SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAYS

October 13, 2026

Dennis Gates

Missouri Tigers

Men's Media Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please welcome Dennis Gates.

DENNIS GATES: Hell of an introduction with no applause. That's okay. I'm just joking (laughing). No, that was good. That was unbelievable, Garth. You been practicing? Okay. I appreciate that.

First, I'm here today obviously because tomorrow I'll be supporting Mark Mitchell and his court case in Louisville, Kentucky. So I moved my day up. I appreciate the SEC for working with me in doing that, because I know it took a lot to change at the last second.

The other thing is I'll be still having our three guys, our three newcomers, Toni Bryant, Jason Crowe, and Bryson Tiller here tomorrow. Don't take it easy on them. I will say that respectfully simply because those guys are important to our success. To have two McDonald's All-Americans in one season, one recruiting class, when in the history of the school you've only had five, that's important to me that I expose them as much as possible.

In addition to that, me being a guy that offered Bryson Tiller a scholarship on his first day of freshman year being one of two schools, coming back full circle in the big picture of change, we had an opportunity to sign that young man, and I'm thankful he chose me as his head coach.

Questions.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Just curious, you mentioned Mark Mitchell there. Assuming he gets his eligibility, you also have Bryson Tiller and Toni Bryant, three guys who can kind of operate in similar positions. Just curious, when you have guys of that talent, that caliber who operate in kind of the same areas, how do you kind of go about balancing making sure that they're all getting the success they need?

DENNIS GATES: Yeah, so, first of all, we also have CJ Gunn, who is a young man transfer from DePaul in the same similar situation as Mark Mitchell. You have to think of it from this standpoint. I don't want to sign or would sign anybody that distracts or would distract our locker room. There was no cutting. There was no manipulation. There was no issues.

I had and was going to enter this season with two opportunities that I could use signing kids. Mark Mitchell's situation came up in addition to CJ Gunn.

As it relates to those forwards, they're all different. Mark Mitchell is different than Toni Bryant. Toni Bryant is different than Mark Mitchell. Both of them are different from Bryson Tiller.

What I'm excited about is the versatility. I'm excited about the size, length, and no different than Garth just said, when you look at my mentor Leonard Hamilton and what we did at Florida State during that time, our three-man Chris Singleton, he was about 6'11". Sometimes our twos were 6'8", and our point guard was 6'5". We had multiple 7-footers. So, if anything, I'm used to having a team with this size.

Now I have to make sure the size complements each other and make sure it returns to stats.

Q. Obviously a unique situation with two guys with eligibility issues this close to the season. Just how do you plan or how have you sort of planned with those guys in the fold versus without? It's obviously probably not something you're used to.

DENNIS GATES: Well, I am used to it. I don't look at it like a problem. I've never been given a silver spoon. I've always had to do more with less. I've always had to make decisions at the last minute, last second, but also, it allows me to show that I'm talented in what I'm doing.

I'm a CEO, not just a basketball coach. I know how to manage people, manage egos, but also manage a locker room. My players voted on these guys being here. I didn't have to make the decision. When you are that transparent with your team, you're not going to have problems.

So I don't look at it as a problem. I was a member of SAAC when I was a student-athlete. I don't know how many head coaches have been a member of SAAC. So I understand what these student-athletes are going in and going around and what they're thinking at this moment.

Our game has always transitioned. We're just in a watershed moment where it's transitioning. It's nothing to be afraid of. No one is walking around here looking for Blockbuster Video. You guys got Netflix. Everybody got streaming, right? So we're in a watershed moment. We're changing.

It's our responsibility to make sure the narrative is right, but also support our student-athletes. COVID taught us that change in the business model of college is needed, and adjustments, which we made -- there's no longer ACT and SAT testing, but we made the change to make sure that we supported our student bodies.

So let's not lose focus on what sports mean, but also what the student-athlete means to every institution, its future, its connection to its campus, its community, but also, to the future student body.

Q. Dennis, it feels like you might be amped up after this last question, but why was it important for you to be there tomorrow, to be there in person with Mark Mitchell in court?

DENNIS GATES: Because when we were 0-19, that young man stepped foot on our campus, and the last two years we were able to go to the NCAA Tournament. So call it what you may. Yeah, sure, we lost in the first round the last two years, but I'll always be there for Mark Mitchell, man, without a doubt. That's what it's about.

It's not about using these young people. It's about stepping foot lock-step with them every step of the way, so that they can know that they are supported, and it's about life, too, life after sports, life after basketball, but also they're student-athletes.

Q. The teams that you and Leonard and CY built at Florida State kind of were just so elite and big defensively. Do you feel like you kind of have those pieces in place this year to raise kind of the defensive ceiling on your team from the last couple of seasons? You've been so good on offense.

DENNIS GATES: Learning from Leonard Hamilton has been one of the most precious gifts that I'll never give up. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Let me just start off with that. Not only with what he has done outside the SEC but the University of Kentucky during a time and transition of Adolph Rupp, as well as Joe B. Hall. He brought diversity to college basketball at its height as a black SEC associate head coach.

From that being able to stand on his shoulders, he is a direct connection to Nolan Richardson, John Thompson, John( Chaney, and also George Raveling. For me, I stand on those guys' shoulders. I want to continue to open up opportunities for the future, but when you look at the size, when you look at our roster, when you look at what we're doing, defensively I want to go to the Final Four and win a National Championship. It had not been done at Missouri. Those are the categories you have to win at.

When we went to the Elite Eight, our defense at Florida State was elite. It was not subpar, and we had size. We had athleticism. Also, we were able to play together and put it all on one page. So there's an element of invisibility that's there, and that's how well these guys and how well I'll force them to play together and sacrifice.

Q. Can you just take us behind the curtain of those conversations with Mark when he said, hey, I might pursue the portal. Kentucky is an option and the commitment to that. Then kind of the following conversations and celebration, your emotion, when he said, actually, I'm reversing course, I'm coming home.

DENNIS GATES: So to be honest with all you, I never had a recruiting conversation with Mark. Never had one conversation. I asked him, how can I help him. That's it. That's my answer. That's as true as what --

When you have a kid for two years, you don't have to recruit anybody. I didn't have to recruit CJ Gunn. CJ Gunn was college teammate with Tamar Bates and high school teammates with Tony Perkins. When you do things the right way, you don't have to recruit. You just hold your arms open, give them a hug when they return.

Q. Just going back to Bryson Tiller, obviously he's kind of crossing lines in a big-time rivalry, but just what kind of -- you mentioned obviously recruiting him in high school, but when he became available, what was that recruiting process kind of like, and what are you most excited about to have him on campus?

DENNIS GATES: So one of the most intelligent student-athletes I've ever coached is Bryson Tiller, so he's wired mentally a different way. I knew that when I stepped into the elite high school that he was a part of, one of the best academic institutions in the world at Pace Academy in Atlanta, Georgia.

I happened to have a kid on my team, Cole Middleton, who played at Cleveland State for me, but graduated from Pace Academy. So when it comes down to Bryson Tiller, his family, but their relationship with each other, I knew exactly what that young man needed, and all I had to do was be myself. I saw something in him as a young freshman, but I had delusion. Delusion as the head coach at Cleveland State that I was going to offer a kid that was top 10 and sign him to Cleveland State, right?

Lo and behold, I get an opportunity at Missouri. I try again because Bryson Tiller is going into his senior year, and I struck out twice. The third time around I just had my arms open.

Again, when you show who you are in transparency, you don't have to run the race of recruiting. You have to be available. You have to be able to just answer the questions. You don't have to put on a show. You just have to be yourself and show them who you are.

Kids aren't choosing institutions. They're choosing people. They're not choosing NIL. They're choosing people. They are allowing me to put in a safe place their dreams and protect it no different than their parents have.

It leads me to this, because I don't want to make it about Mark Mitchell, CJ Gunn and court cases. Jason Crowe Jr. Could have gone anywhere in the country. He chose Missouri from L.A. That is not normal. Toni Bryant could have gone anywhere in the country. He chose Missouri from Tampa, Florida.

So for me in the history of recruiting, to be able to go from one coast to the next to sign elite-level basketball players, one that's been in the top 10 in the country since they were young and another kid who just came on the scene late, right, in Toni. That's evaluation. So I credit my staff. I credit our culture. I credit the people that put their hands, roll their sleeves up, put their hands in the mix and helps us every single day the way that they do to run the program that we run in a competitive SEC environment, and it's very competitive.

The only ranking that now you can look at is the ranking of where NIL is and where you land and am I finishing every year above that ranking, and we have absolutely done so by a margin. I'm excited about finishing a lot higher in the SEC with a budget that is not resembling anything close to my counterparts. That's coaching. That's organization. That's a CEO, but also that's doing it with other people.

My staff, I got a group of head coaches that will be in this game for a long time when an AD give them the opportunity. I'm thankful for my staff. Y'all have a blessed day. M-I-Z.