As Dennis Gates continues his rebuild of the Missouri roster, one weakness stands out: point guard. Of all the reasons the Tigers plunged to 12-21 last season and the administration opted to part ways with Cuonzo Martin, the lack of a consistent primary ball-handler likely tops the list.

The point guard duties largely fell to Boogie Coleman a season ago. Coleman, who had spent most of his time playing off the ball at Ball State, finished the season with a turnover rate of 26.6 percent. That ranked 84th among 87 qualifying SEC players, according to KenPom.com. It wasn’t all Coleman’s fault, however; he was actually one of just two players on the Missouri roster to log more assists than turnovers on the season, alongside forward Kobe Brown.

Now, with freshman point guard Anton Brookshire gone to the transfer portal, it’s a virtual guarantee that Missouri’s next starting point guard is not currently on the roster. In all likelihood, Gates will add multiple point guards to the roster prior to next season.

His early activity in the transfer market has reflected that. Of the 16 junior college or Division I transfers who we know Gates has contacted as of this writing, seven have primarily played the point.

In this piece, we’ll take a look at each of those players’ production in their past stops, comparing and contrasting their strengths and weaknesses.

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2021-22 stats: 33 games, 20.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 41.0 % three-point

Scouting report: Landing East is clearly a priority for Gates, as he has already brought the highly sought-after junior college point guard to campus for a visit. According to jucorecruiting.com, East is the second-ranked junior college prospect in the country — behind Mohamed Diarra, who has already committed to the Tigers.

East exploded offensively during his lone season at Logan. If he can come anywhere close to replicating those numbers at the Division I level, he would be one of the top scoring options on this list. It’s fair to wonder how much that had to do with the quality of competition, however. East spent his first college season at Massachusetts and his second at Bradley, and he averaged 9.2 points per game between them. He has always been effective as a passer, averaging 4.9 assists per game at Massachusetts and 3.7 at Bradley. He has a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2:1.

East has also taken a recruiting visit to BYU. East’s father told PowerMizzou that South Florida, Georgetown, LSU and Clemson are also in the mix.

2021-22 stats: 28 games, 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 24.2% three-point

Scouting report: Could Missouri fans see a reunion between Pinson and the Tigers? Pinson hinted on social media that it's possible, and a source indicated to PowerMizzou that he was expected to speak with Gates on Monday.

After leaving the Missouri roster, Pinson saw his scoring dip but his assist numbers improve. He averaged fewer than 10 points per game for the first time since his freshman season and saw his shooting percentages drop to a career-low 36.5 from the field and 24.2 from behind the arc. Plus, while his 4.8 assists per game represented a career-best mark, he also averaged 3.2 turnovers per contest, the highest figure of his career. LSU put together a 20-8 record during games Pinson played as opposed to 2-4 when he didn't, but he didn't exactly finish the season strong. He scored four points and had three turnovers in the team's SEC Tournament loss to Arkansas, during which he spent most of the second half on the bench, and logged three points and five turnovers in a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Iowa State.

Pinson, of course, would bring plenty of SEC experience to the Missouri backcourt. He has made 49 starts in a Missouri uniform to go along with 27 at LSU. Pinson has reportedly also heard from Kentucky, Michigan State and Xavier, among other schools.

2021-22 stats: 29 games, 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 27.8 percent three-point

Scouting report: After starting all four seasons at Drexel, Wynter is looking to take advantage of his COVID year and play his final season at a higher level. For the Dragons, Wynter was a ball-dominant guard who did the majority of his damage inside the three-point arc. Wynter attempted 14.1 shots per game last season, nearly 10 of which came from two-point range. The first-team all-CAA selection also shared the ball well, logging an impressive assist rate of 25.4 percent compared to a turnover rate of 15.5 percent.

Despite his outside shooting struggles, Wynter was effective from the free throw line, where he made 86.1 percent of his attempts. And it should be noted that Wynter shot 41.5 percent from behind the three-point line as a junior. His career three-point percentage stands at 33.9 percent.

Wynter has been a hot commodity in the portal. According to 247Sports, other schools that have reached out include Arkansas, Clemson, Penn State, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, NC State, Minnesota, Creighton, Pittsburgh and Butler.

2021-22 stats: 33 games, 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 24.2% three-point

Scouting report: Missouri has struck gold in the past taking a transfer point guard who played his high school ball in Evansville, Indiana. The last player to fit that description: Dru Smith. Penn started out his college career at a lower level than Smith, as Bellarmine was Division II when he arrived, but he, too, is looking to make the jump to a high-major league.

The Bellarmine offense flowed almost solely through Penn, who was actually more of a two-point threat than Wynter. Penn averaged 14.1 field goal attempts per game a year ago. Of those, 86.5 percent came from inside the three-point arc. Penn created for others, too, dishing assists at a 31.6 percent clip. By contrast, his turnover rate was 17.3 percent.

Penn is another graduate transfer who will have one season of eligibility left to play. He has also garnered a long list of suitors that reportedly includes Ole Miss, Memphis, Purdue, Ohio State and Vanderbilt in addition to Missouri.

2021-22 stats: 31 games, 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 34.5% three-point

Scouting report: In his first season at Bradley, Roberts put up big numbers en route to earning first-team all-MVC honors. Roberts led the Braves in scoring, assists and steals. He showed an ability to score from just about anywhere, shooting 50.2 percent from inside the arc and 34.5 percent behind it. He also logged an assist rate of 31.4 percent and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4:3.

Gates' relationship with Roberts predates his time at Bradley. Roberts played two seasons at Florida Southwestern State junior college, and Gates offered him a scholarship while the coach at Cleveland State.

Roberts should have two seasons of eligibility remaining. No surprise, he's heard from quite a few interested parties, according to 247Sports, including Wake Forest, Oregon, Mississippi State, Clemson, Florida, Texas, TCU, Georgia and LSU.

2021-22 stats: 33 games, 7.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 32.5% three-point

Scouting report: The five-foot-10 Honor started his college career at Fordham before transferring to Clemson, and now he's on the move again. Honor started 25 games for the Tigers last season and played a bit more than 25 minutes per contest. His greatest strength was his ability to convert at the free throw line, where he shot better than 90 percent.

Honor brings high-major starting experience, which is a plus. But it seems fair to question his production. His numbers tailed off as last season progressed; he averaged just 6.0 points per game during ACC play. That hasn't stopped other high-major programs from reaching out, however. CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein tweeted that Honor has heard from Arizona State, Cal, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, South Carolina and Vanderbilt in addition to Mizzou.

2021-22 stats: 30 games, 17.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 33.3% three-point

Scouting report: Newton entered the transfer portal on Monday and almost immediately heard from a litany of high-major suitors, including Missouri. That's because of the offensive ability Newton displayed at East Carolina. Newton took a sizable step forward in production last season, his third in college. His scoring jumped from 8.7 points per game to 17.7, his field goal percentage from 34.8 to 43.5 and his assist numbers from 4.2 to 5.0 per game.

Newton appears to be the whole package offensively. At 6-foot-5, he shot 33.3 percent from three-point range on 4.8 attempts per game while also getting to the free throw line nearly six times per game and shooting 87.9 percent while there. Plus, his assist rate of 34.4 ranked 20th best in the nation. As of Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Newton had declared his intention to transfer, 26 schools had already expressed interest.

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