JUCO wing pledges to Tigers
Missouri landed a surprise commitment Monday night as junior college wing K.J. Santos announced his pledge to the Tigers. The 6-foot-7 Santos joins fellow wing Javon Pickett and big man Jontay Porter (for the time being)in Missouri's 2018 class.
"They have been recruiting me for a while now," he told PowerMizzou.com. "I built a really good relationship with the coaches and they've been recruiting me really hard since day one. I just felt really comfortable with them and I really trusted them."
Santos played his freshman season at Illinois-Chicago before transferring to Tallahassee C.C. He said once he signed with the Florida school in June he started hearing from Missouri. Missouri had just offered Santos a few days ago along with Texas Tech and UCF. He has yet to visit the campus but plans to when he returns from Florida in a few weeks.
Santos said he's unsure whether or not he will redshirt in junior college next season but plans to arrive in Columbia next summer. Depending on his decision he'll have two or three years of eligibility remaining for Missouri. The 6-foot-7 wing said right now his plan is to play. The Geneva, Illinois native said he doesn't know a lot about Missouri as a program but has been doing some research on the school and team lately.
"It's a really good program," he said. "Last year they didn't do too well but I know what kind of coach Cuonzo is and I know this year's team is going to do very well."
Santos said he'd scout himself as a "do-it-all" wing that can score on all three levels and shoot from both mid-range and beyond the arc. He tries to model his game after NBA stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. He's undecided on a college major but plans to choose one soon.