Dennis Gates watches the action on the court as head coach of Cleveland State University during the first half of a first-round game against Houston in the 2021 NCAA men’s college basketball tournament. Last Monday, the University of Missouri-Columbia hired Gates to help rebuild a long-floundering program that has churned through seven head and interim coaches since Norm Stewart prowled the sidelines in Columbia. (DOUG McSCHOOLER/AP FILE PHOTO)
BY DAVE SKRETTA, AP BASKETBALL WRITER Dennis Gates was a young standout at Chicago’s Whitney Young High School and mulling college scholarship opportunities when Norm…
