Mizzou Center Trent Burns Agrees to Return to Tigers

Missouri's giant center, Trent Burns, has agreed to a deal to return to Missouri for his third season, per a report from Joe Tipton of On3.

The 7-foot-5 redshirt freshman is coming off his first season where he was available to play for the Tigers, being sidelined in his first year with a foot injury. He was unavailable for the start of the 2025-26 season with a different foot injury, but improved dramatically throughout the season once he was able to play.

At times throughout the second half of Southeastern Conference play, Burns was a valuable contributor for the Tigers behind starting center Shawn Phillips Jr.

In the final eight games of the season, Burns averaged 14.8 minutes, 3.3 rebounds, .4 blocks and 3.4 points per game. His ability to use the height mismatch as a scorer in the paint was shown off best in Missouri's blowout win over Mississippi State, when he scored eight points on 4-for-7 shooting.

He also made a noticeable defensive impact in some of his appearances.

"I'm a pretty large human, so I just try to take up space, tried to really slow the head of the snake against Vanderbilt down and just show a body in front of him when guards might have gotten beat," Burns said. "Just show a body to make a second guess. That's really all I try to do. Be in the right spots. Just keep the offense moving."

Burns was suddenly inserted into the lineup in Missouri's win over Vanderbilt, earning 18 minutes in the Tigers' fifth-to-last game of the regular season.

"Trent Burns has done a tremendous job in the last two games of just impacting the game, I would say, just from a mental standpoint, awareness IQ, just being at the right place," head coach Dennis Gates said after Burns' performances against Vanderbilt and Arkansas.

Even with Burns' return, finding a starting center through the transfer portal when it opens on Tuesday should be a top priority for the Tigers this offseason. Missouri will be losing Phillips Jr. due to exhausted eligibility. The only other possible returner in the room is former Oklahoma transfer Luke Northweather, who didn't appear for more than five minutes in any conference game.

Burns was a four-star prospect out of high school, rated by 247Sports as the 21st-best center in the class of 2024.

Burns is the second Tiger to have confirmed plans to return to Missouri, joining junior forward Trent Pierce.

Meanwhile, Missouri has had two players who have already announced plans to enter the portal when it opens, guards Sebastian Mack and Anthony Robinson II.

To keep up with all of the offseason movement for Missouri, keep up with our offseason tracker.

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