2022-23 Mizzou hoops player preview: Tre Gomillion

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.

Of the 10 players who transferred to Mizzou in the offseason, four followed head coach Dennis Gates from Cleveland State. Two are on scholarship, one of them being the first player Gates signed with the Vikings in Tre Gomillion. The Augusta, Georgia native did a little bit of everything for Cleveland State, averaging 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals last season.

Gomillion’s biggest contributions came on the defensive end. While he didn’t generate as many steals as his teammate, D’Moi Hodge, who’s also joining the Tigers, Gomillion does get up in his opponent’s jersey to smother the ball-handler. Hodge was named the 2022 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, but Gomillion won the award the year prior.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard didn’t receive a huge amount of touches on offense, but was very efficient with the chances he had — per KenPom, Gomillion a usage rating of 20.2% usage rating and a true shooting percentage of 58.9, the latter of which ranked 215th in the country. He isn’t necessarily an initiator but consistently puts himself in the right place at the right time, scoring on dump-offs along the baseline, kick-outs along the arc and, being a good rebounder for his position, putbacks at the rim.

It’ll be interesting to see what all translates for Gomillion. He’s never shot 3s at a high clip — he had a career-high 1.5 attempts per game last season and though he connected on 40% of them, he was a sub-30% shooter in the two years prior. He’s also never shot better than 75% at the free throw line.

Still, Gomillion is a winning player who knows the sacrifices it takes to build a winning program. He’s already built a lot of trust with his teammates, getting voted as one of Mizzou’s captains, and like Hodge and the other Cleveland State transfers on the roster, is already familiar with Gates’ system. Gomillion could be an important player for the Tigers, both on and off the court.