In the first two years of Dennis Gates’ tenure in Columbia, the Missouri Tigers were built almost entirely out of transfers who had grown and developed elsewhere. Gates was able to take advantage of a foundation already there, then helped the player rise above it.

In Year 3, we have begun to see Gates’ development of young players for the first time in his pair of sophomores Ant Robinson and Trent Pierce.

The pair weren’t the first of Gates’ recruits on roster, that would be junior Aidan Shaw who Gates had to earn the re-commitment of after Cuonzo Martin’s tenure ended. But they are the first who he began the recruitment process for.

Year 1 for the pair wasn’t easy. It wasn’t for any member of the Tigers.

Robinson was thrown into a larger role than he might have been ready for with the lingering injury to John Tonje and the loss of Caleb Grill.

“I kind of started to figure out what Coach Gates wants me to do, wants the team to do,” Robinson said.

Then, Robinson lost his grandmother midway through the season and the momentum he had been gaining in minutes and his role were set back.

Robinson was left attempting to match up as an 18-19 year old with a lineup full of players who had redshirted and taken a COVID season, playing college basketball at the age of 23 or older.

He didn’t have the strength or the experience to take the leadership role needed as a point guard playing for Gates.

Now, Robinson is a team captain who brings a drive to attack the basket the team was thoroughly missing last season.

“Just trying to be aggressive, just trying to make them stop me,” Robinson said of his this year’s attacking style of play that has led him to attempting a team-high 49 free throws and making a team-high 41.

That aggressiveness led to a career-best game against California on Tuesday as Robinson poured in 29 points and dished out six assists, his fourth game with at least five this year, while heading to the free-throw line 15 times.

And that leadership aspect? Gates said the biggest problem for Robinson’s development there has just been the vocal aspect on the court.

“In some parts, It’s kind of natural to me, just having fun, and sometimes, like, trying to get on someone, it’s not. Because I’m trying to be, like, the nice guy and trying to be everybody’s friend,” Robinson said of his developing communication skills. “So it’s kind of hard, but you know, I’m just getting better at it every day.”

Robinson entered this season as the backup point guard once again, but with another lingering injury, this time to Tony Perkins, Robinson has taken the starting point guard position and run with it while the added strength from the weight room has helped him become one of the team’s leading rebounders at 4.5 per game, including his first career double-double against Arkansas-Pine Bluff when he had 11 points and 11 rebounds, while dishing out seven assists for a near triple-double.

While Robinson has continued growing into that leadership role, Pierce is continuing to develop his game off the bench.

Pierce played more than 10 minutes in a game just four times last year and scored double figures in only one performance, while never reaching five rebounds. For a 6-foot-10 forward, his interior game wasn’t up to expectations in Year 1.

“It’s starting in the weight room with me,” Pierce said. “I’ve been getting bigger, I’ve put on about 10 pounds now since coming in as a freshman and I’ve seen improvement in the weight room translating to on the court for me.”

Pierce’s offensive development has come along nicely this season as he has games of 13, 10 and 12 points while regularly shooting at least five times a game and attacking the basket more.

“I think last year, I really focussed on making shots and that’s kind of what caused me to have a bad 3-point percentage, because I only thought about my missed shots last year,” Pierce said. “I think this year, I’ve come in and been able to go downhill, attack the basket. I think I’m like 19-for-20 or something for two-point field goals. So just being able to play downhill has really opened my game.”

But the defensive side has had to come along, too, Pierce said. The offensive game is growing, so the last piece to being a more complete player is to take advantage of Gates’ defensive style of forcing turnovers and getting easy looks at the basket in transition.

“I think my defense has improved a lot,” Pierce said. “But I think just being able to get steals, to get fastbreak points, that’s some of the easiest points you can get in a game is fastbreak dunks. So I think defensively being more active as well as my rebounding is helping show scouts and all that, that I’m not just a shooter, I’m not just a scorer, but I can do things on both sides of the court.”

The development of both players from Year 1 to Year 2 has been clear to see and Gates is beginning to prove that he can help not just players who have a base already built, but he can be the one to help build the base to grow off of.

Next up, helping develop this year’s group of five freshmen into what they can become together with Robinson and Pierce for years to come.

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