COLUMBIA, Mo. — Trent Pierce’s freshman year of college was a baptism by fire.
Missouri’s highest-ranked men’s basketball recruit in six years struggled to find a role on the court. Then, he missed several weeks with an ear infection so severe that he’d find blood on his pillow after sleepless nights. And the Tigers lost 19 games in a row.
Already an introvert by nature, Trent was withdrawing into himself.
It wasn’t just frustration or a 19-year-old’s angst. Trent was profoundly lost.
“Through high school and college,” he said, “I went through a lot of loneliness, a lot of questioning my self-worth.