Mizzou men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates reflects on what led him to the Tigers
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Dennis Gates was introduced Tuesday afternoon as the 20th head coach for the men's basketball team at the University of Missouri.
Gates has spent the last three seasons as the head basketball coach at Cleveland State and prior to that held an assistant coaching position at Florida State University.
"My mentors have prepared me for this moment," Gates said. One name that was a hot topic for Gates on Tuesday when reflecting on what led to this point in his career was Leonard Hamilton.
Hamilton is the most successful coach in Florida State history being the all-time winningest coach and is the fifth all-time winningest coach in ACC history.
Gates says Hamilton often moved to the side at Florida State and allowed him to lead in moments to prepare him and give him the confidence to be at this point.
"From the scouting, from the responsibilities daily to even the interactions to our community, to the fanbase, boosters alumni and administration, he allowed me to do that on his watch and that's why I thank him," Gates said.
Gates said Hamilton allowed the "training wheels to be taken off under his watch" and that success has led him to where he is now.
Gates said he and Hamilton put together a national championship team and were likely to return the following season when he got the opportunity at Cleveland State.
At Cleveland State, Gates took over on July 26, 2019, just two weeks before classes started with three men in the program and no staff. Many told him he was committing "career suicide" by taking that job.
"He took over a rough program. I think there was maybe three players there at the time, it was late July. He used the portal, the attracted players very quickly and built a team and the year after that he was in the NCAA tournament," said Jeff Layman with the UM Board of Curators.
Gates immediately made upgrades in the roster and altered the trajectory of the program.
Cleveland State went 16-4 in the Horizon League in 2020-21 and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Gates' team did the same this season, winning the league and finishing with a 15-6 conference record.
As her first major hire for the program, athletic director, Desiree Reed-Francois said she recognizes the potential that Gates has to transform this program.
"I watched him as an assistant at Florida State when I was in the ACC and later as a two-time conference coach of the year who completely transformed a program at Cleveland State," Reed-Francois said.
Although his success at Cleveland State could have just been beginning, Gates said the time was right to leave because of the sacrifice with greater.
"That same team that we but together, they won championships, they cut down nets, held up trophies and they raised banners. For me, I knew the time was right because the sacrifice was greater and when you step out like that there is no choice but to succeed," Gates added.
