Dennis Gates: 5 things to know about potential South Carolina basketball coach
South Carolina is still searching for Frank Martin’s replacement.
Martin was fired Monday after 10 years leading the program. Finding an established head coach would be a plus. Cleveland State’s Dennis Gates fits that mold.
Here are five things to know about Gates:
Gates has coached all over America
Gates was born in Chicago, but he’s coached just about everywhere in the country.
He played his college ball at California, then had assistant coaching stops at Marquette, Florida State, Northern Illinois and Nevada.
Gates has noticeably never coached in the South — unless you count Tallahassee — which might make for an adjustment. That said, he’s been in enough major programs that it shouldn’t be too big of a concern.
Gates has won quickly at Cleveland State
Cleveland State doesn’t have much, if any, basketball history.
The Vikings have only made the NCAA tournament three times. One of those appearances came under Gates in 2021 after Cleveland State won the Horizon League tournament and finished the year with a 19-8 record.
Gates’ squad was strong again in 2020-2021, notching 20 wins and earning a bid to the NIT. Cleveland State’s season ended on Tuesday with a four-point NIT loss to Xavier.
Money shouldn’t be an issue with South Carolina
Gates signed a new six-year deal with Cleveland State after the 2021 season worth an estimated $550,000 annually.
That shouldn’t be a problem for administrators at South Carolina.
Whereas other options like Oklahoma State’s Mike Boynton or Colorado State’s Niko Medved might have prohibitive buyout numbers, USC ought to be able to manage whatever would be required of getting Gates to Columbia.
The South Carolina job would also likely bring a massive raise. Martin, for example, was paid $3.2 million annually — good for 28th nationally and eighth in the SEC, according to USA Today’s coaching salary database.
Gates has worked for highly successful head coaches
Beyond the geography of Gates’ past stops, he’s worked for a handful of coaches with major success at the high-major level.
Gates was on Tom Crean’s staff at Marquette the year after the Golden Eagles reached the Final Four with Dwyane Wade. He also worked for Leonard Hamilton at Florida State and Ben Braun at California. He also worked under Alvin Gentry and Dennis Johnson as a coaching intern for the Los Angeles Clippers.
There’s always some level of concern when a coach jumps from the mid-major ranks to a power conference gig. That, at least on paper, wouldn’t appear to be an issue given Gates’ former bosses and places of employment.
His hiring would be historic at South Carolina
South Carolina has never had a Black head coach in either football or men’s basketball.
If hired, Gates would add some welcome diversity to the South Carolina athletic department and make USC the only school in the Southeastern Conference with a Black head coach in both men’s and women’s basketball.
There are obviously other factors in this process, but hiring a Black head coach in a major revenue sport would be a big deal.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Dennis Gates: 5 things to know about potential South Carolina basketball coach."
