Dennis Gates’ Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team signs 2 players for 2023-24 season
.jpg "The Mizzou men’s basketball team added a pair of transfers on Wednesday in John Tonje, left, and Curt Lewis.")
The Missouri men’s basketball team announced the signings of its first two players of the spring period Wednesday, in Colorado State transfer John Tonje and junior-college transfer Curt Lewis.
Tonje scored 1,051 points, grabbed 359 rebounds and dished 102 assists in four years at Colorado State. The 6-foot-5 guard also shot 37.2% from behind the arc.
“One of the most experienced transfers in the nation, John is a proven winner during his college career,” coach Dennis Gates said in a Mizzou news release. “He brings a veteran leadership to our locker room and epitomizes our eight core values on and off the court. He adds size to our perimeter and is a three-level scorer that will make an immediate impact on our success.”
Last year, Tonje averaged 14.6 points per game despite the Rams missing the NCAA Tournament. The Rams lost to Michigan as a six seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. In all, Tonje started 46 games for a Colorado State team that won 80 games during his tenure.
Lewis comes to Missouri after leading John A. Logan to its first national championship in 2023. He was named the 2022-23 NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Player of the year.
Lewis led the Volunteers to a 33-2 record behind 14.3 points during the 2022-23 season. He shot 51.8% from the field and ranked No. 5 nationally at 48.3% from 3-point range. He also added 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
“An elite shot-maker on the perimeter, Curt is coming off a highly-successful season where he led his junior college to its first national championship,” Gates said. “As the nation’s top junior college player, he made more than 48 percent of his 3-pointers and showed a great ability to share the ball. He is a champion in the classroom, on the court and in the community and we’re excited for him to bring that championship mindset to our program.”
Lewis scored 27 points in the national semifinal and another 18 in the championship game against Northwest Florida State. He has two years of eligibility remaining after spending two seasons at Eastern Kentucky.
“We are very excited for Curt and his family,” John A. Logan coach Tyler Smithpeters said in the Mizzou news release. “He represented John A. Logan with respect. He is a winner on and off the court and puts the team goals before himself. We look forward to watching Curt’s success at Mizzou.”