Mizzou football adds five more transfers as 2026 portal window closes

Mizzou wrapped up a busy day in the transfer portal Friday, adding five players to the roster and addressing multiple positions ahead of the 2026 season.

In the wide receiver room, Kenrick Lanier II joins Mizzou from Minnesota. Lanier played in 20 games across the last two seasons, including his first career starts in 2025. He caught three passes for 79 yards this season and one for 17 in 2024.The 6-foot-1, 200-pound wideout gives the Tigers a heftier target for a receiving corps that’s still developing.

The offensive line got a new addition in Colin Sorensen, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound tackle from Charleston Southern. Sorensen started in 20 games over the past two seasons. In 2025, he was named to the All-Conference Third Team by Phil Steele.

Sorensen allowed just 23 pressures on 378 pass blocking snaps across the year, according to Pro Football Focus. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Mizzou filled out the remaining spot in its backfield with Vaaimalae Fonoti, who joins Mizzou after two seasons at Montana. Appearing in nine of Montana’s 15 games this season, Fonoti rushed for 184 yards and four touchdowns off of 48 carries.

Fonoti is the fifth and likely final addition to the running back room for Mizzou after it re-signed Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts.

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On special teams, the Tigers brought in punter Mark Shenouda from Tennessee State. Shenouda spent the first year of his collegiate career at Memphis before joining Tennessee State, where he’s started for the past two seasons. He has two years of eligibility remaining

This past season, he averaged 42.9 yards on 62 punts, 16 of which landed inside the 20-yard line. Most notably, Shenouda booted an 82-yard punt in Week 11 against UT-Martin. He kicked it from Tennessee State’s own 12-yard line before it settled at UT-Martin’s 6-yard line.

Though they struck out on other transfer targets at edge rusher, the Tigers landed CJ May from Louisville. May took a visit the same day, and he has four years of eligibility remaining.

May backed up a stacked unit of edge rushers at Louisville and didn’t appear in a single game in 2025. But still, he was the highest-rated prospect of Louisville’s 2025 signing class and chose the Cardinals over offers from Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee and others.

Friday marks the official closing of the 2026 transfer portal, which only means players can no longer enter, aside from those playing for Indiana and Miami in the CFP title game — they have until five days after that contest to make a decision. Teams can still sign players in the portal to fill out their rosters.