Mizzou signs experienced safety Jalen Catalon from transfer portal
Arkansas coach Barry Odom, right, talks to defensive back Jalen Catalon in a game against Florida on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Gainesville, Fla.
Phelan M. Ebenhack, Associated Press
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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri added one of college football’s most experienced defensive players via the transfer portal on Sunday, signing safety Jalen Catalon.
His curriculum vitae covers a unique set of bases: Catalon has Southeastern Conference experience and played — at two schools — for former MU coach Barry Odom. The 2025 season will be Catalon’s seventh on a collegiate roster.
A first-team All-Mountain West selection at Nevada-Las Vegas this season after recording 96 tackles and five interceptions, Catalon likely will slot in near the top of the Tigers’ rebuilt secondary.
He’s the third safety Mizzou has signed this offseason to replace Joseph Charleston, Tre’Vez Johnson and Sidney Williams — and push returning starter Marvin Burks Jr.
Catalon, who hails from Mansfield, Texas, began his career at Arkansas in 2019. He redshirted his first season but started in 2020 under Odom, hired as the Razorbacks’ defensive coordinator following his dismissal from Mizzou. Catalon had a breakout season, landing on The Associated Press and coaches’ all-SEC teams. An injury gave him just half of his 2021 season and he missed all but one game of the 2022 season because of an injury.
He transferred to Texas for the 2023 season and started four games, but injuries limited his role down the stretch. Reunited with Odom at UNLV this year, Catalon stayed healthy and finished as a highly productive safety.
Missouri has now signed 15 transfers this cycle:
Quarterback Beau Pribula (Penn State).
Running back Ahmad Hardy (Louisiana-Monroe).
Wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. (Mississippi State).
Offensive tackle Keagen Trost (Wake Forest).
Offensive tackle Johnny Williams IV (West Virginia).
Mizzou men lose SEC hoops opener at No. 2 Auburn: 'Took us too long to adjust'
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It only took one Saturday in the Southeastern Conference for the Missouri men’s basketball team to learn the difference between good and great.
Mizzou has been good this season, even very good at moments. That dried up in the face of No. 2 Auburn, which has been great, played against great opponents and flexed that fact against MU in each teams’ SEC opener.
Great beat not-so-good, and Auburn dominated Missouri for a 84-68 victory.
Auburn (13-1) looked like the juggernaut it has been, shooting 48% from 3-point range to boost an offense that already was one of the best in the nation. Star power forward Johni Broome cruised to 24 points, adding seven rebounds and four blocks to his output.
Auburn forward Johni Broome celebrates after making a 3-pointer in the first half of a game against ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Auburn, Ala.
Butch Dill, Associated Press
Broome scored nine of those points within the first eight minutes of the game. MU seemed to dare him to make plays at times early on, such as when it sent a double-team of guards to him on the right side of the floor. The vet stayed composed and passed the ball out to the left side, where Auburn got a 3-pointer and foul for a four-point play to go up 17-11 early.
It was at that point that Broome checked out of the game for a breather, sitting on the bench for more than five minutes of game time. That was Missouri’s window to make a competitive statement and assert itself in the game.
Instead, a six-point Auburn lead grew to 12 without Broome on the floor.
“I thought the punches they threw in the first half put us on our heels,†MU coach Dennis Gates said on the postgame radio broadcast. “It took us too long to adjust to that part of the game.â€
His program now has lost 21 consecutive games against SEC opponents, dating to a March 11, 2023 loss to Alabama in the conference tournament.
The hosts led by a dozen points at half Saturday, up 45-33. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were shooting well from the floor while the visitors weren’t, but Auburn mostly was beating MU at its own game: scoring off of turnovers.
At halftime, Auburn had 14 points off of seven Missouri turnovers — incredibly efficient scoring. Mizzou, meanwhile, had only two points off five AU turnovers — far less production than what the black-and-gold Tigers need to compete with any team.
Missouri guard Tony Perkins, left, goes up for a shot as Auburn center Dylan Cardwell tries to block it in the first half of a game on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Auburn, Ala.
Butch Dill, Associated Press
One sequence, with just under 5:40 to go in the first half, summed that dynamic up. MU forward Trent Pierce pulled down a rebound and looked to funnel the ball quickly down the floor, as the team generally looks to do when presented with a transition opportunity. Except Auburn intercepted the pass, sent it back in the other direction and nailed a quick 3-pointer to counter Mizzou’s up-tempo attack — 11 seconds after Pierce’s rebound.
The second half didn’t start any better for Mizzou, which opened the frame by giving up a 12-1 run to Auburn.
Those opening minutes of the second half sealed the outcome. When both teams had taken 12 shots — six each from 3-point range: Auburn was 6 for 12 from the field and 3 for 6 from beyond the arc for 17 points. Mizzou was 1 for 12 from the field and 0 for 6 from deep and had three points.
Gates yanked his starters as the second half wore on with Auburn’s lead swelling to as much as 26. Whether that was a load management decision or a coach trying to send a message to a group of players who hadn’t performed like he needed them to, Gates’ move worked.
“I thought their energy allowed us to do some things,†Gates said. “ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were unselfish when it comes down to their energy. They gave what they could give, and I’m proud of those guys.â€
Missouri’s reserves kept pace with Auburn through garbage time. Guard Marques Warrick led the operation at that point and wound up leading the visitors in scoring, with 19 points — his season high.
No other Mizzou player scored more than nine points.
MU’s starting lineup — Anthony Robinson II, Tony Perkins, Tamar Bates, Mark Mitchell and Josh Gray — combined for 21 points on 33% shooting from the field and seven rebounds. Broome alone scored more for Auburn and matched their rebounding output.
If there are positives to take away from a loss that wasn’t particularly close, one is that Mizzou — notoriously not a successful team on the glass — out-rebounded Auburn. MU had a 31-29 rebounding percentage and 13 offensive boards to AU’s six.
Auburn’s Chaney Johnson dunks the ball in the second half against ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Auburn, Ala.
Butch Dill, Associated Press
Missouri also covered a betting spread that favored Auburn by 18½ points heading into the game. This kind of result was largely the expectation.
“It’s a tough conference,†Gates said, “and obviously we’ve got to do a better job on our part to be prepared in these situations.â€
After opening conference play in what might be the SEC’s most difficult fashion possible, Mizzou will return to friendly confines for its next two league games, hosting Louisiana State and Vanderbilt on Tuesday and Saturday, respectively. The Commodores beat LSU in Baton Rouge later on Saturday.
Turnovers: 16 (Pettiford 4, Broome 2, Howard 2, Johnson 2, Jones 2, Baker-Mazara, Kelly, Moore, Muschalek).
Steals: 9 (Baker-Mazara 3, Johnson 2, Broome, Kelly, Pettiford, Williams).
Technical Fouls: Pettiford, 4:06 second.
Missouri 33 35 — 68
Auburn 45 39 — 84
Mizzou picks up Washington State corner Stephen Hall from transfer portal, loses another freshman
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri bolstered its secondary through the transfer portal on Saturday, picking up a commitment from former Washington State cornerback Stephen Hall.
Hall, a captain and mainstay starter for the Cougars this season, will reinforce Mizzou at a position that regressed in 2024 with the loss of two cornerbacks to the NFL. He's now positioned to compete for snaps and a starting role.
The Tigers also lost another member of their 2024 recruiting class as cornerback Jaren Sensabaugh announced on social media that he would be entering the transfer portal. Sensabaugh is the sixth MU freshman to transfer. As the fifth highest-rated recruit in Missouri's class, his departure now means four of the program's top five 2024 prospects have exited after only one season in Columbia.
Hall began his career at the junior college level in Mississippi, spending three years in those ranks before transferring up to Washington State. He re-entered the portal with one year of eligibility remaining this offseason.Â
Hall made 50 tackles, including 3.5 for a loss, three pass break-ups and a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown this season. His Pro Football Focus coverage grade for the 2024 season was higher than any of MU's cornerbacks.
The Tigers are positioned to return Dreyden Norwood, Toriano Pride Jr. and Nicholas Deloach Jr. at corner for 2025. Norwood was a consistent starter, but Pride and Deloach alternated starting opportunities and at times split shifts during games as coaches challenged them to improve.Â
Through the transfer portal, Mizzou has now picked up 14 players:
Quarterback Beau Pribula (Penn State).
Running back Ahmad Hardy (Louisiana-Monroe).
Wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. (Mississippi State).
Offensive tackle Keagen Trost (Wake Forest).
Offensive tackle Johnny Williams IV (West Virginia).
The Tigers are still in the market for a couple more. Defensive back and offensive line seem like the remaining positions of interest, though most of MU's most pressing needs have been filled.Â
Music City Bowl takeaways, 'exhibition game' comment and SEC hoops: Eye on the Tigers
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On this week's Eye on the Tigers Podcast, Eli Hoff talks through his takeaways from Missouri's Music City Bowl win over Iowa. He also unpacks the bowl game's status — is it just an "exhibition game," like Eli Drinkwitz said? — before tossing out a bold idea about how to play bowls moving forward.Â
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Mizzou gymnastics holding joint wrestling event, St. Charles meet to boost attendance
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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Is there a sports term for a doubleheader that isn’t really a doubleheader because the two events are happening simultaneously?
That’s what will be taking place inside Mizzou Arena on Friday when Missouri gymnastics and wrestling programs will compete simultaneously in the return of the school’s Beauty and the Beast event. The showcase last happened in 2019.
“We’ve had it a bunch of times, and I get driven crazy by people in the neighborhood and the community: ‘When are we doing it again? When are we doing it again?’†wrestling coach Brian Smith said. “Especially my wife.â€
His team, ranked No. 19, will face No. 12 Cornell. The Tigers are battling injuries but will get to wrestle in Columbia for the first time this season.
MU gymnastics, meanwhile, will be opening its 2025 season against four teams: Southeast Missouri State, Illinois State and Ball State.
For the gymnastics program, rekindling the event is part of a trend to watch this season: scheduled competitions that can be marketed as novelty events.
Mizzou will also hold a meet in St. Charles for the second year in a row, bringing Alabama, Illinois and Iowa to Family Arena for the Zou in the Lou quad on Feb. 14. The Tigers first staged that event last year and were pleased with the results, even though a snowstorm on the day of the meet kept some fans from making the trek.
It’s a chance for Missouri to tap into the St. Louis market by holding another sporting event there — in 2023, the school played a women’s soccer match and a football game there, and the men’s basketball Braggin’ Rights game is held annually in Enterprise Center. There are perks to competing in a four-team neutral setting for gymnasts set on making a postseason run this year, too.
“Besides connecting with the fan base, it’s the ability to compete on that kind of podium setting,†gymnastics coach Shannon Welker said. “That’s a little bit of a different feel — not only physically, with the balance of it — but also visually and it preps us for SEC Championships and what we’re hoping to be at: NCAA Championships, too.â€
College gymnastics rankings — which aren’t produced via a poll, like some other sports, and instead weigh teams’ best scores — consider home-floor and road scores differently, so competing in St. Charles could also help the Tigers there.
A look at Mizzou gymnastics’ 2025 schedule, though, shows something interesting: Missouri will compete in the state five times, but only three of those events will take place in the Hearnes Center — its usual setting. The other two will be the Beauty and the Beast event in the basketball arena and the St. Charles quad.
That’s why Welker, sitting with the Post-Dispatch in his office before the holidays, had file folders of event documents and information sitting on his desk. Scheduling and staging events like these is different from a usual home dual, and it takes some planning.
Heading into a time when the finances of college sports will change and the pressure to generate revenue will likely increase, it’s also by design.
“We’re trying to do some stuff that will engage our fans,†Welker said. “I feel like the administration and our staff and some of the people we’ve got working with our team, we feel like we have an opportunity to increase our fan base.â€
And Welker will have the time to do that: He recently signed a contract extension running through 2029, the athletics department announced Thursday.
For example, he and the program were thrilled to draw more than 7,300 fans for a home dual against Louisiana State last year. But that kind of crowd is “the norm†in the Southeastern Conference, he said — a league that contains many of the nation’s best gymnastics programs.
“We thought this would be a great way for us to give people an opportunity to not only come out and see gymnastics but couple it with something else that’s unique — so the wrestling and the Zou to the Lou,†Welker said. “Just some things to really spark some enthusiasm and some attendance, quite honestly.â€
That shouldn’t come off as a coach who’s worried or critical of the fan base. Rather, Welker knows his sport’s best sales pitch is seeing it play out in person. Drawing fans in means, well, drawing fans.
“That’s the biggest thing,†he said, “is if we can get people there once.â€
Eli Drinkwitz and his players talk about their reaction to winning the Music City Bowl and how it feels. Video courtesy of Mizzou Athletics, edited by Jenna Jones.
