Scholarship Math: The 2024 class is filling up

We’ve had an eventful week!

When both Marcus Allen and Peyton Marshall announced their commitment dates, the rumors quickly swirled that Dennis Gates was about to have a big week. The rumors proved to be true and both Allen and Marshall announced for the Tigers to much fanfare.

After a full week of commitments, Mizzou’s 2024 class now stands at three including the late June commitment from T.O. Barrett. First was 4-star forward Marcus Allen, and next it was 4-star post Peyton Marshall. The class is certain to get larger, but how much larger is still unknown. At this point your Missouri Tigers have the 3rd ranked recruiting class in the country according to the 247sports.com Composite ranking.

Marshall is currently ranked 56th in the composite. Allen is currently ranked 55th in the composite. And Barrett is sitting at 96th. There’s still a lot of commitments to happen, so it’s not super likely the Tigers finish third. But Gates and his staff are still on the hunt for one, or maybe two more pieces to the class which could continue to bolster the depth of the class.

So while we don’t know exactly how many players will end up in the 2024 class, we do know there are players who won’t be able to return next year, right? And with spots to fill, it’s possibly Gates could sign as many as seven or eight new players. How many of them will be freshmen? I’d say six is the maximum, but five is possible, with four being all but certain at this point.

We’ve talked about the names to keep an eye on going forward, and there will certainly be some transfer portal work next spring. Most notably it’ll be important to keep an eye on Annor Boateng, Bishop Boswell, Ryan Jones, Trent Burns, and if he schedules a visit... Jayden Quaintence. But mostly the first four.

As has been stated in multiple previous Scholarship Math posts, the “Math” overall is going to be fuzzy. But we’re working with a bit of a straightforward approach here:

The best way to look at this list is to look at the dark colors at the top of the current year. There are 8 seniors on this season’s roster, and six of which have expiring eligibility. Mizzou has 15 spots and technically 13 scholarships.

We know Jackson Francois, J.V. Brown, and Danny Stephens are for sure walk ons. This season there are 15 others who may or may not be on scholarship. Although you can make simple cases for most on the list, it’s more about how the room is made and what’s available going forward, since the math for this upcoming season is complete.

But 2024-25...

I can’t hardly believe we’re talking about 2025... but here we are! Allen, Barrett, and Marshall will be in the midst of their freshman season when the calendar flips to 2025. I also just realized I left Kaleb Brown off the above graphic. So put him on the senior line for next season as a combo guard.

I’d guess the plan will likely be to find some more ball handling depth through the transfer portal. Even if they added two more freshman guards in Boateng and Boswell. Keep in mind I’m not saying they WILL land both, just that experienced ball handling next season should be on the menu.

The benefit of adding Marshall is that with Jordan Butler you have two capable, if quite young, big men who can offer you a variety of different skill sets. There are a plethora of wings and combo forwards in the stable, so if you were looking at four to six more spots it would make sense to get some experience on the ball and at the rim.

I believe Jesus Carralero has an additional year of eligibility, and Curt Lewis might be able to graduate after this season which could give him flexibility as well. Either could possibly take another season at Mizzou or elsewhere. Both players were in the 2019 recruiting class.

At this point it’s a bit of a guess but I wager Mizzou has four more spots to fill for next season, barring any unexpected departures. I think they’ll look to add two more as freshmen and then get into the transfer portal for what remains in the spring.