Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates is making an addition to staff, as sources confirmed to PowerMizzou.com on Tuesday that Rob Summers will join the team as an assistant coach.
Summers will take the title formerly held by Dickey Nutt, who is moving to an assistant to the head coach/senior advisor role while undergoing cancer treatments.
Summers previously spent three seasons as an assistant coach for Gates at Cleveland State, where he helped the Vikings earn a Horizon League tournament championship in 2021 and a regular season crown in 2022. Summers was described as the team's "offensive coordinator," and improved CSU's scoring average from 64.2 points per game in his first year to 70.9 points in his second to 75.4 points in his third.
The Columbus, Ohio native played at Penn State from 2002-04 and transferred to West Virginia, staying with the Mountaineers through the 2006-07 season. Summers was selected by the Iowa Energy in the 2007 NBA Development League Draft and later suited up to compete overseas.
Summers spent two seasons at Glenville State as an associate head coach and compliance coordinator, spent a year as Director of Operations at James Madison, was the head coach at Division II Urbana (OH) from 2014-17 and returned to JMU as an assistant coach for two seasons before joining Gates at Cleveland State. After Gates was hired at Missouri, Summers joined Miami (OH)'s staff as an associate head coach.
Former CSU center Anderson Mirambeaux followed Summers by transferring to the RedHawks in 2022 and saw his production take a leap, going from 1.5 points and 1.7 rebounds per game to 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. Mirambeaux became a two-time All-MAC Honorable Mention.
Summers joins a Tigers staff that includes associate head coach Charlton "C.Y." Young and assistant coaches Kyle Smithpeters, Ryan Sharbaugh and Matt Cline.
Update: Mizzou officially announced Summers' hiring at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
"As somebody who specializes in post development, Rob is the perfect piece to round out our coaching staff," Gates said in a statement. "Very few coaches have frontcourt-playing experience and his knowledge and ability to teach the position will no doubt elevate our program. As our top assistant coach at Cleveland State, he has familiarity with our system and was behind all of our success at CSU. Rob has continued to grow as a coach as he spent the last two seasons as associate head coach at Miami, helping turn that program into a MAC contender. He is without a doubt a future head coach and we look forward to him joining our program as we strive to win championships in the classroom, on the court and in the community."
"I'm incredibly honored and excited to join Coach Gates' staff at the University of Missouri," Summers said in a statement. "It is a dream come true to be a part of such a prestigious program with a rich tradition. I can't wait to get to work with the talented student-athletes and staff at Mizzou."
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