WEB EXTRA: St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Eli Hoff breaks down Mizzou hoops’ portal additions
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou men's basketball coach Dennis Gates made three transfer portal additions over the course of four days, which led to his 2026 class being ranked No. 1 in the nation by 247Sports.
On Sunday, Eli Hoff, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Mizzou Athletics beat writer, joined ABC 17 Sports Director Nathalie Jones for a chat to break down the Tigers' portal acquisitions.
You can watch their full conversation in the video player below.
Coach Gates' first addition from the transfer portal was former Tennessee forward Jaylen Carey. The 6-foot-8 talent spent one season in Rocky Top, putting his name into the program's record books.
Through 37 games, Carey cemented himself as one of the best rebounders that the Volunteers have seen. He ended his junior campaign with the fourth-most offensive rebounds (104) and the ninth-best offensive rebounding average (2.784) in a single season in program history. All-in-all, the Florida native averaged 7.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 26.4 minutes per contest.
"You look at the rebound and especially from an offensive rebounding standpoint, he is elite at that. He was Top-20 in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage. Now, there wasn't a whole lot else to the offensive game, which he's a fourth-year guy now, at this point, that's probably kind of established. But, I don't think Mizzou can scoff at somebody who can come in and prioritize rebounding for them," Hoff said.
After Carey, Mizzou gained a commitment from former Providence forward Jamier Jones, who was a Big East All-Freshman Team selection in the 2025-26 season.
The 6-foot-6, 218-pound talent will join Mizzou after playing under former Tiger legend Kim English in Providence, Rhode Island. In his true freshman season, Jones averaged 11.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.7 minutes per game, as he was a Big East All-Freshman Team selection, as well.
"The highlight reel was fun, "Hoff said. "Man, he can dunk alright. You know, it's great size, great physicality, he can be a down-hill guy and this is a Mizzou system that has thrived having down-hill drivers, whether that's been Mark Mitchell of T.O. Barrett or some of the guys who found success doing that, so you can see the template of how Jamier Jones fits in there. This could be maybe kind of an undersized Mark Mitchell replacement."
The Tigers' headline portal pickup, so far, came right after Jones' commitment. Former Kansas forward Bryson Tiller is also Columbia bound.
Tiller is coming off of a standout redshirt freshman season for the Jayhawks, where he averaged 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.3 blocks per game. The Georgia native played in 35 games, earning 31 starts in his second collegiate season. He posted a pair of double-doubles as a full-time starter, notching a career-high 21 points against BYU in January.
"He's someone who was a five-star recruiting coming out of high school, so there's a lot of athletic potential, just a real high ceiling because of that. You saw it with the rim protection, you saw it at times with the rebounding. The offense looked like a work in progress, where it was a lot of mostly post-ups, kind of being in the screen or the pick-and-roll," Hoff said.
As far as what's next for Coach Gates in the transfer portal, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer believes there may be a need for a true shooter on the Tiger roster.
