Missouri sophomore forward K.J. Santos to transfer, opening up scholarship for Tigers

Missouri sophomore K.J. Santos will transfer from the Tigers’ men’s basketball program, multiple sources tell The Star.

Santos, a 6-foot-8 forward, played sparingly after transferring from junior college before the season. A source with access to the NCAA Transfer Portal confirmed to The Star that Santos, whose first name is Kristian, put his name into portal, which Missouri confirmed. He missed most of the non-conference schedule due to a fractured foot before making his MU-debut against Oral Roberts on Dec. 7.

Throughout the season, Santos struggled to produce on offense while playing power forward for the injured Jontay Porter, behind Kevin Puryear. For the season, Santos averaged 1.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game while appearing in 20 games. He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining. Missouri returns junior Mitchell Smith and freshman Tray Jackson at the power forward position.

As a freshman at Illinois-Chicago, Santos averaged 7.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game before transferring to Tallahassee Community College last season. Santos committed to Missouri in the summer of 2017 and never played for TCC after what he called “a disagreement with the coaching staff.”

Missouri currently has a scholarship open and is hosting Duquesne transfer Eric Williams Jr. on an official visit. Santos’ departure opens up a second and MU could add another should Porter declare for the NBA Draft. The deadline for early entrants is April 21. The deadline to withdraw one’s name from the draft is June 10.