A pair of Tigers inked NBA contracts on Thursday night as Tamar Bates signed with the Denver Nuggets and Caleb Grill joined the Chicago Bulls.
The duo becomes the fourth and fifth players to sign directly with an NBA franchise in three years under Whitten Family Head Coach Dennis Gates – joining Kobe Brown (first-round selection by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2023), D’Moi Hodge (signed with Los Angeles Lakers in 2023) and Sean East II (signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024).
Bates ranked third on the Tigers with 13.3 points during his senior campaign, shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from 3-point range, while ranking first nationally with a school-record 94.6 percent clip from the free-throw line. He earned second-team NABC All-Central Region honors following the season, adding 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
The SEC Sixth Man of the Year, Grill finished second on the team with 13.7 points off the bench. He joined Bates on the NABC All-Central Region Second Team, leading the Tigers and ranking 44th nationally with a 3-point clip of 39.6 percent and 78th in the country with 2.69 triples per game. Grill also added 3.6 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.1 assists per game.
Bates and Grill keyed the Tigers to 22 wins during the 2024-25 season as Mizzou finished sixth in an SEC that sent a record 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament, posting three wins over schools ranked in the top five nationally for the first time since 1988-89.
