Back in October 2023, Missouri coach Dennis Gates looked like a star in the making. He had just led the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament in his first season, and after landing big man Trent Burns, the Tigers’ 2024 recruiting class moved into the No. 1 spot in 247Sports team rankings. The path to stardom looked clear.
Then, the Tigers went winless in the SEC. Woof.
Monday morning, Gates and Mizzou landed Toni Bryant. The No. 23-ranked player in the Class of 2026 according to 247Sports, the 6-foot-9 power forward is an athletic frontcourt player from Zephyrhills (Florida) Christian Academy with physical gifts galore.
After already landing high-scoring, No. 3-ranked guard Jason Crowe Jr. from Inglewood (California) High, the Tigers are once again in possession of one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
This time, though, it feels different.
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Not only did Gates and the Tigers bounce back from that winless SEC season to make the 2025 NCAA Tournament, but they’ve got proof of concept that they are built for long-term success thanks to a mixture of retaining veteran players and leaving room to mix in elite high school talent.
Dennis Gates’ strategic bet
There is plenty of uncertainty in college basketball circles about what next spring will look like. What’s the funding look like for basketball in the revenue-sharing era? How much money should be allotted to freshmen? Should we save for the portal? What’s our roster even going to look like? Will new eligibility rules be passed? Will the rules change … again?
For some teams, low-risk moves in the fall are a strategic choice to keep the powder dry for the spring free agency period.
For Missouri, it’s the opposite. Gates is full-steam ahead. Just six top-50 players in the Class of 2026 have picked a school because of the worthy concerns about money and playing time on both sides of the aisle. But two of the six (Crowe and Bryant) are Mizzou-bound.
That’s no coincidence.
Missouri has put its cards on the table financially, and it’s a bet on Gates doing what he has done well: keep his best players even in an era when it’s more profitable than ever to transfer.
In 2023, Gates retained his best three players who had eligibility: Sean East, Nick Honor and Noah Carter.
In 2024, Gates retained Tamar Bates, Caleb Grill and Trent Pierce.
This past spring, Gates retained All-SEC forward Mark Mitchell, big breakout candidate Anthony Robinson and a host of key rotation pieces like Pierce, Annor Boateng and Jacob Crews.
If that precedent sticks, Gates may not have to take big swings in the portal next spring. The 2025-26 season has to shake out, and it feels futile to peruse too far ahead, but Crowe and Bryant could certainly be joining a Tigers’ roster that has a core in place with two senior guards (Robinson and Sebastian Mack), a junior wing (Annor Boateng) and a senior forward (Pierce).
Missouri has visions of a veteran-laden nucleus being in place, which makes the bet on talented freshmen a worthy gamble.
Connections reign supreme
While the retention of key veterans and the willingness to spend on high schoolers is key, you still have to have somebody to sell the program and get high-level prospects to believe.
That’s where Gates has proven that he can shine.
There aren’t many coaches with more charisma or the ability to connect with today’s star high school player. Gates also made a shrewd addition to the staff over the summer when he named Tim Fuller as the general manager of the program. A well-liked figure with deep ties in the grassroots basketball world, Fuller has been an assistant at many stops (including Missouri), has worked for Nike and most recently worked for Overtime Elite. His connections helped to open the door with Crowe and Gates proved to be the ultimate finisher, slamming home the lob that Fuller tossed up to him.
With recruiting on a roll, proven player development and smart roster construction and retention, the Mizzou re-emergence that was expected back two years ago appears to be back on track.
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