Dennis Gates hired as new men’s basketball coach

After days of speculation, it’s official. Dennis Gates is the new men’s basketball coach at the University of Missouri.

Reports surfaced over the weekend that the Tigers had landed on Gates as their man to replace Cuonzo Martin, who was fired on March 11. The move had to be approved by the school’s Board of Curators first.

Following a closed executive session Tuesday, the curators approved the Tigers’ hiring of Gates as their 20th full-time head coach in program history. Contract details were not immediately available.

Gates, 42, has spent the last three seasons as the Cleveland State coach and was an assistant for eight years under Leonard Hamilton at Florida State before that. Gates will be formally introduced during a press conference at noon Tuesday inside Mizzou Arena that will be shown live on SEC Network.

“After a comprehensive and efficient national search, during which we had the privilege of speaking with an impressive group of coaches, it became clear Coach Gates was what we needed in the next leader of our basketball program,” athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois said in a release. “He’s smart, driven and focused on winning. He’s a proven recruiter, a strong evaluator of talent, an innovative teacher of the game and has a unique enthusiasm and passion for his work and for his student athletes that draws people in. He shares our vision of where Mizzou basketball can and will go. It is our privilege to welcome Coach Gates, his wife Jocelyn, and their family to Mizzou.”

This is the first major hire for Reed-Francois, who came to Missouri from UNLV last August. She fired Martin, a long time friend and colleague, after the Tigers finished the 2021-22 season with a dismal 12-21 record that included seven noncompetitive losses by at least 20 points.

That season capped off the worst decade stretch for the program in half a century in terms of winning percentage, which had the fan base into a deep state of apathy and hungry for a change. Now Reed-Francois and her athletic department believe Gates will be the man to bring the Tigers into a new era of success.

“Desiree Reed-Francois is focused on a results-driven, championship culture that supports our student-athletes,” University of Missouri president Mun Choi said. “We all agree Coach Gates fits into that vision and will take Mizzou basketball to new heights. We’re excited to welcome Coach Gates into the Tiger family of students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends.”

Gates is no stranger to a rebuild. When he took over the Cleveland State program in late July 2019, the team had gone 40-89 over the previous four seasons and there were only three players left on the roster.

Known for his recruiting connections with heavy ties to the Chicago area, where he went to powerhouse Whitney Young High School, Gates quickly reconstructed the roster and led the Vikings to an 11-21 record that season, including a 7-11 mark in the Horizon League — the team’s most league wins since 2014-15.

Gates was named Horizon League Coach of the Year for his efforts that season (2019-20) and then earned the same honors the following season, when he led the Vikings to their most ever wins in conference play (16-4), complete with a regular season championship, conference tournament title 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 was Gates’ first as a head coach. In addition to Florida State, he also worked at Marquette, Cal, Northern Illinois and Nevada. Gates also spent a season as a skill development coach with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers in 2002-03 following his playing career at the University of California.

Gates established himself as a top assistant at Florida State and played a key role in the Seminoles’ recruiting success, including landing lottery pick Jonathan Isaac, five-star Dwayne Bacon, four-star M.J. Walker, four-star Terance Mann and future NBA first round pick Mfiondu Kabengele.

Carrying over that recruiting prowess will be critical to Gates’ success in the SEC, which has significantly improved in talent level and reputation in recent years. Gates enters the conference as one of six new coaches hired or expected to be hired in recent weeks, joining Todd Golden at Florida (from San Francisco), Mike White at Georgia (from Florida), Chris Jans at Mississippi State (from New Mexico State), Matt McMahon at LSU (from Murray State) and Lamont Paris at South Carolina (from Chattanooga).

“I have been so fortunate throughout my career to work at some outstanding institutions with incredible people, and after doing my research and speaking with Desiree and President Choi, it is clear that Missouri is a tremendous opportunity with unlimited potential,” Gates said. “We will build a program that all Mizzou fans will be proud of, for how we play, how our student-athletes represent the University of Missouri and how our togetherness and work ethic will lead to on-court victories.”

Gates’ wife, Jocelyn, is a senior associate athletic director for sport administration at Ohio State. They have a daughter, Avery, and two sons, Duke and Denver.

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