Dennis Gates shares honest assessment of where Missouri program is

Missouri lost a decent effort at Kansas with a 73-64 defeat inside Allen Fieldhouse to the Jayhawks. Even so, Dennis Gates knows that this is still only the beginning for the Tigers and his program as a whole.

Gates spoke about the trajectory of Mizzou in his tenure during his postgame press conference in Lawrence on Saturday. In comparison to Bill Self and Kansas, he says Missouri is a baby of a brand that has a lot of growing still left to do.

“We’re in the infant stages,” said Gates. “I look at – let’s just say Kansas. Bill Self has been here for, what, 20 years? He has been building for 20. There’s an impact in recruiting, there’s an impact when it comes to the success that they’ve had. But, also, their culture. They’ve done a great job – nothing against them.”

Gates continued by saying he himself still has a ways to go as a coach. After three seasons at Cleveland State and now two in Columbia, he realizes that there’s plenty to learn for him as a leader as well.

“I’m only in my fourth, fifth year as a head coach. It lets you know where I’m at,” said Gates. “I still have growth in my own path that I will take and make sure that I will take with my post-season education, in-season education, and things like that that I make sure that I’m a part of.”

The nine-point loss to Kansas was Missouri’s third of the season. That brought their record down to 7-3 on the season.

Still, over his 45 games as head coach, the Tigers are 32-13. That includes a 25-10 record last season that featured an appearance in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. They then earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament that ended in the Round of 32 against Princeton.

Missouri has showed a ton of promise with Gates as head coach. Now, as he continues onward, he hopes that consistency and sustained commitment in their building will help them reach the level of their rivals in Kansas.

“We’re in the infant stages, we’re constantly continuing to get better,” said Gates. “We want to continue to connect with our tradition, the success of all our past coaches.”

“Hopefully, in the future, I’ll be here for 20 years and we can see the same success that Coach Self has had here and we can have it at Mizzou,” Gates said. “I truly believe we can.”