Marquette Basketball: 5 candidates to replace Steve Wojciechowski as head coach

Dennis Gates

There are plenty of different kinds of names that will pop up in connection with the Marquette job; some realistic while others far less likely to come to Milwaukee. It’s an intriguing spot for a number of young mid-major head coaches, especially someone like Gates who previously worked for the university.

Gates’s coaching career began nearly two decades ago as a graduate assistant on Tom Crean’s staff. He spent time on the staffs at California, Northern Illinois, and Nevada in addition to nearly a decade on Leonard Hamilton’s Florida State bench. His work as head coach at Cleveland State has put him on the radar. He was hired to inherit a complete mess two years ago and led the Vikings to the Horizon League regular season and tournament championships in his second season, an incredible turnaround.

Is Gates ready to move from a Horizon League job to one in the Big East? His decade of experience on the benches of power conference teams certainly point to the potential for success, though it’s also worth wondering if he’d have the same effect with Marquette. He was able to fix a Cleveland State program that plays in the Horizon League, a conference that’s a shell of its former self. Could he be successful with the Golden Eagles?