Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking an individual look at the strengths, weaknesses and expectations of each of Missouri’s scholarship players.

After three seasons at Northern Iowa, Noah Carter decided to make the leap to a high-major program, transferring to Mizzou in the offseason. Carter’s development has been linear to this point, with the 6-foot-6, 235-pound forward making substantial improvements to his game year over year, topping out in the 2021-22 season at 15.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

Carter has the capacity to play both in the post and on the wing. He’s an efficient interior scorer, making 59.4% of his 2-pointers — his go-to move on the block is a hook shot over his left shoulder. And his skills on the perimeter are much-improved — Carter had just four total dimes in his freshman year, then handed out 26 as a sophomore and 58 as a junior. The Panthers found a number of ways to get him the ball, using him as both the ball-handler and the screener in pick-and-rolls, kicking it out to him on spot-up 3s and dumping it off to him on baseline cuts. He also made regular trips to the free throw line, drawing 4.8 fouls per 40 minutes according to KenPom, and cashed in on them at a 79.4% clip.

The Dubuque, Iowa native’s versatility fits well for a team trying to play positionless basketball, a big reason why several Power 5 schools reached out to him during his time in the transfer portal.

Carter could stand to knock down more triples as a career 32.2% shooter from beyond the arc, especially as someone who’s averaged more than four attempts per game in each of the past two seasons. The other questions come on the defensive end and who he’s capable of guarding: How will he hold up against giants around the rim? Can he keep up with the speed of SEC wings?

Gates views Carter as a key piece of the Tigers’ future over the next two seasons, with the team naming him a “captain-in-waiting.” And the way he’s fine-tuned his skills each year, it’ll be intriguing to see what playing at a higher level does for Carter’s potential. But even playing positionless basketball, the senior will need to find his place.