Mizzou football signs former UNLV safety to 2025 portal class
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz added on to his Top-10 transfer portal class, with another defensive addition, on Sunday.
Former UNLV safety Jalen Catalon signed with the Tigers, after one season with the Rebels. Through the 2024 campaign, the Texas native tallied a total of 96 tackles, two sacks, five interceptions, four pass breakups and one forced fumble. He earned first-team Mountain West honors in his senior season, as he helped the Rebels return to the conference championship game under the leadership of former MU head coach Barry Odom.
Catalon will have one year of eligibility left to use in his fourth collegiate stop. Before transferring to UNLV before the 2024 season, he started his career at Arkansas and then later transferred to Texas.
The 5-foot-11, 205-pound safety has had success at the SEC level. In his time with the Razorbacks, he earned first-team All-SEC honors in 2020 and was even a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the top defensive back in the nation.
After injuries held him out at Arkansas, he joined the Longhorns. He appeared in eight games total for Texas, four of which he started in. However, he followed his former Razorback defensive coordinator to UNLV for a season that will go down in that program's history books.
The 23-year-old will come to Columbia to play his seventh season of college football, hoping to add on to his 10 career interceptions and five forced fumbles.
