NCAA Basketball: Top 12 candidates for 2022-23 Coach of the Year
By Joey Loose
Dennis Gates (Missouri)
No stranger to immediate success, Gates has done plenty of solid work in his first season in Columbia with the Tigers. A longtime collegiate assistant, his first head coach stint came in completely resurrecting the basketball program at Cleveland State for the last three seasons, including a Tourney bid in 2021. Making the jump from the Horizon League to the SEC is not easy, but Gates has certainly handled the transition.
The Tigers won their first nine games this season with a roster that Gates basically completely rebuilt in the offseason. Leading scorer Kobe Brown was a holdover who’s taken on an expanded role, but other top scorers like D’Moi Hodge, Noah Carter, and DeAndre Gholston were all playing for various mid-majors last season. Missouri now sits at 17-6 and right in the middle of the SEC. While reality has set in during conference play, this team does have nice wins over Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Iowa State this season; a slate certainly more impressive than anyone expected this year.
Before the season began, many lauded the hire of Gates, but few expected him to turn things around this quickly. Make no mistake, Missouri is not a top-level program this season, but certainly has the potential to get there in the years to come. We’re only judging Gates on this season, and this team having 17 wins in early February with a reformed roster is proof that this coaching hire was a certain success.