There will be a lot of newcomers for Missouri women’s basketball next season, primarily arriving in a five-player freshman class.
Second-year head coach Kellie Harper and her staff also added three new players via the transfer portal, with Michigan shooting guard McKenzie Mathurin, Indiana point guard Nevaeh Caffey and Arizona shooting guard Tanyuel Welch making the move to Columbia.
The Tigers lost five players via the transfer portal: Chloe Sotell (Maryland), Shannon Dowell (California), Hannah Linthacum (Missouri State), Lisa Thompson (Utah State) and Ma’Riya Vincent (Wichita State).
So, the offseason turnover — unless MU picks up a late addition in the summer — is complete, and the Tigers are rolling toward Year 2 of Harper’s tenure with a 13-player roster.
From a pure numbers standpoint, Missouri has a better chance at making the NCAA Tournament next year. The field is, after all, growing by eight spots to 76 teams. If that had been implemented last season, two of those places would have gone to SEC teams.
And the Tigers don’t need to make too much of a Year 2 leap under Harper to find themselves in the at-large conversation. A handful more conference wins in MU’s 17-17 season, which included a 4-12 SEC mark, may have been enough to get on the bubble.
But, as we’ll get into below, Mizzou is going to be fielding a team with some young players in extremely important and prominent roles.
Here’s how we’d grade Mizzou’s transfer portal business in Harper’s first full offseason with Missouri:
Who was Missouri women’s basketball’s best portal addition?
Caffey’s return to the Show-Me State could immediately pay dividends.
The Warrenton, Missouri, native and former MSHSAA Class 6 Player of the Year with Incarnate Word Academy had a strong freshman campaign in the Big Ten with Indiana. Caffey averaged 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in more than 31 minutes on the floor per contest.
She has a very good opportunity to be Mizzou’s primary point guard, with returner Averi Kroenke and top-100 freshman Natalya Hodge also competing for minutes in a ball-carrying role.
Who were MU’s most significant portal losses?
Sotell and Dowell combined to contribute more than 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists per game for MU last season from starting roles. That’s a lot of production.
Now, guard depth isn’t looking all too problematic for Missouri. All of MU’s three transfers should find a role in the backcourt rotation, as the Tigers should get minutes from Kroenke, Hodge, returners Abbey Schreacke and Sydney Mains and true freshman Jada Maples. That certainly softens the blow.
But that room looks even stronger with one or both of Sotell or Dowell returning. Sotell, especially, turned into a well-rounded player for Missouri over the course of the season.
Biggest positive: All three transfers will contribute
There’s no fluff in this portal class.
All three players Missouri signed are almost certainly going to be contributors next season.
Caffey is probably MU’s starting point guard. Welch is quite likely to be the starting shooting guard. Mathurin is a former top-50 prospect and should carve out a rotational role on the perimeter.
We don’t know what Mizzou’s NIL situation looks like, but it’s not unfair to assume the Tigers are working with less than many of their SEC peers. Mizzou has to be smart about how it constructs its rosters in this era of the sport, and the Tigers appear to have landed three quality additions.
Biggest lingering concern: Young frontcourt
We identified the frontcourt, and specifically a center, as Mizzou’s biggest transfer need before the portal opened.
Missouri did not add a center.
That is a little bit concerning, especially with starter Jordana Reisma graduating.
Now, that doesn’t mean Harper won’t have options at the five.
The Tigers added players who are 6-foot-3 or taller in their freshman class with Khloe Ford, Cecilie Brandimore and Ellie Mueller. In a pinch, star returner Grace Slaughter showed she can play the five, although that’s not ideally where the Tigers will send the senior out on most nights.
It seems like one of the freshmen will start at center, and the minutes may get divided up between the three of them. That’s good for the future of the position, but is it the best immediate case?
Time will tell. Experience is lacking at a very important position.
Overall transfer portal grade: B
It was clear, with a five-player 2026 class, that high school recruiting and building a foundation for future seasons was the priority for Harper entering Year 2.
The Tigers have supplemented that by filling some important gaps with three strong, Power-conference additions at guard.
But the lack of an experienced option at center is concerning. The losses of Sotell and Dowell mean two proven SEC producers left the roster.
There are more positives than negatives that have come from the portal, but the Tigers didn’t quite do enough to earn an A.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri basketball transfer portal scorecard for Kellie Harper Year 2