The Tigers have made another acquisition through the transfer portal as head coach Dennis Gates has added senior guard Caleb Grill. The former Iowa State Cyclone announced the news on social media and confirmed the news to PowerMizzou.com.
Grill was the No. 147 recruit in the 2019 class coming out of Maize High School in Wichita, Kan., averaging 18.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists as a senior and leading his team to second place in the state tournament. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound guard committed to Iowa State and played in 29 games as a freshman, making two starts.
In 2020, Grill transferred to UNLV to play for head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who’d recruited him out of high school. When Otzelberger was hired as head coach at Iowa State, Grill followed him back to Ames, Iowa, to suit up for the Cyclones again. Playing 25 games and making 22 starts last season, Grill posted 9.5 points per game shooting 39.3% from the field and 36.8% from the 3-point line while also averaging 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Grill was dismissed from the program on March 1, with the school citing a “failure to meet expectations.”
“We hold our players to high standards and there are expectations that our student-athletes are held accountable for,” Otzelberger said in a statement.
“One day, when I am brave enough, I hope to be able to share my story about my mental health and my mental illness I have been battling through all season,” Grill said in a statement released shortly after news broke of his departure. “Unfortunately, I said something that I regret which has cost me the opportunity to finish out my dream at lowa State. I hope that all the players and lowa State fans can find it in their hearts to forgive me.”
Grill committed to Missouri over West Virginia after taking an on-campus visit last week to both schools. He joins former Colorado State guard John Tonje and former Indiana guard Tamar Bates as transfer pickups for Missouri this offseason. Rivals.com ranks Tonje and Bates as the No. 61 and No. 50 available transfers, respectively.
The Tigers are still on the hunt for an additional big man and are currently hosting Virginia forward Kadin Shedrick. Mizzou is in Shedrick’s top five along with Duke, Kansas State, Texas and Xavier. He visited Texas before Mizzou and will trip to Xavier and Duke next week.
For updates on the team’s portal activity visit PowerMizzou.com’s hoops transfer tracker.
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