Missouri Basketball: Analyzing incoming transfers for 2023-24 season

New Missouri Basketball player – Jesus Carralero (Campbell)

At the time of writing this, the most recent addition from the transfer portal is Jesus Carralero, a 6’8 forward from Campbell. Carralero only played in five games last year for the Fighting Camels due to injury. But in those 5 games, he averaged 10.6 ppg and 5.2 rebounds shooting 50 percent from the field.

Carralero is a decent ball handler and can run the break off a defensive rebound. He has good vision and can make tough passes to cutters. He is a tough matchup for defenders, as he is quick enough to get past a bigger defender and strong enough to bully a smaller defender. The biggest thing I saw from Carralero is he finds a man and boxes out when going for a rebound, something that was missing from Missouri last season. He also has good timing defensively, he can block some shots as well as get steals. Last season for Campbell he averaged 1.4 spg.

Offensively, Carralero spaces the floor well. He doesn’t shoot a ton of threes but he takes enough of them to keep the defense honest. And if they do back off he can make a three occasionally. He averages just under 54 percent on two-point shots for his career. He is a little raw when it comes to finishing at the rim as he gets bumped off his shot by bigger post defenders, but overall he should be able to play valuable minutes for the Tigers.

It’s clear that Coach Gates has a vision for what he wants the Missouri Tigers to look like in this upcoming season. The team will be loaded with guard talent, most of them with the ability to know down three’s from all over the court. And all four players brought in so far this season have a ton of playing experience, most of them in some of the best conferences in the country.

While it is still unknown if another big man will be added to the team, Coach Gates has brought in players who will help improve rebounding for the Tigers. I can see the vision that he has for this team, and I like the direction they are headed.