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COLUMBIA, Mon – The University of Missouri Board of Trustees unanimously voted Thursday to extend Whitten Family men’s basketball head coach Dennis Gates’ contract through the 2028-29 season.
“When he came here, Dennis Gates was talking about building a championship culture, and he’s doing exactly that,” said Michael Williams, chairman of the board of trustees. “He is a person with high standards and a clear vision for our student-athletes. It has been an exceptional season and the Board is delighted that our program is building on this success.”
Gates, whose original contract ran for the 2027-28 season, will increase his annual salary to $4 million from 2023-2024, with $100,000 per season throughout the life of the amended agreement. All other terms of his original contract remain the same.
“Thank you to the Board of Trustees, President Mun Choi and Desireé Reed-Francois for this opportunity to continue to lead basketball in Missouri,” Gates said. “The city of Columbia is my home, my family loves it here and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. My staff have done a great job to support my dream which builds on Mizzou’s great tradition. I’m proud to be a tiger and to coach at this wonderful institution.”
“Coach Gates changed Mizzou basketball in less than a season,” said Mun Choi, president of the University of Missouri. “His bold and strategic coaching methods have formed a team that embodies the courage and determination of our university. Under his stewardship, his players thrived both on the pitch and in the classroom. Every fan is excited about the direction of Mizzou basketball. and we will all enjoy cheering on Dennis Gates and our team at the upcoming NCAA tournament.”
“We are on an upward trajectory with Coach Gates leading our men’s basketball program,” said Desireé Reed-Francois, director of athletics at MU. “We have seen the immediate results of the program through victories on the pitch, record-breaking numbers in the classroom and enthusiasm in our community. Coach Gates has been open about his goals of winning championships and hanging banners at Mizzou Arena and I believe we’re on that path under his leadership.”
Gates enjoyed one of the best debut seasons of a Mizzou head coach, leading the Tigers to 24 wins, the second most for a first-year coach. USA Today named him the 2023 Southern Conference Coach of the Year. Missouri, ranked 11th in the SEC preseason poll, tied for its best record since joining the 2012-13 league with 11-7, clinching a double bye and being No. 4 in the conference tournament before it in Mizzou advanced to his first SEC semifinal history on Friday.
With a renewed departmental focus on fan experience, the Tigers sold seven games, the second highest in Mizzou Arena history, and averaged 11,377 fans per game, ranking fourth in the SEC. The 62.6 percent increase in enrollment from 2021-22 is the largest jump among Power 6 schools nationwide.
Of the 24 men’s basketball coaches to join the SEC since 2012-13, Gates’ 24 wins this season were the most for a freshman league coach since John Calipari’s freshman season in Kentucky (2009- 10) 35 games won ).
Academically, men’s basketball recorded its highest fall semester GPA to date in 2022. Three student-athletes achieved a 4.0, four earned a spot on the Dean’s List, and 13 earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Kobe Brown was named the 2023 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the program’s first-ever honoree.
The Tigers (24-8) return to action against No. 1-seeded Alabama in the semifinals of the SEC tournament on Saturday. The game begins at 12 p.m. CT in Nashville, Tennessee and will be broadcast on ESPN and the Tiger Radio Network.
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