Missouri men’s basketball’s fifth and final acquisition in the transfer portal was graduate guard Jayden Stone. Stone was born in Perth, Australia, but chose to make the trip overseas to play high school ball in the United States, where he attended Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas. He was the No. 256-ranked composite player in the 2020 recruiting class, and held a plethora of Power Five offers.
Despite that, Stone chose to start his career at Grand Canyon University. He didn’t see much playing time at Grand Canyon, resulting in him transferring across the country to Detroit Mercy. After two productive seasons there, Stone felt that it was time to transfer once again — this time to West Virginia. However, Stone missed the entirety of the 2024-25 season due to an undisclosed upper-body injury, leaving him with one last season of eligibility. Stone landed on Missouri for his fifth season and is looking to be a key contributor for the Tigers this season.
Despite Stone’s unfortunate battle with injuries, he has still flashed some intriguing offensive ability. In the 2023-2024 season with Detroit Mercy, he averaged 20.8 points per game, shooting 42.2% from the field, 31.2% from 3-point range and 79.4% on free throws.
Stone is a volume scorer who mostly operates off the ball –– playing off the catch, getting to his spots quickly and creating good looks. Stone has only had one season of good 3-point efficiency, which does raise some concern. However, Stone’s high volume of jump shots and overall shooting touch paint the picture of him being a better shooter in a lesser role. Marques Warrick made a similar leap in shooting percentage last season after transferring up from a mid-major.
Stone’s playmaking, however, isn’t as inspiring as his scoring upside. He possesses solid vision and instincts, but at times he will force the issue, resulting in sloppy shots and turnovers.
Stone’s defense isn’t quite as galvanizing as his offense. He’s displayed some solid instincts off the ball, making him somewhat valuable. However, he has some glaring holes that tend to outshine the good. Stone has a tendency to disengage quite a bit in help side, leading to him allowing some easy buckets. Stone also doesn’t possess groundbreaking athletic tools, which makes him limited when guarding bigger and better athletes. With that said, Stone was tasked with a massive offensive load at Detroit Mercy, which likely factored into his lapses. Expect Stone to be far more attentive defensively in a smaller role with the Tigers.
Overall, Stone projects to be an impact player. Missouri head coach Dennis Gates has proven to be creative with how he gets scorers involved, reflected in the success of Caleb Grill, Tamar Bates and D’Moi Hodge. Look for Stone to fill a similar role to those players of the past and expect his scoring prowess to complement those around him this season.
Edited by Killian Wright | [email protected]
Copy edited by Veronica Butler and Ava Mohror | [email protected]
Edited by Alex Gribb | [email protected]
