John Tonje Joins Mizzou Basketball

The Missouri men’s basketball team inked its first player of the spring signing period with the addition of guard John Tonje (Omaha, Neb.) from Colorado State, announced on Wednesday.

A four-year standout with the Rams who helped the team earn 80 victories during his four seasons on campus, Tonje collected 1,051 points, 359 rebounds and 102 assists during his career – shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from 3-point range.   

“One of the most experienced transfers in the nation, John is a proven winner during his college career,” said Whitten Family Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dennis Gates. “He brings a veteran leadership to our locker room and epitomizes our eight core values on and off the court. He adds size to our perimeter and is a three-level scorer that will make an immediate impact on our success.”

A 6-foot-5 guard, Tonje ranked second for the Rams in 2022-23 with a career-best 14.6 points per game. The Omaha, Nebraska, native also set personal bests with a field goal percentage of 47.3 and a 3-point clip of 38.9 during this past season, adding 4.7 rebounds, 43 assists and 25 steals. Overall, the senior placed 11th in the Mountain West Conference in scoring, seventh with a 61.1 true-shooting percentage, ninth with 61 made 3-pointers and eighth with a free-throw mark of 81.5 percent.

During his standout career, Tonje started 46 games for a Colorado State team that won 80 games and 45 conference contests, advancing to the 2022 NCAA Tournament as a six seed.

Tonje is the latest addition of a Missouri program that is coming off one its most successful campaigns in years during the 2022-23 season. In the team’s first year with Gates as head coach, the Tigers finished with 25 wins – their most in 11 seasons – while claiming their first NCAA Tournament victory in 13 years.

Mizzou also owns a top-25 freshman class – singing Jordan Butler, Trent Pierce and Anthony Robinson II to National Letters of Intent in November to go with preferred walk-ons in JV Brown and Danny Stephens.