Dennis Gates
Dennis Gates (born January 14, 1980)
Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: Missouri Tigers
Current conference: Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Cleveland State record: 50-40 (.556)
Missouri record: 33-34 (.493)
Overall record: 83-74 (.529)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2 (2021, 2023)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 1 (2022)
- SEC Regular Season Champion: 0
- Horizon League Regular Season Champion: 2 (2021, 2022)
- SEC Tournament Champion: 0
- Horizon League Tournament Champion: 1 (2021)
Awards:
- Horizon League Coach of the Year: 2 (2020, 2021)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2022-present | Missouri |
| 2019-2022 | Cleveland State |
| 2011-2019 | Florida State (asst) |
| 2009-2011 | Nevada (asst) |
| 2007-2009 | Northern Illinois (asst) |
| 2005-2007 | California (asst) |
| 2004-2005 | Florida State (grad. asst) |
| 2003-2004 | Marquette (grad. asst) |
| 2002-2003 | Los Angeles Clippers (skill dev.) |
Dennis Gates Facts
- Dennis Gates
- Born January 14, 1980
- Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
- Alma Mater: University of California, Berkeley (BS, 2001) / Florida State University (MA, 2005)
- After graduating from Whitney Young HS in Chicago, Gates went on to play at Cal under longtime head coach Ben Braun
- Twice earned Pac-10 All-Academic honors, earning his bachelors’ degree in just three years
- Played in one NCAA Tournament and two NITs; the Golden Bears were NIT Champions in 1999
- First foray into coaching was as a skills development coach with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers (head coach Alvin Gentry)
- Spent two years as a graduate assistant, one each at Marquette (under Tom Crean) and Florida State (under Leonard Hamilton)
- Returned to alma mater Cal in 2005, spending two seasons as an assistant coach on Braun‘s staff
- Spent two seasons each assisting Ricardo Patton at Northern Illinois and David Carter at Nevada
- Rejoined Hamilton‘s staff at Florida State in 2011, spending the next eight seasons as an assistant with the Seminoles
- During his second tenure, FSU went to four NCAA Tournaments; they reached the Elite Eight in 2018
- Helped recruit a number of top prospects, including NBA draftees Jonathan Isaac, Dwayne Bacon and Terence Mann
- Hired in July 2019 to be head coach at Cleveland State, returning to the Midwest for his first head coaching opportunity
- Inheriting a tough situation, Gates led the Vikings to an 11-21 record and was named the Horizon’s co-COY
- The 2020-21 Vikings won a share of the Horizon title and the Horizon Tournament to earn a NCAA bid; Gates was again Horizon COY
- Went 50-40 overall in three seasons, adding an NIT berth and a second Horizon title in year three
- Left CSU in March 2022 to become the new head coach of the Missouri Tigers
- Went 25-10 in his first season, earned a 7-seed as an at-large in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Round of 32
Dennis Gates Coaching Tree
- Dru Joyce III (Duquesne)