Dennis Gates finalizes staff for 2026-27 season
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Just days after finalizing his roster for the 2026-27 season, Mizzou men's basketball coach Dennis Gates has also put the finishing touches on his coaching staff.
On Tuesday, MU announced four new additions to Coach Gates' staff: Tavaras Hardy, Jimmie Foster, Jason Crowe Sr. and Zach Reynolds. Those coaches will bring in a wide range of experience, including both at the collegiate and high school levels. Hardy and Foster each combine to have coached 12 players that have either been drafted or signed by an NBA team.
"We have assembled a winning roster for this season, both on the court with our student-athletes and on the sideline with our staff," Gates said in a press release. "We feature a lot of experience in our coaching staff that has won at every level of basketball – from high major to mid major and to high school. It is a very diverse staff that compliments each other well and brings proven track records to Mizzou. They have all shown the ability to develop players at a high level and set up their student-athletes to have success at both the college and professional levels."
Gates also announced that long-time assistant Ryan Sharbaugh has been promoted to associate head coach.
He is the one coach that has been by my side all seven years and has played an instrumental part in building a winning program at Mizzou," Gates said.
Meet the Staff
Hardy will be serving as the team's offensive coordinator the 2026-27 season, working directly with the Tigers' post players. He will come to Columbia with Division I head coaching experience at Loyola University Maryland, as well as stops as an assistant coach at three power conference programs.
Most recently, the team's new offensive coordinator served as the head coach at Loyola for the last six seasons, 2018 to 2024. In that time, he led the team to the Patriot League Championship game for the first time in program history in 2021, while also coaching and developing the No. 30 overall pick in the NBA Draft in that same season.
Hardy also mentored the Patriot League's leading scorer in four of his six seasons at Loyola, while coaching five all-conference honorees, including four first-team selections.
Foster will bring more than 15 years of coaching experience to his new role in Columbia, most recently working as an assistant coach Colorado State. He only spent one season with the Rams, but helped coach them to 21 victories an invitation to the NIT.
He's also served as the associate head coach and/or assistant coach at Bradley, Green Bay and North Dakota. Foster helped build the Braves into a perennial Missouri Valley Conference contender, winning three league titles in 2018, 2019 and 2023.
Foster also has experience working with post players, helping five of those players develop into NBA Draft picks and signees.
Crowe Sr. is coming to Columbia at the same time as his son - five-star guard Jason Crowe Jr. - and will bring more than 25 years of experience with him as both a player and a coach. He most recently worked as the head coach at Inglewood High School from 2024 to 2026.
During that time with the Sentinels, Crowe Sr. led the team to back-to-back seasons with 25-plus victories, after the program hadn't posted a 20-win campaign since the 2015-16 season. Overall, he posted 54 wins over the course of two seasons. He also earned Coach of the Year accolades following the 2025-26 season by the Daily Breeze.
Crowe Sr. also had a long stint as the head coach at Lynwood High School, from 2017 to 2024. He was a two-time Gateway League Coach of the Year and led the Knights to their first state championship win in school history in 2023.
He was also the President/Director of Paul Pierce's The Truth EYBL team in the Nike Youth Basketball league, coaching the U17 and U16 teams. During his time with the program, he helped develop three future NBA players in Jamie Jaquez Jr., Peyton Watson and Keshad Johnson.
Reynolds comes to Mizzou after five seasons as a head coach, where he built two Florida high school into nationally-recognized programs.
Most recently, Reynolds was the head coach at Zephyrhills Christian Academy during the 2024-25 season, where he led the Warriors to an 18-4 overall record and an unbeaten mark in conference action. The team ranked in Sports Illustrated's top-25 high school squads.
Prior to his time with the Warriors, he was the head. coach at North Tampa Christian Academy for four seasons, from 2020 to 2024. He finished his time there with a 91-23 overall record, two state championships, a pair of district championships, one regional championship and a final four appearance.
In his five years coaching high school, 10 of his players signed to play basketball in college, including seven at the Division I level.
Coach Gates will also bring back some more familiar faces, in addition to Sharbaugh. Check out a list of all the returning staffers below.
- Associate head coach Ryan Sharbaugh
- Associate head coach Kyle Smithpeters
- Assistant coach Matt Cline
- Assistant coach/general manager Tim Fuller
- Assistant coach/director or basketball operations Griffin McHone
- Assistant to the head coach Dickey Nutt
- Assistant to the head coach David Carter
- Director of athletic performance Sean Conaty
