 28.6 minutes of action per contest. Additionally as impressive, he only logged 1.7 fouls per game, which would make him quite the suitable candidate to hold down a starting job with the Tigers.

Shawn Phillips Jr. and Aidan Shaw are the only Tigers to average 1 or more blocks per game under Gates' guidance, while no Tiger has averaged more than 1.5, meaning Evans could make an instant case as the best shot-blocker to wear a Missouri uniform since Gates' arrival.

Kameron Taylor, Wing, UNC Asheville

Taylor enters the transfer portal fresh off a breakout season for the UNC Asheville Bulldogs, where he led the team in scoring with 18.9 points per game on 45.3% shooting and 28.3% 3-point shooting. The 6-foot-7, 185-pound wing also tacked on 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.7 blocks in 34.7 minutes per game.

Taylor's play earned him First Team All-Big South honors, but he'll now search for another opportunity. Should he transfer up to a high-major school like Missouri, he likely wouldn't be the top scoring option, especially with the looming arrival of Crowe. Taylor could, however, shift into a complementary role and bolster some much-needed wing depth for the Tigers, acting as a quality cutter, slasher and occasional initiator.

The rangy, high-potential wing could become a strong candidate for a starting job on the wing, or provide a spark of the bench. Either way, he's somebody that a Missouri squad needing to add wing depth should certainly look into.

Anton Bonke, C, Charlotte

Missouri will undoubtedly need to target a starting center, given the impending exit of Phillips and the apparent unreadiness of Trent Burns, and Bonke could be the solution. The 7-foot-2 giant departs from Charlotte after a stellar sophomore season averaging 10.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 25.6 minutes per game while shooting 57.6% from the field and 34.2% from 3-point range.

Before his time at Charlotte, he spent one season as a reserve at Providence and one season at Eastern Arizona, meaning the big-man has one season of eligibility left. He'd be quite a different player than Missouri's last two starting centers, Phillips and Josh Gray, as Bonke is less of an athlete but more of a scorer than each.

From at-the-rim finishing, to high-post operations, and 3-point shooting, Bonke would be the most skilled center to suit up for the Tigers under Gates. Alongside the offensive versatility, Bonke is also quite the monster on the glass, which was certainly a weakness at times for Missouri the past season. He'll be a hot commodity of a target, but Missouri is in desperate need of a center, and should check in with the former 49er.

DeSean Goode, F, Robert Morris

Goode makes for another mid-major standout ready to make the high-major leap, as he was one of if not the best player on a competitive Robert Morris team the past season. The sophomore averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 62.9% from the field, 57.1% from 3-point range and 76.3% from the free-throw line.

Goode could give Missouri what it hoped Jevon Porter could have, entering the portal as a rotational forward that provides size, rebounding a connectivity on offense. It's important to note that his 3-point percentage was on just 1.9 attempts per game, so he's by no means an elite threat from distance, but he certainly can't be left open.

Between size, efficient scoring and solid rebounding, there's not a many holes in Goode's game that would get him played off the court, and he could scale down to a smaller role as a productive piece at Missouri, should the Tigers target him.

Tate McCubbin, Wing, Austin Peay

When running through the issues of Missouri's 2025-26 roster, 3-point shooting has to be mentioned. Why not patch it up by adding as much shooting as possible for next season, starting with Austin Peay wing and former Battle High School standout Tate McCubbin.

McCubbin had a stellar 2024-25 freshman season for the Governors, shooting 39% from 3-point range on 5.9 attempts per game while standing at 6-foot-8, but declined in his sophomore season, shooting 34.6% on 6 attempts per game. He free-throw percentage did increase from 62.2% to 79.2%, though, which is often a reliable indicator on long-term shooting projections.

Gates has begun to bring in more local-area talent in recent season, and McCubbin could be next in line, providing a bench spark with some explosive shooting and relative size.

Shane Blakeney, G, Drexel

Missouri has seen success in each of the past two offseasons by scooping up a high-scoring mid-major guard and scaling them into a smaller role — see Stone and Marques Warrick. Blakeney could be next in line for the spot, as the 6-foot-4 guard averaged 14.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 41.6% from the field and 35.9% from the free-throw line the past season at Drexel.

Part of Missouri's offensive struggles were the lack of players that could put the ball on the floor and get a bucket. Mitchell and Stone's departures make that weakness weaker. Blakeney could serve as a productive bench piece to give spark-scoring with the upside to play heavy minutes when needed, given his experience in a larger role.

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