West Cook News

Chicago native Dennis Gates, coach of the University of Missouri Tigers, has been named the SEC men's basketball Coach of the Year by USA Today.

Gates spent his childhood in Garfield Park, where he attended Daniel Webster Elementary School, located at 4055 W. Arthington St., as well as Whitney Young High School, from which he graduated in 1998. 

In 1998, Whitney Young's boys basketball team won the state championship. On that squad were future college and NBA stars Quentin Richardson (DePaul), Cordell Henry (Marquette) and Najeeb Echols, in addition to Gates. Gates was a prominent player for the team (Missouri). The Dolphins finished with a record of 27-1 and won the state championship game with a 61-56 victory over Galesburg.

Gates received numerous offers to play collegiate basketball, but he ultimately decided to attend the University of California. At Cal, he started 34 games over four years and helped lead the Bears to two berths in the NCAA Tournament. Cal's head coach, Ben Braun, referred to Gates as the "lockdown defender" for the club.

Gates held assistant coaching positions with the Los Angeles Clippers (2002), Marquette (2003), Florida State (2004 and 2011), Cal (2005), Northern Illinois (2007), and Nevada (2009) prior to becoming the head coach at Missouri in March 2022. He also held the head job for Cleveland State (2019-2022), where he was named Coach of the Year twice.

Gates said that the "connectivity" of the team extends far beyond the realm of basketball, and he expresses the hope that it will keep the players and coaches connected for the rest of their lives. This feeling of togetherness also has contributed to the team's success, as demonstrated by the fact that they have scored an average of 77 points per game at home since the beginning of conference play, which includes a game against Iowa State.