Dennis Gates evaluates where Missouri has grown this season

The Missouri Tigers hired head coach Dennis Gates to run the basketball program in 2022. In his first season, the Tigers went to the NCAA Tournament before starting out slower during the 2023-24 season.

Now into SEC play for his second season at Missouri, Gates shared how he feels the program has grown and what matters when it comes to program building.

“I think, ultimately, when it comes down to a head coach we’ve been in stages of building a program,” Dennis Gates said. “And, ultimately, when it comes down to it, you have to instill the spirit or even the identity of your team.”

Prior to coming to Missouri, Dennis Gates was the head coach at Cleveland State. He spent three seasons there, going 50-40 with an NIT and NCAA Tournament appearance. When he first got there, he inherited a team that had gone just 40-89 in the four previous seasons there. The year before Gates got to Missouri, the Tigers went just 12-21. Clearly, he knows how to turn around the fortunes of a program.

“Throughout a season, many obstacles come about. So, the growth of our team, looking at the offseason growth, trying to make sure that they’re doing every little thing that adds to the value of performance is important. Our A-core values are important. Them acclimating themselves to the academic part, but also balancing the rigors of training table, or strength and conditioning, and different, different things like that.”

Beyond anything else, though, Dennis Gates emphasized the value of team building and growth.

“So, team building is very important. The ultimate growth is in team building, making sure these guys continue to grow together, but also grow in our gameplan.”

Dennis Gates addresses what caused chippy game vs. Alabama

Missouri’s recent loss to Alabama got chippy at times, and after the game, Dennis Gates broke down what led to that physicality.

“Both teams were playing hard. Ultimately, our guys played hard, they played hard, and that’s what the flow of the game presented. You know, ultimately, in those situations, you would want the ball to bounce in your favor, get more baskets or more free throws but that wasn’t the case,” Gates said.

“We came away with zero free throws in the first half. You said it was a chippy game, right? You said that, right? Correct? But we shot zero free throws in the first half. So, I don’t know.”