Report: Dennis Gates hiring former assistant Steve Wright to Missouri coaching staff

Missouri coach Dennis Gates is hiring Duquesne assistant Steve Wright to his staff, according to Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman. Wright was on Gates staff while at Cleveland State.

Wright served on the Dukes’ staff since July 2023. Before that, he was coaching at his alma mater, Bowling Green where he spent three seasons on Michael Huger’s staff.

He worked under Gates before that, serving as video coordinator for Cleveland State in 2019-20 before making his move back to his alma mater. Duquesne head coach Dru Royce also worked under Gates on that staff, and would later hire Wright to his own staff.

Wright does have head coaching experience at both the high school level, as well as on the AAU circuit. From 2017-19, Wright served as head coach at Princeton High School in Cincinnati and even earned coach of the year honors in his district during his tenure. With AAU, he coached the 17U King James team in Akron from 2014-16, and was an assistant director and head coach for Under Armour’s C2K AAU 16U in Columbus from 2017-19, coinciding with his stint at Princeton HS.

On the court, Wright spent three seasons at Bowling Green, playing all of those under head coach Dan Dakich from 2003 through 2006. He went on to play professionally in German from his departure from Bowling Green, until 2011.

He went on to start his coaching career at the University of the Cumberlands, located in Williams, Ky. He would go on to achieve his Master’s degree in teaching from the institution in 2015 well after he left the program. Wright would go on to join Columbus State Community College, spending three seasons there before beginning his stint at the preps level.

Arizona State transfer center Shawn Phillips Jr. commits to Missouri

After spending the last two seasons in Tempe, Shawn Phillips entered the transfer portal for the second time in his career. He’s found his next home, committing to Missouri.

It’s easy to see why the Tigers were interested in Phillips (4.3 ppg. (55.5% FG), 3.7 rebounds). He’ll be hoping for a repeat of those numbers and then some with his new team over the course of the 2025-26 season.

Moreover, Phillips played the past two years for Arizona State. While with the Sun Devils, Phillips posted 5.4 points (56.5% FG), 4.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game in 54 appearances. That includes a career-best season this past year with statistics of 5.4 points (57.5% FG), 5.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 30 games played, which had him second on the team in blocks and third in rebounding.