Watson adds to Tigers' transfer total
Another Tiger has hit the transfer portal. A source tells PowerMizzou.com that junior Torrence Watson has put his name in the portal and will leave Missouri after three seasons.
Watson joins junior Xavier Pinson, senior Mark Smith, sophomore Parker Braun and junior Ed Chang as players who have put their names in the portal since the Tigers' NCAA Tournament loss to Oklahoma a little more than a week ago.
Watson played in 22 of Missouri's 26 games this season, but averaged just 7.2 minutes per game. He averaged 1.8 points per game and had 12 rebounds, five steals and three assists on the season.
Watson, a four-star prospect in the Class of 2018, signed with the Tigers after decommitting from Ohio State. As one of the leading scorers in Missouri high school history at Whitfield School in St. Louis, there were high hopes for Watson. He averaged 7.1 points while playing in 32 games and starting five as a freshman. He shot 36.1% from three-point range and 36.5% from the field overall. All of those numbers would end up being career-highs.
As a sophomore, Watson's playing time dropped from 23 to 17 minutes a game and his scoring average dropped to 4.6 per game. He shot just 28% from the floor with 80% of his shots coming from three-point range. This year, Watson didn't start a game and was buried deep in the rotation for most of the season.
Including four additional seniors who are not expected to return next season, Cuonzo Martin will be turning over at least two-thirds of his roster. The only players set to return for next season as of today are Kobe Brown, Javon Pickett and Jordan Wilmore. Those four combined to play 43.4 minutes per game and combine for 15 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
In simpler terms, Martin has to replace at least 78.3% of his minutes, 79.6% of his scoring and 72.8% of his rebounding from this year's team. He has a five-man freshman class signed and has added Green Bay transfer guard Amari Davis to the mix. With Watson's departure, Missouri has four open scholarships to fill during the spring and summer.
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