Dennis Gates rarely lets his emotions rise to the surface. The Tigers’ head coach is almost always cool, calm and collected, staying even-keeled on the sidelines and keeping his composure in check.
But on Friday night, he wore his heart on his sleeve. After being introduced at Mizzou Madness, Gates turned to the sea of students and fans standing in front of The Columns, climbed atop a platform and waved his arms up in the air to pump the crowd up. The coach was genuinely excited about the event — he knows how important it was for his team a year ago.
Mizzou Madness serves as a proper introduction between the Tigers and their fan base. Last year’s squad had a dozen newcomers who’d never played in front of the “Show-Me” state crowd. The tip-off event gave them a taste of what was to come and helped the first-year players understand the type of culture the school has. Two of the team’s former players, Tre Gomillion and Ben Sternberg, were in attendance on Friday to show their appreciation for it.
With six transfers and five freshmen joining the Tigers this season, Gates is hopeful Mizzou Madness has the same impact.
“Our newcomers are in an assimilation stage where they're getting to know the culture but the culture is also getting to know them,” Gates said. “So it makes it a lot easier, it gives these guys open arm to lean into an acceptance. And it's important when we continue to recruit. How we recruit, we talk about family, we talk about togetherness, we talk about relationships, and that's what we try to make sure we live by.”
Gates said the process for this year’s group has been relatively similar. He’s seen the transfers making strides and the freshmen showing promise. Senior forward Noah Carter, who went through it last year after transferring in from Northern Iowa, agreed.
“We've definitely seen a lot of the same things as last year because, obviously, when you have so many new guys, you're gonna have to integrate and put the same stuff that you would because it's a new team,” Carter said. “So everybody's got to learn everything.”
The head coach said it’ll be important for everyone to hit the reset button after the success the team had last season. That includes the returners. This year’s group isn’t going to be an exact copy of last year, which means everyone’s role is going to change at least a little bit.
Sean East II seems to be one of the players Gates is expecting more from. The graduate senior point guard won the 3-point shootout at Mizzou Madness — he ended up in a three-way tie with Indiana transfer Tamar Bates and Iowa State transfer Caleb Grill in the opening round with 14 points each, won the tie-breaker round by going 5-for-5 at the top of the key, then defeated senior Hayley Frank from the women’s team in the championship round, 14-13, clinching the title for the second year in a row. East only shot 22.1% from beyond the arc last season but Gates said East has been working hard to improve that number. The Louisville, Ky. native is taking on a bigger leadership role, along with Carter and senior big man Mabor Majak, as all three were voted team captains.
Gates also wants to figure out his rotation so that East is able to share the court more with fellow graduate senior guard and co-captain Nick Honor.
“We gotta get increased minutes with those guys on the court because as I continue to watch the film (from) last season, those guys really impacted the game when they were on the floor together,” Gates said. “And we gotta get more out of Nick Honor. Nick has to shoot the ball more. He's a very unselfish player, but his shooting percentage is one of the best shooting percentages we have returning. So I'm expecting our guys to be great.”
Sophomore forward Aidan Shaw and junior guard Kaleb Brown are two others Gates is expecting a leap from. Gates has championed Shaw as someone he thinks will go down as one of the all-time greats at MU and has been on record multiple times this offseason stating his belief that Brown will be a contributor this year.
“Aidan Shaw needs to take a jump and we expect him to take a jump. He's one of the best vertical players in the country, no one can touch his athleticism. He has to show that now in his stats: rebounds per minute, blocked shots, making an All-Defensive team, right?” Gates said. “Kaleb Brown has had, probably, the best offseason of anyone in our program. I expect him to make contributions and continue to push toward the development that he's been able to show in a consistent way. And he's been tremendous. He had sparks last season, but understand, his growth this season is really important. So starting with those guys that's returning, I think those two are very important in what we do.”
Mizzou Madness isn’t just an introduction for the Tigers — it’s also a reminder that the season is just around the corner.
The team started up practices two weeks ago and has less than a month before its first home game of the year against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 6. With an event like Mizzou Madness helping them get there, Carter expects Missouri to be prepared.
“The vibe of the team that I've been seeing is, we're gonna be pretty darn good,” Carter said. “You know, we're a very talented team. Obviously, the new guys and freshmen are learning things but everybody's doing a great job. Coach Gates is really getting on us, you know, getting us ready. We got shoot, what is it ... 31 days and, yeah, it's getting down to the time. We gotta be on top of our stuff and I think we're gonna be ready. I mean, we're definitely taking the right steps that we need. But yeah, I think we've got a pretty good team.”
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