Missouri basketball adds junior-college teammates Russell Woods, Martavian Payne

John A. Logan College teammates Russell Woods and Martavian Payne committed to Missouri on Saturday during an official visit, a source confirmed to The Star.

With the additions of Payne, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from St. Louis, and Woods, a 6-8 forward from Chicago, the Tigers have one available scholarship as the roster is currently constructed.

Payne essentially had made up his mind before the visit, the only one he was scheduled to take, but Woods was more of a wild card.

Woods was scheduled to visit Kansas State on Tuesday, but he will cancel that trip now that he’s committed to Missouri and coach Kim Anderson.

Woods, who won an Illinois state title alongside injured Milwaukee Bucks guard Jabari Parker at Simeon High School, and Payne helped John A. Logan reach the junior college national tournament and win a Great Rivers Athletic Conference championship last season.

Payne, a second-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-American, averaged a team-best 15.7 points with 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists as a sophomore.

Woods averaged 14.1 points and 7.2 rebounds.

They are the second and third players to commit to Missouri this week, joining point guard Terrence Phillips from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.

The trio are expected to help Missouri rebound from a difficult 2014-15 season, which saw the Tigers go 9-23 and set records for the most losses in a single season and longest losing skid in program history (13).

Missouri has signed five players in its 2015 recruiting class, including Blue Springs South forward Kevin Puryear and Pacific (Mo.) shooting guard Cullen VanLeer in November.

This story was originally published April 18, 2015 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Missouri basketball adds junior-college teammates Russell Woods, Martavian Payne."