Everyone expected a one-and-done player to carry Missouri’s program back from the dead this season. He was expected to be the savior of a team that won a combined eight SEC games in the past three seasons and return them to the NCAA Tournament.

He just wasn’t supposed to be Kassius Robertson.

That honor was expected to belong to hometown hero Michael Porter Jr., who committed to Missouri last spring, creating a hoops hoopla the program hadn’t seen in a decade. When Porter’s name was announced ahead of Missouri’s regular season opener against Iowa State on Nov. 10, Mizzou Arena was at a fever pitch. As little-known Canisius transfer Kassius Robertson was announced, the home crowd was understandably … less enthused.

Fast forward a little more than four months. The nation’s top-rated high school player a year ago and surefire lottery pick has played two minutes for Missouri. Robertson, whose one Division I offer out of high school came from a school in north-central Buffalo with four NCAA Tournament appearances in 79 years, has done exactly what Porter supposed to without an ounce of the same fanfare.

When Missouri’s 2017 recruiting class was finalized with Porter, his brother Jontay and Jeremiah Tilmon, Robertson wasn’t even an afterthought; he was a footnote. The Tigers had signed two highly-rated guards in Blake Harris and C.J. Roberts, and with starting guard Terrence Phillips returning, Robertson was realistically expected just to be a contributor — even by his own teammates.

“I don’t think to the extent that he has, but when you have Michael Porter coming in and showing off his skills that he has, you kind of focus on that,” junior guard Jordan Geist said. “But Kassius has grown throughout this year. The hard work he puts in is second-to-none. He’s worked for it, and it’s been awesome for us.”

That work ethic has been a source of pride for first-year head coach Cuonzo Martin, who has been vocal about expecting more from almost every other member of the team than Robertson. When a guy plays 35 or more minutes in 18 of your team’s first 28 games, what’s there to say?

Not only has Robertson led Missouri in minutes, but he’s also led them in scoring (16.5 PPG), 3-pointers made (82), 3-point percentage (42.7) and free throws made (102). He, along with Jordan Barnett, are the only two players to play every minute in a game for Missouri this season.

Yet despite all of the accolades and praise he’s drawn from Martin and his teammates, as well as opposing players and coaches, Robertson demurs when gets asked about things like winning SEC Player of the Week for consecutive weeks, something that hasn’t been done by any other SEC player this season.

“I think it’s really a huge part of the team,” Robertson said. “I’ve just got to thank the team for all the accomplishments because I wouldn’t have gotten those without us winning. It says something about the team and us winning, being on this little win streak and helping me play as well as I’m playing.”

Robertson’s level of play has undoubtedly been the catalyst for a Missouri team that is still projected to make the field of 68 despite its loss to league bottom-feeder Ole Miss Tuesday night. Making the tournament — something Robertson never got close to at Canisius — has been his goal since he stepped on campus this past summer. He is again reluctant to talk about any postseason honors coming his way, whether that be First Team All-SEC, which he is almost certainly a lock for, or even SEC Player of the Year. But based on numbers and contribution to his team, Robertson has a strong case for the latter. Robertson, Geist and even Martin might not have expected it when he got on campus, but Martin now believes that at the level Robertson is playing, nothing is out of the question.

“One, I never say what a guy can’t do,” Martin said. “Look at his numbers; he can shoot the ball. But to be where he is right now today, no I don’t think I would’ve expected that. I thought he would’ve started and made shots for us, but I thought Mike would be the leading scorer and all of that. At the pace he’s on now — I don’t want to say anything to jinx it — but he’s playing at a high level.”