Dennis Gates makes Naismith Coach of the Year watch list
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
In the wake of what's likely one of the best turnarounds in college basketball this season, Mizzou men's basketball coach Dennis Gates has made the watch list for the Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year award.
He joins some other big names in the college basketball world, including two other SEC coaches. You can find a full list of coaches on the watch list below.
- Dennis Gates - Mizzou
- Greg Gard - Wisconsin
- Todd Golden - Florida
- Penny Hardaway - Memphis
- Tom Izzo - Michigan State
- Pat Kelsey - Louisville
- Dusty May - Michigan
- Grant McCasland - Texas Tech
- Ben McCollum - Drake
- Matt Painter - Purdue
- Bruce Pearl - Auburn
- Rick Pitino - St. John's
- Richard Pitino - New Mexico
- Kelvin Sampson - Houston
- Jon Scheyer - Duke
Coach Gates and the Tigers have done a complete 180 from the 2023-24 campaign to now. Just one year after going 8-24 overall and ending with an 0-18 mark in conference action, MU is now 20-6 this season and sits with a 9-4 record in league play. Mizzou hoops is also just one of two programs nationally this season to record three Top-5 wins on the year. It's only the second time in program history that's happened and the first time since the 1988-89 campaign.
Staying healthy has made a big difference for Gates and company. In the 2023-24 season, two of the Tigers' starters, guards John Tonje and Caleb Grill, went down with injuries and missed the majority of the campaign. Now, in the 2024-25 season, the Tigers have a whole lot of depth, as seven different players have led in scoring this season.
Mizzou is one of the top teams, nationally, in multiple categories this season, including free throws per game (No. 3), bench points per game (No. 4), scoring offense (No. 13), scoring margin (No. 15), effective field goal percentage (No. 20) and others.
The Tigers are now in the home stretch of the regular-season, with matchups against Arkansas, South Carolina, Oklahoma and No. 17 Kentucky on the books over the next couple of weeks. After that, Gates and his team will look to make a run in March, as MU is considered a lock in the NCAA Tournament at this point in the season. But, before March Madness, MU will look towards the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. The action begins on March 12.
The last time a Mizzou head coach won a national coach of the year award was in 2012 when Frank Haith was the United States Basketball Writers Association's coach of the year.
