University of Missouri

Mizzou’s basketball roster has been remade. But what happened to all the transfers?

Johnathan Williams III (left) reached the Final Four with Gonzaga after transferring from Mizzou.
Johnathan Williams III (left) reached the Final Four with Gonzaga after transferring from Mizzou. AP

Near the end of Frank Haith’s tenure as men’s basketball coach at Missouri, a number of players began to transfer out of the program, a trend that would continue under Kim Anderson.

In a roughly four-year span from April 2013-May 2017, 18 players left Mizzou, more than enough to fill a Division-I basketball team and then some. The Star took a look at where those players wound up and how their college careers finished.

D’Angelo Allen: A late get for Kim Anderson in his first recruiting cycle, Allen was a player who did a lot without it showing in the stat sheet. Allen expressed his desire to transfer after his sophomore year and doesn’t seem to have wound up anywhere.

Deuce Bello: A former top-60 recruit out of high school, Bello transferred to Missouri from Baylor, where he was known for his play above the rim and athleticism. He’s currently playing overseas in Denmark. Bello played sparingly in his lone season at Missouri and transferred to East Tennessee State for his final year, averaging 9.2 points per game. The average was good for third on the team. Bello shot 31 percent from beyond the arc his final season.

Cam Biedscheid: A highly-heralded transfer from Notre Dame, the St. Louis native was looked to as someone who could provide some experience and scoring for a young Tigers team in 2014. Instead he departed for personal reasons in October 2014. He later committed to Jacksonville State and Iona but didn’t stick with them either. He later played for LSU-Shreveport before finishing his career at Harris-Stowe in St. Louis.

Wes Clark: A top-100 recruit out of high school in Detroit, Clark averaged nearly 10 points a game during his junior season at MU but was dismissed in February 2016 for academic reasons. He wound up at Buffalo, where he will play the second half of the season, wrapping up his college career. In Buffalo, Clark is reunited with high school coach Nate Oats.

Jakeenan Gant: A big recruit for Haith, Gant was a top-50 player out of Georgia at the time he committed. Gant was chosen Georgia’s Mr. Basketball as a high school senior and stayed on with Namon Wright after Kim Anderson was hired. Gant was suspended for the opening weeks of his freshman season because of an NCAA investigation surrounding improper benefits. Gant showed potential to be a rim protector and enforcer in the paint in his two seasons at Missouri but seemed more interested in shooting jump shots. He transferred to Louisiana-Lafayette to be closer to home because of his mother’s health, and he’ll play there this season.

Montaque Gill-Caesar: Gill-Caesar, commonly known as “Teki,” was a statement recruit for Anderson. Gill-Caesar came in with assistant coach Rob Fulford, who was his high school coach at Huntington (W.Va.) Prep. The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 9.1 points per game as a freshman at MU but was derailed by a back injury in the Braggin’ Rights game against Illinois. Gill-Caesar transferred to San Diego State, where he averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game this past season as a sophomore. He has two years of eligibility left.

Corey Haith: The son of Frank Haith, Corey was a walk-on at Missouri who occasionally got in and was a fan favorite. He transferred to Tulsa after his father took the head coaching job there.

Frankie Hughes: A one-time Louisville signee, Hughes was the high school teammate of Willie Jackson, who would also transfer from Missouri. Hughes started off his career at Missouri red hot, scoring 23 points in a season-opening win over Alabama A&M last season and adding 24 in an overtime loss to Xavier. As the season went on, Hughes playing time dwindled, and he announced his intention to transfer after the season. He wound up at Duquesne, where he will sit out this season and have three years of eligibility left.

Tramaine Isabell: A former Washington State signee from Seattle, Isabell was a late addition to Anderson’s first recruiting class. The point guard showed flashes at times of being a reliable scorer and ball handler but elected to transfer at the end of the 2016 season. He landed at Drexel, where he sat out last year and will have two years remaining starting this season.

Willie Jackson: An Ohio native, Jackson showed signs of being a strong rebounder and defender early on in his career. The 6-foot-6 forward went home after the 2016 Braggin’ Rights game and never returned to Missouri. He expressed a desire to transfer closer to home and deal with family issues. He wound up at Toledo.

Torren Jones: Jones showed freshman flashes of being an energy guy and a tenacious rebounder under Haith but was dismissed from Missouri the spring before Anderson’s first year for a violation of team rules. Jones played the following year at Midland Junior College in Texas before transferring to Fresno State. He got dismissed there as well and wound up at William Penn and led the team to the NAIA semifinals last spring at Municipal Auditorium. He averaged 20.4 points and 12.3 rebounds a game and was a NAIA All-American.

Jakoby Kemp: Kemp committed to Missouri in late June 2016 and redshirted last season after coming in pretty far behind the rest of the team. He announced his intention to transfer in May under Cuonzo Martin and hasn’t appeared to wind up anywhere since.

Martavian Payne: Payne was considered a major scoring threat out of junior college when he and teammate Russell Woods signed with Missouri. Payne left Missouri before ever suiting up for the Tigers and wound up at NAIA Lindenwood-Belleville. He averaged 20 points a game there last season and heads into his senior season this year.

Zach Price: Another heralded high school recruit, Price transferred from Louisville after playing on its national-title team. He was looked at as someone who could be a major post presence for Missouri. He was kicked off the team before ever playing a minute a day after it was discovered former Tigers player Earnest Ross had filed for an order of protection against him. Price finished his career at Winthrop, where he averaged 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game as a senior.

Shane Rector: A one-time Rutgers signee from the Bronx who reopened his recruitment after the Mike Rice scandal, Rector played sparingly as a freshman but showed signs of being a tough New York City guard. Former Tigers assistant coach Tim Fuller said players told him Rector was one of the hardest players to guard on a team that featured future NBA players Jordan Clarkson and Jabari Brown. After Missouri, Rector spent a year at a Florida junior college before winding up at Utah State, where he led the team in steals and averaged eight points a game as a senior.

KJ Walton: Walton chose Missouri over Xavier and Cincinnati and played two seasons before transferring to Ball State. He’ll sit out this season and play his final two years starting in 2018. Walton was extremely efficient at getting to the bucket during his two seasons in Columbia but struggled to establish a jump shot. He averaged 6.7 points per game last season for the Tigers.

Johnathan Williams III: Williams was a statement recruit for Haith who chose the Tigers out of Memphis over Georgetown and Michigan State among others. He immediately established himself as a strong rebounder for the Tigers but shot the three-ball a little more than some liked. Williams transferred to Gonzaga after Anderson’s first season at MU. In his first year at Gonzaga, Williams averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game, helping lead the Bulldogs to the national title game, which they lost to North Carolina. Williams tested the NBA Draft waters but came back for his last year of school.

Namon Wright: Wright was a statement recruit from Los Angeles for Haith’s staff and stayed on under Anderson. As a sophomore, Wright averaged nearly 10 points a game and seemed to be a guy to build around going into his junior year, but he transferred to Colorado. He sat out last year and will play this season for Tad Boyle’s squad.

Alex Schiffer: 816-234-4064, @TheSchiffMan

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Mizzou’s basketball roster has been remade. But what happened to all the transfers?."

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