Chicago City Wire

The University of Missouri head basketball coach, a Chicago native, was named USA Today's Southeastern Conference (SEC) coach of the year on March 6, after guiding the Tigers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Dennis Gates led "Mizzou" to a major a turnaround in his first season. After winning just 12 games in 2021-22, the Tigers earned an NCAA Tournament bid, beating Utah State in the first round before losing 78-63 to Princeton in Round 2. Missouri had been picked to finish 11th in the SEC in the preseason media poll. Instead, they came in fourth, coming up just shy of third place, and beating Tennessee in the SEC Tournament to earn an NCAA bid.

Most of the team's roster was recruited as transfer by Gates, as Missouri had only three returning players this season, and one freshman receiving significant playing time.

Raised in Garfield Park, Gates attended Daniel Webster Elementary and Whitney Young High School, graduating in 1998. He was a star on Whitney Young's 1998 state championship team, which also included future NBA star Quentin Richardson, and college stars Cordell Henry and Najeeb Echols. The Dolphins went 27-1, defeating Galesburg 61-56 in the state title game.

Gates was heavily recruited by colleges, choosing California, where he helped lead the Bears to two NCAA Tournament appearances, starting 34 games over four years. Cal Coach Ben Braun called him the team's "lockdown defender."

Before becoming head coach at Missouri in March 2022, Gates had assistant coaching positions with the Los Angeles Clippers (2002), Marquette (2003), Florida State (2004 and 2011), Cal (2005), Northern Illinois (2007) and Nevada (2009) before becoming head coach at Cleveland State in 2019, where he performed a similar quick turnaround as head coach of the Vikings and was named Horizon League Coach of the Year twice before taking over at Missouri.