Dennis Gates’ Mizzou basketball team lands top scorer who hails from Australia

The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball program added a proven scorer to its 2025-26 roster this week.

Mizzou on Thursday announced the signing of guard Jayden Stone, who hails from Perth, Australia, and last season was on the roster at West Virginia.

Stone ranked 22nd nationally in scoring during the 2023-24 season, averaging 20.8 points per game at Detroit Mercy. The 6-foot-4 Aussie then transferred to the Mountaineers but was injured and did not play during the 2024-25 season.

That preserved another year of eligibility for Stone, who will now finish his collegiate career in Columbia, playing for MU coach Dennis Gates.

Stone played his first two years of college hoops at Grand Canyon University, where he spent two seasons before transferring to Detroit Mercy.

“Jayden fits what we were looking for as a perimeter scorer,” Gates said in a news release. “He has great size for his position and in our league, that is a big advantage. Jayden is a great athlete and has been an efficient threat from beyond the arc. He brings a scoring mindset to our program and has potential to have a lot of success within our system.”

Stone scored in double figures in 31 of his 39 games with Detroit Mercy. He scored 20-plus points in 31 of 39 games with the Titans and had three 30-plus outings. As a senior, he also made 62 three-pointers.

Stone is Gates’ fifth signee of the spring period. He joins Sebastian Mack (previously with UCLA), Luke Northweather (Oklahoma), Shawn Phillips Jr. (Arizona State) and Jevon Porter (Loyola Marymount) on the roster for the 2025-26 season.

This past season, Missouri beat three opponents who were ranked in the top five nationally at the time. It’s the first time that had happened since the 1988-89 season.

The Tigers advanced to this year’s NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Drake in their opener to finish the season 22-11.