Sean Durugordon announces transfer from Missouri

Missouri guard Sean Durugordon announced late Friday afternoon he intends to enter the transfer portal, becoming the Tigers’ first bit of roster churn in a rocky campaign.

The redshirt freshman had not played in MU’s last two outings and found it hard to truly crack a veteran-heavy backcourt rotation. He saw action in 12 games this season, posting 3.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in roughly five minutes per game.

The 6-foot-5 wing tallied a career-high 11 points in a road loss at Kansas during December, delivering energy and trying to carve out a niche well after the Jayhawks had put the matter to rest. Instead of a role expansion, coach Cuozno Martin tightened up his rotation, and Durugordon never saw more than the 11 minutes he earned during the first half of a road loss at Kentucky.

Arriving from Queens, N.Y., Durugordon enrolled early last winter, taking a redshirt to bed in with the Tigers and get acclimated to the program. During his previous prep season at Canterbury School, he flashed the raw tools required to become a potential 3-and-D wing at the next level. Aside from averaging 23 points, he boasted a long frame, a little bounce, and a shooting stroke that canned 44 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Now, he’ll seek to develop that potential elsewhere. He’d drawn interest from Georgia, Seton Hall, Georgia, Arizona State, Auburn, VCU, and DePaul ahead of picking MU.

With his departure, Missouri now has 11 scholarship players on its roster. Still, with a pair of fall signees in Aidan Shaw and Christian Jones, the Tigers effectively have one open slot to fill this spring.

It’s far too early to project how that vacancy might be filled, but the staff now has a slight degree of flexibility to address a pressing need once the season wraps up.