The Missouri basketball team filled another open scholarship Friday, when Ranger (Texas) College transfer Jordan Geist tweeted his commitment to Missouri.
“Proud to join the Mizzou Basketball family,†the tweet read. “Want to thank Coach (Kim) Anderson and the Missouri Staff for this opportunity #GoTigersâ€
Geist, a 6-foot-3 guard, visited Missouri on Thursday. He was a second-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-American as a freshman, averaging 15.1 points, 2.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. He was one of just three freshmen on the team. No freshmen were named to the first team. Geist poured in 43 points Feb. 24 at Weatherford, a week after scoring 35 against Texas International.
As a junior-college transfer, Geist will be able to play next season and will have three years of eligibility remaining.
The Fort Wayne, Ind., native is the second player to commit this week, as Garfield Heights (Ohio) senior Frankie Hughes signed Wednesday with Missouri after committing Sunday.
The Tigers still have an open scholarship remaining for the 2016-17 season. They could choose not to fill it, as they have to forfeit one scholarship by the end of the 2017-18 season as a part of self-imposed sanctions.
Anderson, who will be returning for his third season as Missouri’s head coach, said ideally he would like to add a point guard or combo guard as well as a scorer and a post player. The Tigers entered the offseason with just one point guard, Terrence Phillips, and one center, Russell Woods. Geist has experience at point guard and would likely fit that role more than Hughes.
Missouri had three open scholarships at the beginning of the offseason because of the transfers of sophomores D’Angelo Allen, Tramaine Isabell and Namon Wright.
Geist and Hughes join 6-foot-6 small forward Willie Jackson, Hughes’ teammate at Garfield Heights, and 6-foot-9 forwards Reed Nikko of Maple Grove, Minn., and Mitchell Smith of Van Buren, Ark., in Missouri’s incoming class. Texas transfer Jordan Barnett, a 6-foot-7 forward, joined the team last season and will be eligible to play in the second semester of the upcoming season.
Missouri has yet to make Geist’s commitment official.