Less than a week after being formally announced as the new basketball coach at Missouri, Dennis Gates has added a second new player to the Tigers' roster. Milwaukee transfer guard DeAndre Gholston committed to the Tigers Saturday, according to his Twitter account.
Gholston averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 rebounds across the past two seasons at Milwaukee. He played in 53 games during that span, starting 52 of them. Five of those games came against Gates' Cleveland State teams.
Gholston entered the transfer portal after Milwaukee fired coach Patrick Baldwin Sr. He should have one year of eligibility remaining.
Gholston, a 6-foot-5 guard from Gary, Indiana, started his college career at Kent State. As a true freshman in 2018-19, he played in 33 games, averaging 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest while shooting 44 percent from three point range. He then transferred to Tallahassee Community College, where he spent one season before migrating to Milwaukee.
Gholston averaged 16.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during Milwaukee's 2020-21 season. Last year, his numbers dipped to 14.3 points and 4.4 rebounds. During his two seasons at Milwaukee, he shot 39.2 percent from the field, 34.2 percent from three-point range and 79.3 percent from the free throw line.
Gholston joins junior college transfer Mohamed Diarra as new additions to the Tiger roster under Gates. Diarra announced his commitment to Missouri on Friday. Gates also hosted junior college point guard Sean East for a visit on Saturday, according to East's father.
With the addition of Gholston, the Missouri roster stands at 11 scholarship players, meaning the Tigers have two open scholarships left to fill. That does not include Javon Pickett or Trevon Brazile, both of whom entered their names into the transfer portal on Tuesday, nor Aidan Shaw. The former class of 2022 signee received a release from his National Letter of Intent after Cuonzo Martin and Missouri parted ways. Shaw told PowerMizzou that he has heard from Gates and that the Tigers are "still in the mix."
PowerMizzou is working to get ahold of Gholston to speak with him about his decision.
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