The NCAA news cycle never ceases to stay quiet for long, and in the case of Missouri's Mark Mitchell, the 6'8" forward dropped a bombshell late Friday night. The Tigers' big man announced that he will be entering the transfer portal in what should be his final collegiate season after two years each at Duke and Mizzou.
Missouri's Mark Mitchell will enter transfer portal his agent Brandon Mitchell of BAM Sports and Entertainment tells @247Sports. 2nd team All-SEC as a senior, 3rd team All-SEC as a junior. Averaged 18.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 2025-26. https://t.co/YLY5lIfaKk pic.twitter.com/ZItRimm7LV
— Eric Bossi (@ebosshoops) August 1, 2026
A Kansas City, KS native, Mitchell has been a familiar name for years to fans in the area and was a five-star recruit coming out of high school by 247 Sports and a four-star according to ESPN's metrics. While his simply announcing his entry in the portal is a massive storyline, this doesn't necessarily mean his playing days are done at Mizzou Arena.
Mitchell has been a two-time All-SEC player in his time at Missouri and could simply be using this move as leverage to acquire more NIL money from his current school. Mitchell transferred once before, after two years at Duke as a solid contributor, but has really flourished wearing black and gold.
Fifth-year senior Mark Mitchell enters his name in the transfer portal amid upcoming third season with Mizzou basketball
Mitchell is clearly a highly talented prospect and has led the Tigers to an overall 44-25 record under Head Coach Dennis Gates. Last season was when Mitchell finally took the leap to true college basketball stardom, playing nearly 34 minutes per contest and scoring over 18 points and grabbing five rebounds per game to go along with 57.1% shooting from two-point range and nearly 40% from beyond the arc.
The Tigers' roster for the upcoming 2026-27 season was meant to look a bit different, thanks in part to KU transfer Bryson Tiller bringing his talents across the state line. At 6'10", Tiller and Mitchell were expected to be quite the frontcourt duo for opposing teams to handle, given Mitchell's star impact on the court and an incoming sophomore in Tiller who just got better and better for Jayhawks Head Coach Bill Self as the season went on.
It's hard to really understand why Mark Mitchell may want to legitimately leave this seemingly perfect scenario for him. Sure, Mizzou is not the admired basketball program of a Kansas or a Duke. But he tried Duke, and it wasn't for him. Perhaps two more years under his belt at a high-level made Mitchell more comfortable to spread his wings once again.
There will certainly be no shortage of suitors interested in adding an athletic, scoring-first wing like Mitchell. His decision depends on how exactly the 22-year-old envisions his college career coming to a close.
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