Two Missouri football players to enter transfer portal, including December newcomer
Calum McAndrew
- Two Missouri football players, Ja'Marion Wayne and Mikai Gbayor, are entering the transfer portal.
- Wayne, a backup cornerback, spent three years at Missouri, primarily as a reserve and special teams player.
- Gbayor, a linebacker, transferred to Missouri from Nebraska in December but is now leaving after less than four months.
Two Missouri football defensive players are expected to enter the transfer portal, including a linebacker who arrived in December.
Backup cornerback Ja’Marion Wayne is entering his name into the portal after three years as a reserve in Columbia, a team spokesperson confirmed to the Columbia Daily Tribune.
Perhaps more surprising, winter portal addition Mikai Gbayor is expected to enter the transfer portal, a team spokesperson confirmed to the Tribune. Gbayor signed for the Tigers from Nebraska on Dec. 16, meaning he spent less than four months on campus.
Wayne, who is a Parkway West High grad from St. Louis, appeared in 28 Missouri games over three seasons, mostly as a reserve and on special teams.
The cornerback originally signed with Mizzou as a four-star wide receiver. Wayne underwent a position change, but never cracked the rotation at cornerback as he battled an injury for a significant portion of 2024.
The addition of Washington State transfer Stephen Hall and return of Dreyden Norwood, Toriano Pride Jr. and Nicholas DeLoach Jr. appeared to limit Wayne’s path to playing time.
Gbayor, who is listed at 6-1, 235 pounds, was part of Mizzou’s 17-player transfer portal signing class in the winter and appeared to address an area of need. Missouri returns two players from its core, four-player rotation last season in Triston Newson and Khalil Jacobs, but was lacking for experience beyond those players.
Mizzou also signed former freshman All-American Josiah Trotter at linebacker out of West Virginia and can return promising freshmen Nicholas Rodriguez and Jeremiah Beasley, among others.
On Tuesday during a press conference, Mizzou head coach Eliah Drinkwitz called the linebacker room “very deep, very impactful,” and listed seven linebackers who impressed him through spring, including each player listed above. He did not mention Gbayor.
The linebacker room is deeper than it was expected to be when Gbayor originally signed with Missouri.
Earlier this year, Newson learned he could return after the NCAA granted all former junior college players an extra year of eligibility. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who argued that JUCO seasons should not count toward Division-I eligibility.
Four Missouri players expected to leave transfer this spring. Quarterback Drew Pyne has transferred to Bowling Green and defensive end Jakhai Lang announced Wednesday he will enter the portal.
Drinkwitz said Tuesday that he anticipates Missouri to have “a few more” transfer portal entries in the upcoming window, but does not anticipate that it “will be more than eight.”
College football teams, under the expected (but prone-to-change) roster limits for next season exited spring camp with 86 scholarship players, which is one more than is permitted. The SEC has announced teams can have 85 scholarship players and 20 walk-ons next season.
That meant Mizzou needed to free up some space, especially if it is looking to make any additions from the transfer portal, which will open April 16-25.