Mizzou Hoops Player Review: Tre Gomillion

We’ve all heard the story at this point. When Dennis Gates took on the job at Cleveland State the roster was in shambles, and his first recruit was Tre Gomillion. Gomillion was a qualifier out of high school who played a year at Gordon State College, a JUCO in Central Georgia. He had no real offers, but Gates saw something in him. From there the two formed a bond, and together they rebuilt a moribund Horizon League into back to back Champions.

When Gates accepted the Missouri job, he knew he wanted to infuse Gomillion’s personality into the program. So what better what to do that than by having Tre use his 5th year of eligibility in Columbia and just permeate culture right away?

And permeate culture is exactly what Gomillion did. Early on he was visibly engaged as everyone’s top cheerleader (or maybe runner up behind Ben Sternberg), and he worked hard to be the little things “glue guy”. Gomillion was inserted into the starting lineup for the UCF game and stayed there until he sustained a groin injury. The injury caused him to miss the next seven games, he returned for five more, and then missed the remainder of the season.

But Gomillion never lost his engagement with the team and was leading nearly as much as his head coach. For a guy with no scholarship offers to four year schools, and limited opportunities, Gomillion made the most of what Dennis Gates gave him.

By the numbers

• Tre was the quintessential off ball guard

He attempted 93 shots all year, 21 were jump shots, 62 were at the rim. And 18 of those were on cuts to the basket. Those 83 shots generated 93 points, or 1.12 points per possession. Its hard to ask for much more from an off the ball reserve guard.

As Mizzou’s season unfolded, the Tigers supposed depth — and Gates’ flexibility — shrank as Isiaih Mosley dealt with off-court matters and Ronnie DeGray III suffered a knee injury. But you could argue that Gomillion getting dinged up might have been among the more important developments of the season.

Look at the chart. What do you see? Not much change between Gomillion’s presence on the floor or on the bench. That’s his value. Gates deployed the nominal guard at every single position on the floor. For example, Gomillion averaged about nine minutes per game at combo guard, often with D’Moi Hodge on the wing. That allowed DeAndre Gholston to get a breather. At the same time, Gates trusted Gomillion enough to have him bring the ball up and start Missouri’s offense, a small way to ease the strain on Nick Honor.

And Missouri’s operating efficiency — or net rating — barely budged. Put another way, Gates didn’t have to debate a tradeoff in giving a key cog a rest. He could just turn to Gomillion as a pressure release.

Gomillion’s utility is easy to see when you look at the lineups where he logged the most possessions. Need a secondary ball-handler? You got it. Want to try a four-guard lineup? Use Tre, who was rugged enough to jostle inside, at forward. Or do you need to save Hodge and Gholston’s legs? Tre, you’re on the wing.

Save for one lineup, the defensive performance with Gomillion on the floor was better — in relative terms — than when he was sitting. Even if offensive performance ebbed, it was still above average.

Gomillion was the spackle in those groups. He graded out as an average solo defender and was MU’s best rebounding guard, and almost half his touches on the offensive end by running the floor in transition, cutting or crashing the glass. When Gomillion did shoot off the catch, he hit at a 37.5 percent clip, per Synergy Sports data.

Gomillion’s the string section of the roster, its workhorse, shifting its role based on the sheet sitting on the stand. That steadiness is easy to take for granted, but remove it, and the sonic range and possibilities contract.

OVERVIEW

Goal accomplished.

What Tre Gomillion set out to do here at Mizzou he accomplished. While the groin injury sidelined him for longer stretches of time than either he or the staff would have liked, Gomillions infectious personality and basketball IQ persevered as he watched from the sideline.

I often think that people overrate things like culture in the locker room. Harmonious locker rooms can be unsuccessful and cantakerous ones can win big. But you do need players who play together and trust each other. They have to communicate.

When Gates brought Gomillion over from Cleveland State the goal was simple, bring over the energy and togetherness they played with in Cleveland. D’Moi Hodge and Kobe Brown got bigger accolades because they scored more, but nobody on the team communicated the way Tre did. He talked, a lot. And that’s a very good thing.

His shooting and production was pedestrian, and while he’s a very tough and rugged basketball player, he was sometimes overwhelmed by the length and athleticism in the SEC. But his communication, willingness to defend and rebound, and a willingness to defer on shots put his teammates in better positions all game long.

As such Gomillion was a large reason why Mizzou had such a successful season. That success in year one is going to help Dennis Gates and his staff recruit better faster and hopefully helps keep the train rolling in what has become a really tough league to win big in. It also wouldn’t be surprising to see Gomillion on this staff and soon, either as a Graduate Assistant or even into a non-Court role.