Dennis Gates has shown he can develop talent. From Kobe Brown to D’Moi Hodge to Sean East II to Tamar Bates, plenty of players have taken a big step up in their performance during their time with Mizzou’s head coach.

Mabor Majak is becoming one of Gates’ latest success stories. He’s not an All-SEC caliber player like those listed above. But he’s gone from someone who rarely saw the floor at Cleveland State to a regular rotational player on an SEC team.

The Juba, South Sudan native played a career-high 22 minutes in Missouri’s game against Tennessee on Tuesday. It was more time than he received in all of the seven appearances he made a year ago combined. It was also the fifth consecutive game Majak saw double-digit minutes of action.

“I think he's given of himself,” Gates said. “He's very unselfish. He's given his body, he's given whatever it is. It's not even about offense. He's just out there fighting and giving us an emotional boost that most leaders do. He can do it silently, he can do it through action. And it can be the smallest things that stand out. He's very, very connected to all of his teammates. He's endured a lot in his life. But when you look at what he's able to do, he came away with five rebounds. Most of it was in the first half, but I thought he did a tremendous job for us.”

The 7-foot-2 big man has become one the team’s best rebounders on the offensive glass, pulling down 7.9% of the Tigers’ misses when he’s on the floor according to KenPom — second on the team only to sophomore forward Aidan Shaw. And as the team’s heaviest player at 245 pounds, Majak is often Mizzou’s best option at defending low-post bruisers, making it difficult for opponents to back their way into the paint.

Gates consistently looks for players who can produce “energy-generating behaviors.” Majak brings plenty of them — a reason why he’s been the first player off the bench in four of the team’s last five games. His and-1 putback slam against Texas A&M was one of his best examples.

On Tuesday, a midrange jump shot from Tennessee glanced off the front of the rim, deflected off of two Volunteers’ hands, then bounced outside the 3-point line on the left wing. Majak dove for the ball and tied it up with a Tennessee player for a jumpball, with the possession arrow pointing in the black and gold's direction. The effort brought Mizzou Arena to its feet and the Tigers scored on the next play to take a 12-11 lead. It was one of five rebounds Majak had during the outing, finishing third on the team.

The team captain is beginning to settle into his new role. In each of the four games since the team played Vanderbilt, when Majak’s playing time first got expanded, he’s finished with a plus/minus of no worse than negative-2 — a sign that, even as a walk-on, he’s not somebody opponents can take advantage of.

He’s far from a finished player. Majak has a tendency to get into foul trouble, committing 4.8 per 40 minutes this season. But he’s made real strides this year: he’s averaging a career-high 0.9 rebounds per game this season and 3.0 boards per game over his last five appearances.

For a team that’s suffered the number of injuries the Tigers have this season, Majak’s development has been important. He’s earned the extra minutes he’s gotten.

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