Negus Webster-Chan, Dominique Bull transferring from Missouri

The Trib's Steve Walentik is reporting that two Missouri guards will be transferring in search of greater playing time.

Freshman guards Negus Webster-Chan and Dominique Bull are transferring from the Missouri basketball program, the school announced today.

Both are expected to seek destinations that will provide them greater opportunity for playing time than they were likely to find in a crowded MU backcourt next season. If Phil Pressey returns for his senior year, he’ll join Jabari Brown, Earnest Ross, Tulsa transfer Jordan Clarkson and heralded recruit Wesley Clark.

"Dominique and Negus were great representatives of our program and I want to thank them for their contributions both on and off the basketball court," Coach Frank Haith said in a statement. "We will certainly do anything we can to help them as they begin the recruiting process, and wish them nothing but the best moving forward."

Obviously, the loss of Bull is not very surprising. As I wrote last week:

It's never a good sign when a walk-on gets more minutes than you. Corey Haith's 18 minutes exceeded Dominique Bull's 14, and it probably also says a lot that a team in need of one more guard, one more decent defensive presence on the perimeter, didn't ever play a guy who came to Columbia with a reputation as a decent, physical, defensive guy. [...] I don't think it's going to surprise anybody if Dominique Bull ends up transferring (voluntarily or less-than-voluntarily) from Missouri this offseason.

NWC, however, is a bit of a surprise. I didn't see him becoming a difference-maker overall, but Frank Haith clearly wanted him in the rotation as much as possible early on until some iffy play minimized his minutes.

This opens up two more scholarships that could be filled in the 2013 recruiting class. (Obviously, if Phil Pressey were to leave, that would be a third.) It will be interesting to see what names are still available and how many gaps (if any) Haith chooses to fill.