8 Wings and Forwards Mizzou Basketball Could Target in the Transfer Portal

Missouri men's basketball is losing plenty of produciton from its wing and forward spots this offseason. Although starting forward Trent Pierce is confirmed for return, the Tigers will be losing leading scorer Mark Mitchell, rotational-regular Jacob Crews and potentially depth forward Jevon Porter, pending results on a medical redshirt for an extra season.

Backup wing Annor Boateng will also likely be recovering from a serious leg injury for at least part of the offseason, if not into the regular season. Incoming freshmen Toni Bryant and Aidan Chronister will look to make instant impacts, but sifting through the transfer portal to find proven contributors is a likely scenario for head coach Dennis Gates and his staff.

Here's eight players set to enter the transfer portal that Missouri could target.

Kameron Taylor

Taylor broke out in his sophomore campaign at UNC Asheville, averaging 18.9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. He now enters the transfer portal with two seasons of eligibility remaining and attainable, long-term NBA dreams.

The 6-foot-7, 185-pound wiry wing already has experience in a high-volume role by leading the Bulldogs in scoring the past season. While he certainly wouldn't be first in the pecking order at Missouri, he could make for a viable Robin to Jason Crowe's Batman in the 2026-27 season.

He'll be a highly-sought after target, but one Missouri should check in on regardless.

Jalen Haralson

Haralson enters the portal after a stellar freshman season at Notre Dame in which he averaged 16.2 points, 4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 51.5% from the field, including dropping 13 points in a win over Missouri in December.

Haralson had his offensive struggles, shooting 20% from 3-point range and 67.4% from the free-throw line, but can certainly improve upon those over the coming seasons. What he lacks in shooting, he makes up for in athletic finishing and promising vision.

Missouri offered Haralson in his high school recruitment process and could now take another swing at landing the promising forward.

Stefan Vaaks

Vaaks exits Providence after one season with the program in which he averaged 15.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 40.3% from the field, 35% from 3-point range and 83.9% from the free-throw line. He is currently ranked as the No. 7 available transfer in On3's portal tracker.

Standing at 6-foot-7, 206 pounds, Vaaks has guard skills in a wings' body waiting to be unleashed. His 3-point shooting, while at a middling 35%, would be likely to increase with a better shot diet and spacing — see his free-throw percentage. Should Missouri land the Estonian native, he'd instantly become one of the best players on the team.

Vaaks' head coach the past season was Kim English, a Missouri basketball player and coach.

Jamier Jones

Sticking on the topic of former Friars, how about fellow freshman Jamier Jones? Be it as a package deal with Vaaks or a solo addition, Jones is an intriguing young wing that Power Four teams should be taking looks at.

The 6-foot-6, 218-pound freshman averaged 11.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.9 steals in 25.7 minutes per game last season. Jones went toe-to-toe with UConn twice, scoring 18 and 20 points in two close games against the now-Final Four bound Huskies.

Missouri originally offered Jones November of 2023, but the Florida product obvioulsy opted to take his talents elsewhere. Gates could now circle back around and pick up his recruiting efforts where they left off.

Koree Cotton

Cotton has bounced around the mid-major level for the first three seasons of his career, spending time at VMI and Jacksonville State before eventually breaking out at UT Rio Grande Valley in 2025-26. While starting all 33 games, he averaged 13.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, along with shooting 47.4% from the field, 40.3% from 3-point range and 78.1% from the charity stripe.

He ended the season with three consecutive outings of 18 or more points and scored 20 or more points in seven games overall. Cotton recorded a career-high 13 rebounds against McNeese in his final game of the season as well.

Should Cotton's 3-point shooting hold up, the rising senior would make for quality do-it-all wing in Missouri's rotation next season, which it severely lacked in 2025-26.

Brandon Benjamin

Missouri struggled with rebounding last season. While Benjamin won't solve all those problems himself, he'd certainly be a large piece of the puzzle in doing so. The 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward averaged 14.2 points and 10.4 rebounds in his 2025-26 freshman season at Fairfield, shooting 56.5% from the field in the process.

Benjamin also has a bit of scoring upside, as he recorded a career-high 26 points twice the past season, once against St. Peters in the MAC Quarterfinal and once in a regular-season dual against Sacred Heart. He racked up 16 double-doubles on the season.

As for his Missouri connections, Benjamin played his senior season of high school at Link Academy alongside Missouri guard T.O. Barrett. If the Tigers want to improve their rebounding while adding some interior energy in the process, look no further than the wrecking ball that is Benjamin.

Brant Byers

In a stark contrast from Benjamin's archetype, Missouri could also take a look at former Miami (OH) forward Brant Byers. Byers has been a 3-point sniper for the Redhawks the last two seasons, averaging 14.2 points per game while shooting 39.2% from 3-point range in 2025-26. He also shot 41.4% while attempted 3.8 triples per game in 2024-25.

Byers is also rounding out other areas of his game, improving as a cutter, along with hauling in 4.1 rebounds per game last season. Missouri struggled shooting the ball last season, and that struggle is only magnified with the losses of Jayden Stone, Anthony Robinson II and Jacob Crews. Incoming freshman Aidan Chronister has flahsed his elite jumpshot in high school, but adding a proven shooter like Byers would make for quality spacing.

Dillan Shaw

Shaw stuck out as an impressive freshman on a St. Mary's squad that once again made the NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-7 wing averaged 7.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 41.6% from 3-point range on nearly four attempts per game.

His unique combination of 3-point shooting, steal and block counts and youth make him a promising prospect to fill minutes on the wing. His contribution to St. Mary's postseason run also brings value in itself.

The former four-star prospcet now enters the transfer portal with immense flashes of talent and loads of potential, and would make for an enticing addition to a young Missouri squad next season.

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