Missouri basketball lands transfer guard from Colorado State in John Tonje
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Missouri basketball filled one of its vacant guard spots Monday morning, with the commitment of former Colorado State guard John Tonje. Tonje announced on Instagram that he will be playing for head coach Dennis Gates and the Tigers next season, after entering the transfer portal on Tuesday.
Tonje will have one year of eligibility remaining for the Tigers. He will help fill the hole opened with DeAndre Gholston and D’Moi Hodge exhausting their eligibility.
The guard, who stands 6-foot-5 and was listed at 210 pounds, averaged 14.6 points per game last season for Colorado State. He also chipped in 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Tonje made 47.3% of his attempts from the field last season for the Rams. From three, he hit at a 38.9% clip.
Colorado State finished its season with a loss to Final Four-bound San Diego State, dropping 64-61 in the Mountain West quarterfinals. Tonje had 17 points in that game, plus a rebound and a steal.
Tonje starred in the first round of the Mountain West tournament, a 67-65 win over Fresno State. He had 20 points against the Bulldogs, along with five rebounds.
His highest scoring games of the season came against Mississippi Valley State and Wyoming, when he put up 25-point performances. He also had eight rebounds in the Wyoming game.
The guard had reportedly been in communication with Nebraska, Arkansas and Iowa State, among others, since entering the portal. He hails from Omaha, where he played his high school basketball at Omaha Central.
Tonje played all four of his previous college seasons at Colorado State. His junior season he averaged 9.1 points per game and he has made over 80% of his free throw attempts every season since he was a sophomore.
The college basketball transfer portal opened March 13 and will close on May 11. So far, Missouri has not had a player enter, making the only losses from the 2022-23 campaign Hodge and Gholston, along with Tre Gomillion and Ben Sternberg, who are also out of eligibility.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri basketball lands transfer portal commit from John Tonje
