Mizzou’s Dennis Gates recaps NBA Draft night, provides practice update
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou men's basketball coach Dennis Gates only spent one season with Tiger hoops standout Kobe Brown, but he said he knew his potential after their first conversation. That's why, on the night of the NBA Draft, he took a step back and watched everyone else's reaction to Brown being a first round selection by the Clippers.
You can watch the full press conference with Gates in the video player below.
Gates joined Brown and all of his family and friends in his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama on Thursday night. He said he wanted to see that special moment being shared.
"What I get a joy out of is sitting back and watching everyone else's reaction," he said. "I just took about five to 10 steps backwards, just to absorb the environment. I wanted to see his dad's reaction, I wanted to see his mom's reaction, I wanted to see his reaction, I wanted to see his entire village reaction because it doesn't just take one person."
Brown became the first Mizzou player drafted since Michael Porter Jr. went to the Denver Nuggets in 2018. Brown is the 11th former Tiger drafted since 2000. Gates said that getting guys to the league has been a part of his stated goal in Columbia, since day one.
"I would challenge each of us all, and I'm gonna do it myself, to just listen back to the press conference when I was hired. I said it's important that we not only raise banners, cut down nets and hold up trophies, but also sit on draft day with families and see dreams come true," Gates said.
Fellow Tiger star D'Moi Hodge also found his way into a two-way contract in Los Angeles, however, his is with the Lakers. Gates said that a member of the MU hoops staff was in the British Virgin Islands with Hodge on Thursday night.
Hodge will have a front row seat to one of the best players in NBA history: Lebron James. Gates' biggest piece of advice for him is to stay out of Lebron's way.
"When he [D'Moi Hodge] catches the ball, he better be able to make some shots," Gates said, laughing.
Gates added that Mizzou will always be there for Brown and Hodge, along with the other two alums, DeAndre Gholston and Tre Gomillion, who will hope to sign in the G League. However, the attention is now shifting to the 2023-24 season.
The Tigers brought on quite a few new faces in the offseason, including Iowa State transfer Caleb Grill, Indiana transfer Tamar Bates, Colorado State transfer John Tonje, Campbell transfer Jesus Carralero and 7-foot-5 Oral Roberts transfer Conner Vanover.
Gates said one of the biggest takeaways from his first season is that they fell short of some goal, but he's going to look back at how his team fell short and overcome it next season. In addition, staying healthy is priority number one. He said if guards Tre Gomillion and Isiaih Mosley were good to go all of last season, that depth could have made a difference.
The team already has a new goal. Gates said they circled April 6th and April 8th on the calendar, which are the dates of the next NCAA Tournament Final Four.
