6/6/2023 basketball Edit

Kaleb Brown announces return to Missouri

Drew King • PowerMizzou

Basketball Writer

The Tigers will have one more returner on next season’s roster as junior guard Kaleb Brown announced on social media on Tuesday he is going back to Mizzou.

Brown spent the first two years of his college career with Missouri, totaling 33 points, 44 rebounds and 35 assists across 38 games. The Huntsville, Ala. native announced on April 21 he would enter the transfer portal. Brown took a visit to UTSA, which he posted photos of on June 2, but decided it was best to team back up with the Tigers.

Kaleb’s decision comes six days after his older brother, Kobe Brown, announced he would forgo his final year of eligibility and remain in the NBA Draft. The decision also comes two days after former Oral Roberts forward Connor Vanover announced he is transferring to Missouri.

Mizzou’s roster appears set with Kaleb’s return, though there are some uncertainties regarding how the team will stay under the scholarship limit. Head coach Dennis Gates said in April "you can no longer assume" that teams only have 13 players on scholarship and noted that he had 16 players on scholarship while at Cleveland State during the 2021-22 season because some were able to receive waivers. Mabor Majak is one player whose scholarship status is uncertain — the 7-foot-2 big man came to Missouri as a walk-on, but received a scholarship mid-season as the Tigers hadn’t used all 13.

Senior guard Isiaih Mosley is another. The Columbia native made just 14 appearances last year, missing long portions of the season due to personal reasons that the program chose not to disclose out of respect for his privacy. Gates said that “there’s definitely a path” for Mosley to be on scholarship next season but Mosley hasn’t announced whether or not he’ll be back for the Tigers and it’s unclear if he’d be on scholarship if he was. There likely won’t be more clarity on the situation until next season approaches.

Assuming everyone is back, Mizzou will have 19 players on the team (though only 15 are allowed to dress for each game): Brown, Majak, Mosley, Vanover, returning guards Sean East II and Nick Honor, transfer guards Tamar Bates, Caleb Grill, Curt Lewis and John Tonje, freshman guard Anthony Robinson II, returning forwards Noah Carter and Aidan Shaw, transfer forward Jesus Carralero, freshmen forwards Jordan Butler and Trent Pierce and walk-ons J.V. Brown, Jackson Francois and Danny Stephens.

The Tigers began summer workouts last week with Butler, Pierce and Robinson all arriving on campus. Missouri will look to build on the program’s momentum after going 25-10 last season and reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament.