How Missouri basketball’s Mitchell Smith changed his body and position

When Cuonzo Martin was hired as Missouri’s basketball coach in March 2017, it only took him a couple of weeks to get a feel for most of the roster he was inheriting.

But with Mitchell Smith, that process took nearly a year.

At the time of Martin’s hire, the 6-foot-10 center was only a few weeks removed from surgery to repair a left ACL tear that he suffered 11 games into his career. Now fully recovered, Smith is playing a different position for Martin with a significantly thicker frame.

Smith returned to summer workouts the July after the operation, but wasn’t able to fully practice. Martin’s first impression of Smith last summer?

“He had a thin frame,” Martin said.

Smith, from Van Buren, Ark., estimates that he weighed maybe 190 pounds when he first stepped foot on Missouri’s campus in the summer of 2016.

Weightlifting wasn’t something Smith was used to, because his high school didn’t emphasize it. As a freshman, three to four reps on the bench press with 150 pounds was considered a good day for him.

Then Martin introduced Smith to strength coach Nicodemus Christopher.

As Smith continued to rehab his knee going into the school year, both parties decided a redshirt would be the best option.

“A redshirt year for me is a blessing in disguise,” Christopher said. “When you have a guy who’s not playing, a lot of the times you forget that September through March, that is one of the most uninterrupted times where he and I can spend more time training. He’ll practice, but outside of that, what else is going on?”

While Martin’s first Missouri team played with a short bench as Smith and star freshman Michael Porter Jr. were lost to injury, Christopher began to work his self-titled “crockpot method,” which preaches results over time.

Christopher showed Smith former players that he physically developed, including Memphis Grizzlies forward Ivan Rabb, who came to California with a similar frame before bulking up to NBA teams’ approval.

“It just made me want to work harder,” Smith said. “Seeing that (Christopher’s) established and knows what he’s doing made me want to work harder.”

Smith changed his diet to bulk up, eating between five to six times a day. Known on the team as a carnivore for his love of steak, and for his sweet tooth, Smith cut ties with almost all forms of candy.

“I can’t part ways with Skittles,” he said.

As Martin’s team contended for an NCAA Tournament berth, Smith joined Christopher in the weight room every morning before class.

The more weight he gained, the more he wanted to work out, whether it was scheduled with Christopher or impromptu, like when the team had downtime on the road or between tournament games.

He put on 20 pounds of muscle and now weighs 220. He can do 10 reps of 185 pounds on the bench press.

Smith was recruited as a traditional center, but when he returned to practice, Martin wanted to try him out on the wing and have him defend guards, something Smith never did in high school.

“I embraced it,” Smith said. “As a big guy you watch guards in the NBA and you think that stuff’s cool. So getting to be put out there and guard guys like that, and switch around on offense, you enjoy that.”

Martin said his reasoning for taking Smith out of his comfort zone was simple. Basketball is going away from the traditional five-man and Missouri already had post players in Jeremiah Tilmon and Reed Nikko. Martin wanted to see if Smith could space the floor and handle ball screens set against him while defending.

Smith said he had a mental hurdle to clear while adjusting to Martin’s numerous tests, because he was afraid of re-injuring his knee. But Christopher’s teachings didn’t just produce results for his body. Smith’s confidence in the weight room translated to the court.

“I’ve come along way,” he said. “My freshman year, when I was playing, I wouldn’t take shots that weren’t out of my area. I was real passive. But now that I have confidence in my game I’m not afraid to take a shot or a drive.”

While Smith sees the benefits to sitting out the past year, it doesn’t mean it was easy for him to play cheerleader for a program that went to its first NCAA Tournament in five years. Mizzou won eight games the season Smith played as a freshman.

“It was definitely hard not to play,” he said. “You go through practice and then you get to see the guys go out and have fun. It was rocking this year. It was hard sitting there.”

Smith is one of a few players on Missouri’s team that enters this season a year removed from basketball, joining K.J. Santos and Javon Pickett. But unlike them, Smith returns to the court with a different frame and position.

With limited game film on Smith from his freshman season, he smiles while thinking about the headaches he’s going to cause opposing coaches.

“It’d be a big scouting difference,” he said. “They’d say I’m weak, I’m a frail guy, (doesn’t) like contact. Now if they see me on the court that would really change.”

This story was originally published June 25, 2018 at 4:21 PM with the headline "How Missouri basketball’s Mitchell Smith changed his body and position."