KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri will begin the basketball season without projected starter Jaylen Carey, who has been suspended for a violation of team rules, and DePaul transfer CJ Gunn, who has been ruled ineligible by the SEC after signing a professional contract in May.
Tigers coach Dennis Gates announced Carey's suspension Monday, the day before their opener against Cleveland State, while Gunn's ineligibility had been expected for a while after he played in the Canadian Elite Basketball League over the summer.
Expectations are high this season for Missouri, which was the first team outside the AP Top 25 preseason poll. The Tigers brought in one of the nation's most heralded freshman classes, headlined by five-star prospects Toni Bryant and Jason Crowe Jr., and surrounded it with a transfer class that includes Bryson Tiller of Kansas, Jamier Jones of Providence and Kennard Davis Jr. of BYU.
Carey, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Tennessee, also is expected to be a key piece after averaging 7.4 points and 6.0 rebounds last season.
Asked to elaborate on Carey's suspension, Gates replied: "Choose not to. I shared that one, and I usually don't share."
It's unclear whether Carey will be back for a high-profile game against Saint Louis on Friday night.
One player who is eligible for Missouri is Mark Mitchell Jr., an All-SEC forward who is among a multitude of players across the country who have received injunctions in response to the NCAA's new "five-for-five" eligibility model. Last week, a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge denied the governing body emergency relief that would have sidelined Mitchell for the start of the season.
Still, the 30 players involved in the case could have their eligibility taken away should a future court decision go against them. And like coaches across the country, that prospect has left Gates planning for the season without any certainty over his final roster.
"I have to still build the program while thinking of the risk. At any point in time, Mark's situation can be turned back off," Gates said, "so how do I keep the integrity of the team? I have to figure out if I'm going to start him or not, and I have not made a decision.
"Those things play a role," Gates said, "because you don't want interruption and growth taken away from the guys that long term can benefit from that, like a freshman in Toni Bryant, or even a sophomore in Bryson Tiller. I want guys to be able in their first year to operate in a way that they're not interrupted. Mark has done a great job. The team has done a great job. But me, as a head coach, that's the risk that I have to look into and figure out what I'm going to do."