NCAA Basketball: Indiana, Kansas, and Maryland among 10 early 2024 offseason winners

5. Missouri Tigers

DePaul wasn’t the only winless power conference team, as Missouri went from an NCAA Tournament team a year ago to one that couldn’t win an SEC game in 2024. As expected, there were massive roster changes, with just about the entire core either graduating or transferring out.

Coach Dennis Gates has been known for being a great recruiter, with the current top-10 recruiting class as an example. By the way, none of them de-committed despite the bad season. Joining them, so far, is a four-man transfer class that’s as talented as any to this point.

Jacob Crews is a 6’7 wing from UT-Martin, coming off averaging 19.1 ppg and 8.2 rpg on 41% three-point shooting. Marques Warrick is the latest Horizon League star to join Coach Gates, averaging 19.9 ppg for Northern Kentucky. 

The other two transfers are power conference starters. Tony Perkins averaged 14.0 ppg and 4.6 apg at Iowa and is a good replacement for Sean East, while Mark Mitchell is a former five-star prospect at Duke, coming off 11.6 ppg and 6.0 rpg averages. With an expected larger role, Mitchell could be a breakout star to watch and the reason why Missouri goes from worst to the top half of the SEC.