Missouri guard John Tonje plans to enter NCAA transfer portal

Missouri Tigers guard John Tonje, who previously spent four years at Colorado State, plans to enter transfer portal following the 2023-24 season.

On3’s Joe Tipton had the news on Monday afternoon, tweeting out: “NEWS: Missouri guard John Tonje has submitted his paperwork to enter the transfer portal, source tells @On3sports. The 6-6 senior missed the majority of the season due to injury but averaged 14.6 PPG last year at Colorado State.”

This past season just didn’t go the way anyone hoped for Tonje at Missouri. Dennis Gates actually commented that he was one of the stars of the team during summer workouts, however, Tonje suffered a foot injury before the season that he just could not recover from.

After coming in as a heralded transfer, John Tonje appeared in just eight total games in 2023-24 and scored just 21 total points before Gates announced that his season was over due to the lingering foot injury. Here were the Missouri head coach’s comments when delivering that somber news:

“John has been hampered by an offseason foot injury this entire year. He was one of our best players during summer workouts before suffering the setback and, unfortunately, the injury has prevented him from being completely healthy and reaching the levels he is accustomed to. We look forward to him taking the proper amount of time to fully recover and then showcasing his skills and complete potential again in the future.”

When it rained this season, it poured for Missouri men’s basketball, which counted Tonje among myriad losses on the 2024 side of the calendar, in which the Tigers went 0-19 against SEC foes, winning their final game of the season on Dec. 30 of 2023.

With less than 80 total minutes under his belt in yellow and black, John Tonje now hits the portal almost assuredly getting an extra medical redshirt season so he can give his fifth year another try.

Prior to transferring to Mizzou, Tonje was a fixture on some solid Colorado State teams, including as a role player on the 2021 and 2022 teams, which finished second in the Mountain West, with the ’22 group earning a 6-seed in the NCAAA Tournament. In 2023, the team lost a number of pieces and suffered a tougher year, but Tonje stepped up to average 14.6 points per game as one of the team’s more reliable scorers.

Despite the injury setback, Tonje offers a physical and experienced wing to potential suitors. He can also shoot the ball well, having knocked down 38.9% of his nearly five 3-point attempts per game back in 2023 at Colorado State.