Mitchell dedicated to Kentucky within the switch portal after being granted an extra 12 months of eligibility. Now, he will return to Missouri
Mark Mitchell is returning to Missouri for the 2026-27 season after initially committing to Kentucky out of the switch portal, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported on Monday. Mitchell is among the prime gamers searching for a fifth 12 months of eligibility by way of the courts. His path to changing into eligible seems clearer at Missouri than via an intra-conference switch with the Wildcats.
Kentucky was seen as one of many greatest winners of the fifth-year chaos after touchdown Mitchell to safe the top-ranked transfer portal class in the 247Sports rankings. Despite being cleared by a Kentucky decide to play this season by way of a brief restraining order, his path to swimsuit up for Big Blue Nation grew to become sophisticated after high-major conferences, together with the SEC, spoke out about professionals returning to faculty.
SEC intra-conference guidelines state that an athlete can transfer within the conference, “within their sport’s regular NCAA transfer window immediately following the sport’s championship segment.” Sources advised CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander final week that the intra-conference SEC switch is below renewed scrutiny and was in severe doubt after SEC presidents reaffirmed their convention’s coverage on intra-league transfers.
Inside the college basketball eligibility chaos as conferences push back on returning pros
Cameron Salerno
Mitchell, who exhausted his eligibility after taking part in this previous season at Missouri, did not enter the switch portal throughout the window described because he wasn’t eligible to play (on the time) for the reason that five-in-five age-based eligibility mannequin rule hadn’t been made official.
Mitchell performed in summer season league with the Denver Nuggets earlier than exploring a path to return to college after going undrafted within the 2026 NBA Draft.