True Freshman Mizzou Cornerback to Enter Transfer Portal, Per Report

Nearly half of Missouri's 2025 signing class will enter the transfer portal.

Oct 7, 2023; Columbia, Missouri, USA; A general view of a Missouri Tigers helmet against the LSU Tigers prior to a game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Missouri freshman defensive back Mark Manfred plans to enter the transfer portal when it opens Friday, according to a report from Calum McAndrew of the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Manfred is the seventh member of Missouri's 2025 19-man signing class to announce plans to enter the transfer portal, joining defensive end Javion Hilson, offensive lineman Henry Fenuku, running backs Marquise Davis and Brendon Haygood, defensive back Charles Bass and kicker Robert Meyer. He is the 16th Missouri player overall to announce plans to do so.

Manfred was a three-star prospect out of Georgia, rated by 247Sports as the No. 49 cornerback in the class. In addition to Missouri, Manfred took official visits to Ole Miss, Cincinnati and Miami as a high school prospect.

Cornerback was already one of the top needs for Missouri in the transfer portal, with all three of the Tigers starters at the position from 2025 — Drey Norwood, Toriano Pride Jr. and Stephen Hall — exhausting their eligibility.

With Manfred planning to leave, Missouri will enter the transfer portal period with just three returning scholarship cornerbacks with eligibility remaining. Redshirt sophomore Nick Deloach Jr. earned significant playing time in 2024, but the other two — Cam Keys and Shamar McNeil — have seen hardly any playing time.

Missouri will also add four-star cornerback Jaxson Gates through the 2026 signing class. He'll be an early-enrolee, giving him the chance to assimilate with the team through practices this spring.

The list of anticipated transfer portal entries for the Tigers has nearly doubled since Tuesday, with seven players announcing their intention to enter the portal within less than 48 hours. The cascade comes after Missouri's loss to No. 19 Virginia in the Gator Bowl. Following the loss, head coach Eli Drinkwitz spoke of his expectations for several players to announce plans to enter the portal.

"There's going to be guys transferring," Drinkwitz said after the loss. "There's guys that already told us that they were going to transfer, but they wanted to play tonight, and we really appreciate those guys finishing. And then once we have a kind of a final feel of where that is, and then we'll go attack the portal and build a new team. And that's that's college football now. I mean, every team's looking to rebuild their roster, post-bowl games, post coaching changes, whatever, and that's what we'll do."

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