Dennis Gates

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dennis Gates
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamCleveland State
ConferenceHorizon
Record30–29 (.508)
Biographical details
Born (1980-01-14) January 14, 1980 (age 41)
Chicago, Illinois
Playing career
1998–2002California
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003–2004Marquette (GA)
2004–2005Florida State (GA)
2005–2007California (assistant)
2007–2009Northern Illinois (assistant)
2009–2011Nevada (assistant)
2011–2019Florida State (assistant)
2019–presentCleveland State
Head coaching record
Overall30–29 (.508)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Horizon League regular season (2021)
Horizon League Tournament (2021)
Awards
2× Horizon League Coach of the Year (2020, 2021)
HoopDirt.com Division I Coach of the Year (2021)

Dennis Gates (born January 14, 1980) is an American college basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team.[1]

Playing career[]

Gates played college basketball at California, where he was a two-time first-team All-Academic selection in the Pac-10, having graduated in three years, playing his senior season as a master's degree candidate.[2][3] Gates was also a member of Cal's 2002 NCAA Tournament team.

Coaching career[]

After graduation, Gates served as a coaching intern for the Los Angeles Clippers before heading to the college ranks for two graduate assistant coaching positions at Marquette and Florida State for a season each. He would return to his alma mater as a full assistant coach in 2005 under Ben Braun.[2] From 2007 to 2009, Gates served as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois before another two-year stint as an assistant coach at Nevada.[4][1] In 2011, he rejoined the Florida State staff as an assistant coach under Leonard Hamilton and was part of the Seminoles' 2011–12 ACC Tournament championship squad. He was a part of seven Seminole NCAA Tournament teams, including two Sweet 16 and one Elite Eight runs.[5] During a January 10, 2017 contest between Florida State and Duke Gates was shoved by Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen as the guard went for a loose ball near the Florida State bench.[6] The clip garnered national attention, but Gates defended Allen in the aftermath stating he was not the victim of a dirty play.[7]

Cleveland State[]

2019-20: Cleveland State, Horizon League Coach of the Year[]

On July 26, 2019 Gates was named 17th head coach in Cleveland State basketball history, replacing Dennis Felton.[8][1] Gates won his first game as a college head coach on November 9, 2019, against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, a 54–79 victory for the Vikings. Following his efforts in his first season, Gates was rewarded a share of the Horizon League Coach of the Year after Cleveland State won seven games in Horizon League play, the most for the school in five years. Gates is only the second head coach in Cleveland State history to be named Horizon League Coach of the Year, joining Gary Waters (2007–08). He was also the first head coach with an 11-win season to be named Horizon League Coach of the Year and only the second coach in league history to be awarded the honor with a sub-.500 record, joining 1980-81 Horizon League Coach of the Year Bob Staak (12-16, Xavier). Gates also coached junior forward Algevon Eichelberger to a Horizon League All-Third Team selection, as well as Torrey Patton to Player of the Week (Jan. 6) and Hugo Ferreira to Freshman of the Week (Feb. 25). Cleveland State saw significant improvements in his first season at the helm, winning three straight league games for the first time since the 2014–15 and winning three straight non-conference games for the first time since the 2011–12 season.

2020-21: COVID-19 season, best Horizon League start in Cleveland State history[]

Gates began his second season as the Cleveland State head coach with an 0–3 record in Non-Conference play, with losses to Toledo, Ohio and Ohio State. They began their conference schedule by defeating IPFW twice, which the 2nd game featured Junior Guard D’Moi Hodge breaking a school record 10 3-pointers and scoring 46 points, the 2nd most in a game in school history behind Franklin Edwards, who had 49 against Xavier. It was also the first time Cleveland State started 2–0 in Horizon League play since the 2014–15 season. Furthermore, after a January 15 road win at Wright State, Cleveland State started 9–0 in the Horizon League for the first time in program history. Gates also obtained the same number of wins as his successor, Dennis Felton did at Cleveland State in 18 fewer games.

2021-present[]

On May 20, 2021, Gates signed a new six-year deal with Cleveland State. The new revised deal replaces the original five-year deal Gates signed in July 2019. The new deal is worth an estimated $3.2 million, or $550,000 a year, making Gates the highest-paid coach in the Horizon League.[9]

Head coaching record[]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Cleveland State (Horizon) (2019–present)
2019–20 Cleveland State 11–21 7–11 T–7th
2020–21 Cleveland State 19–8 16–4 T–1st NCAA First Round
Cleveland State: 30–29 (.508) 23–15 (.611)
Total: 30–29 (.508)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "CSU Names Dennis Gates Head Men's Basketball Coach". Cleveland State University. July 26, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Dennis Gates Bio - Cleveland State Men's Basketball". Cleveland State Athletics.
  3. ^ "Dennis Gates College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  4. ^ "NIU's Dennis Gates Promoted To Associate Head Men's Basketball Coach". NIU Athletics.
  5. ^ "Dennis Gates". Florida State Seminoles. June 28, 2017.
  6. ^ "Did Grayson Allen deliberately shove a Florida State coach?". January 11, 2017.
  7. ^ Deen, Safid. "Duke star Grayson Allen didn't shove me, FSU assistant says". orlandosentinel.com.
  8. ^ Pluto, Terry (July 26, 2019). "Cleveland State basketball: Dennis Gates named new head coach -- Terry Pluto". cleveland.com.
  9. ^ "Interesting details of Cleveland State basketball's six-year contract with coach Dennis Gates – Terry Pluto". 25 May 2021.
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