Who is Dennis Gates, Missouri Tigers’ reported choice for next men’s basketball coach?
The Missouri Tigers have reportedly found their new men’s basketball coach.
Dennis Gates, the coach at Cleveland State the past three seasons, will be hired at Mizzou if approved by the Board of Curators, PowerMizzou.com reported Saturday.
On Friday night, Gates emerged as Mizzou’s leading candidate, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Gates, 42, would replace Cuonzo Martin, who was fired on March 11 after five seasons.
At Cleveland State, Gates has compiled a 50-40 record, including a 38-22 mark in conference. He turned the program around with consecutive Horizon League regular season titles and a 2021 NCAA Tournament berth. This past season, the Vikings finished 20-11 and lost to Xavier in the first round of the NIT.
The Cleveland State job is Gates’ first as a head coach after eight seasons as an assistant under Leonard Hamilton at Florida State. Gates’ salary is $550,000 annually with a buyout of $600,000.
Gates established himself as a top assistant at Florida State and played a key role in the Seminoles’ recruiting success. He helped recruit future NBA lottery pick Jonathan Isaac at Florida State, along with five-star Dwayne Bacon, four-star M.J. Walker and four-star Terance Mann.
San Francisco’s Todd Golden, who Missouri was thought to be pursuing, was announced as Florida’s head coach on Friday. Other potential candidates: Murray State coach Matt McMahon and George Mason coach and former Mizzou player Kim English, a fan favorite.
Former Tigers athletic director Mike Alden served as a senior adviser for Cleveland State’s school president before Gates got the job there in 2019.
Gates would be tasked with trying to turn around a Missouri program that is reeling from its worst decade in nearly half a century in terms of win percentage, with an apathetic fan base to boot. The Tigers have finished six of the last 10 seasons with a winning percentage under .500 and are 63-115 in SEC play since joining the conference.
This story was originally published March 19, 2022 at 10:22 AM.
