NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Missouri prolonged first-year basketball coach Dennis Gates ′ contract one other 12 months by way of the 2028-29 season, saying the deal Friday evening quickly after he guided the Tigers to their first semifinal berth on the Southeastern Convention Event.
College officers mentioned its board unanimously accepted the extension Thursday. The deal was made public shortly after No. 25 Missouri beat 17th-ranked Tennessee 79-71 within the SEC quarterfinals in Nashville.
Michael Williams, chair of Missouri’s board of curators, mentioned Gates talked of constructing a championship tradition when employed in March 2022.
“He’s a person with excessive requirements and a transparent imaginative and prescient for our student-athletes,” Williams mentioned in an announcement. “It has been an distinctive season, and the Board may be very excited to witness our program construct on this success.”
Gates has led the Tigers to a 24-8 document and the No. 4 seed within the SEC Event. They subsequent play Alabama on Saturday — the primary time Missouri has made it into the convention semifinals since becoming a member of the league in 2012.
The brand new deal extends Gates’ contract by a season and raises his annual wage to $4 million for the 2023-24 season. He’ll obtain $100,000 improve every season all through the brand new contract.
Gates thanked the board, college president Mun Choi and athletic director Needé Reed-Francois and mentioned he wouldn’t wish to be anyplace else.
He already has posted top-of-the-line debuts by a Missouri head coach together with his 24 wins second-most for a first-year coach. The Tigers had been picked to complete eleventh within the SEC preseason ballot solely to match its finest document since becoming a member of this league in July 2012.
Missouri averaged 11,377 followers per sport, fourth-best within the SEC and a 62.6% improve from the earlier season. That’s the perfect amongst Energy Six colleges.
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