Big first year Gates deserves raise, extension

After a 79-71 win that put Mizzou up to 24-8 and into the semifinals of the SEC tournament for the first time in school history, Missouri has announced a pay rise and contract extension for Dennis Gates.

The deal now runs through 2028-29 and increases Gates’ guaranteed annual salary to $4 million next year from $2.6 million. It comes with an automatic $100,000 per year raise, just like the original deal, meaning he’ll make $4.5 million in the final year of the deal.

“”Thank you to the Board of Trustees, President Mun Choi And Desiree Reed-Francois for this opportunity to continue to lead basketball in Missouri,” Gates said in a school press release. “The city of Columbia is my home, my family loves it here and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. My staff have done a great job to support my dream which builds on Mizzou’s great tradition. I’m proud to be a tiger and to coach at this wonderful institution.”

The raise moves Gates from 12th to 6th in annual salary among SEC coaches. The agreement also adds a lot of certainty that Gates will remain in Columbia. The buyout for another school to hire him immediately increases from $14 million to $25.5 million. The buyout amounts to the full amount of the guaranteed salary remaining on the contract each year.

Gates was hired by Missouri to replace him on March 22 last year Cuonzo Martin, who was fired after the Tigers went 12-21 in his fifth year and missed the postseason for the third time in five seasons. He immediately rebuilt the roster, bringing in ten new players while retaining senior Kobe Brown and previously signed recruit Aidan Shaw. Brown was named to the All-SEC First-Team and was the conference’s Student Athlete of the Year after averaging 15.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game with career-high shot rates from the field , the three-point line, and the free-throw line.

In his freshman season, Gates led the Tigers to an 11-7 record in league play and secured the four seeded spots in the conference tournament, Missouri’s highest in the SEC in a decade. The team is now 24-8 and meets Alabama in the semifinals of the SEC tournament at noon on Saturday. Missouri is a suspension for the NCAA tournament, though the field will not be officially announced until Sunday night.

“We are on an upward trajectory with Coach Gates leading our men’s basketball program,” said Reed-Francois, Mizzou’s director of athletics, in the press release. “We have seen the immediate results of the program through victories on the pitch, record-breaking numbers in the classroom and enthusiasm in our community. Coach Gates has been open about his goals of winning championships and hanging banners at Mizzou Arena and I believe we’re on that path under his leadership.”

“When he came here, Dennis Gates talked about building a championship culture and that’s what he’s doing.” Michael Williams, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. “He is a person with high standards and a clear vision for our student-athletes. It has been an exceptional season and the Board is delighted that our program is building on this success.”

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