100%, happens with most JUCOs, you just don't see as many in basketball. His run at the end was the best an MSU basketball player has ever played. Happened with Branden Vincent too, didn't play much in 2003, full-time starter and big contributor in 2004.
We have some strange (maybe just total dubmass) takes on here sometimes. There was no good or bad Dontae, it was just good, then a slow crawl up to elite, throughout the season. Every player has fluctuating games but there's generally a trend, like the stock market. His was up.