I remember walking into Tolton Catholic High School two years ago and walking down to the gym to see the 2021-2022 Trailblazers team practice.

That team finished second at state that season and had a number of college-level players. I was there to see one specific one that day.

As I chatted with Aaron Rowe that day, the present-day newest commit for the Missouri men's basketball team, and to this day I remember leaving thinking he was ready to be the next rising talent.

Then, I talked to everyone else about Aaron. They all had their own Aaron Rowe story about how talented he was and the incredible feats he was able to accomplish on a basketball court.

He wasn't a rising talent.

He was already there.

Rowe's story, which has its chapters already mapped out as a Missouri Tiger, means plenty for Columbia and the rest of Boone County. It means that mid-Missouri is on the map. It means a program like MU has an eye in its backyard.

It means the ceiling for Boone County basketball players can go as high as you can imagine.

Rowe has come so far since he was a soft-spoken freshman at Tolton that didn't have much to say, but would rather do his talking on the court. Now, as a more vocal leader for a talented Tolton team, Rowe said he'd tell that player to keep believing in himself.

"I would just say I'm proud of him, to just keep working like nothing's happened," Rowe said. "Keep a close circle."

Rowe's ability didn't come overnight. It was the result of work that he's put in ever since he started playing basketball when he was about three years old. He wasn't alone, as figures like Chantel Stanciel helped train him and also connect him to coaches like Michael Porter Sr. and fellow players like Isiaih Mosley and Dajuan Harris.

That all led him to his spot on the MOKAN AAU basketball teams, where he worked to gain notoriety at events like the Peach Jam.

"He deserves everything that's coming his way in regards to the success part because he's worked for it," Tolton head coach Jeremy Osborne said. "It's a big win for Columbia."

Rowe's commitment is the next step in a long line of basketball players who have worked to earn the chance to play high-level college basketball.

The most notorious has been Michael Porter Jr., but mid-Missouri has also produced Division I players like Mosley, Harris, Jamonta Black, Jimmy Whitt and Luke Northweather. That's not to mention the plenty of Division II, Division III and NAIA players that have grown in mid-Missouri.

There's a path players can follow, especially with AAU programs like MOKAN, MPJ Elite and Missouri Phenom. Not every player is as talented as Rowe, but that's not the blueprint: players who work as hard as he does will always have a chance at the next level.

Some of those players are close to him this year, like Tolton guard Zay Wilson. Rowe and Wilson have played on teams before but Wilson, who already has Division I offers, will get to team up with one of his best friends who's been itching to team up with him.

"I've been wanting to play with Zay at school," Rowe said. "I played with him on a couple AAU teams, but during school, we never had like a little school fan base and all that. So it's going to be real fun when I start playing."

Rowe's already planning on the fun he'll have when he sees the court again. He'll officially come back on Jan. 10, 2023. That's when Tolton hosts Hickman and Brock Camp, another Boone County basketball star and a good friend of Rowe's.

"I've been talking so much trash man," Rowe said.

That game is what the community is looking forward to, seeing Rowe go against Camp. But, it speaks volumes that Camp and other players from schools around Columbia were at Rowe's commitment ceremony Tuesday.

To his coach, that's an example of the person Rowe is off the court.

"That's an important piece because that shows what kind of person he is," Osborne said. "He is a very caring person. He's giving. He's got a good heart, but he's really good at basketball. And so, I think that that speaks volumes to the type of person he is, just the fact that he's got kids from all three other public high schools in town."

Rowe's return to Columbia will be a chance for the junior to show how far he's come in just two years.

Last year, Rowe transferred from Tolton to Link Academy in Branson. There, he played with Ja'Kobe Walter and Elliot Cadeau and learned plenty. Specifically, Rowe wanted to thank the coaches he had at Link, from head coach Bill Armstrong down, for helping him develop as a player and a man.

Now, Rowe has developed into a player who can be a role model for future players in Columbia and mid-Missouri.

His commitment to Missouri shows just how high a ceiling can be for players who do whatever they can to learn and improve.

"I feel like I've been through a lot, but it's been a lot of good stuff and I feel like from my freshman year to this year, I've developed a lot," Rowe said. "I just feel like a lot has happened in two years, but it's been a lot of good stuff."

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: What Aaron Rowe's commitment means for Boone County basketball