Dennis Gates and the Missouri Tigers have earned commitment No. 2 in what was expected to be a big week.
On Friday, it was former Duke forward Mark Mitchell announcing he will play in Columbia for the 2024-25 season.
The 6-foot-9 20-year-old just finished his sophomore season with the Blue Devils after committing to Duke out of Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas. He was the No. 26 overall player in the class of 2022 after averaging 17.6 point and 6.3 rebounds per game as a high school senior.
Missouri, Kansas and North Carolina were notable schools in his final choices at the time.
Mitchell started 35 games, all of his appearances, as a freshman and missed only one game while averaging 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He also ranked in the 94th percentile nationally in defensive metrics as a freshman.
The forward started 32 of the 33 games he played in last season, upping his averages to 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest, including five 20-point games and a career-high 23 against both Notre Dame and Wake Forest.
Mitchell recorded three double-doubles last season, bringing down a career-high 14 boards in the contest with Notre Dame, which was his first career double-double.
Going into his third season, Mitchell is the main big man transferring in to Missouri, while he joins incoming Tiger transfers Marques Warrick (former Northern Kentucky guard), Jacob Crews (former UT-Martin guard) and Tony Perkins (former Iowa guard), while the incoming freshman class ranks fourth nationally according to 247Sports.
III
Freshman forward Jordan Butler is on his way out of Columbia.
The 7-foot freshman from South Carolina played in 31 games in his lone season at Missouri, starting 14. He averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds.
He scored 10 points against Mississippi for his lone double-digit offensive performance, while he had four boards on three occasions.