Dennis Gates says Mizzou’s emphatic turnaround wasn’t optional: ‘It was a mandate’
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Dennis Gates is getting ready to lead Mizzou into its 2nd NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 3 years. Before we get to that game, Gates made an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” early Thursday morning.
The major question he was asked was: How did you deliver such a major turnaround? After 25 wins during his first season with the Tigers, the program went a horrific 8-24 last season with a winless mark in SEC basketball play. It was the only season without a conference victory for Mizzou since the 1907-08 team lost all 5 conference games in the Missouri Valley Conference.
As it relates to this season, Gates said the big-time turnaround was never optional for him and his players:
“It wasn’t a ‘try’ in my vocabulary, it was a mandate that ‘This is what we’re going to do’,” Gates explained. He went on to describe that he felt last year’s team still had substance and was capable of playing like winners, even if the key results never followed.
“I think when you look at what we did the prior year, you look at my track record, you look at who I am every day, but you look at the substance,” described Gates. “The results were one thing, but the substance is a whole other (thing). We played like winners.”
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The program did add some key reinforcements via the transfer portal in the form of leading scorer Mark Mitchell (Duke) and key point guard Tony Perkins (Iowa), but the major thrust of Mizzou’s turnaround was staying the course and remaining healthy. And it certainly paid off.
The Tigers went 7-11 in Quad 1 games this season and finished tied for 6th in the SEC with a 10-8 league record. Mizzou also went 5-5 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25, including then-No. 1 Kansas, Florida and Alabama throughout the season.
Now, Dennis Gates will lead his Tigers into a Round 1 matchup vs. Drake on Thursday night. ESPN Bet has Mizzou as a 6.5-point favorite to start the tourney, and the Tigers are +1800 in the Final Four odds to win the West Region and advance to the national semifinals. Florida is the favorite in the West Region, checking in at -125 as the 1-seed.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
