Whitten Family Missouri Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dennis Gates was honored as one of the nation’s best on Wednesday, earning the Clarence “Big House” Gaines Coach of the Year honor, announced by the National Sports Media.
The Clarence “Big House” Gaines College Basketball Coach of the Year Awards are presented to the head coach in NCAA Divisions I and II, who may not earn recognition from mainstream outlets. An NSMA committee votes on the awards at the conclusion of the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments.
Gates led Mizzou to its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons leading the Tigers. After being projected to finish 13th in the SEC preseason poll, Mizzou ranked as high as No. 14 in the national polls during the 2024-25 campaign and finished sixth overall in a conference that sent a record 14 teams to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Among the highlights for Gates and Mizzou during the 2024-25 campaign were three top-five victories – one of just three schools nationally do so this season and the first time at Mizzou since 1988-89. The Tigers’ victory over No. 1 Kansas in December was the team’s fifth all-time against the nation’s top-ranked team, while also adding wins over No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Florida. The victory over the Gators was also Mizzou’s first top-five road win since 2012 and first over the eventual national champion since 1983.
Gates was also named one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year in 2025 after being a final-15 watch list candidate in 2023.
The Gaines Awards will be presented during the NSMA’s 65th awards banquet on June 30, 2025, at Grandover Resort & Spa – a Wyndham Grand Hotel, in Greensboro, N.C. Notable past winners of the award include Shaka Smart (2011), Dawn Staley (2017), Leonard Hamilton (2018), Kelvin Sampson (2019) and Hubert Davis (2022).
Gaines was the head basketball coach at Winston-Salem (NC) State University for 47 seasons. His teams won 828 games, including the 1967 NCAA Division II National Championship. That team was led by Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, who went on to an NBA Hall of Fame career. Among other notable players Gaines coached were Cleo Hill, the first NBA first-round draft choice from a historically Black college or university, and sports media personality Stephen A. Smith. A former president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Gaines was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. He died in 2005.
| ALL-TIME GAINES AWARD WINNERS | ||
| Division I | Division II | |
| 2024-25 | Dennis Gates – Missouri (M) | Tyreece Brown – Fayetteville State (W) |
| 2023-24 | Kevin Keatts – North Carolina State (M) | Alfred Jordan – Clark Atlanta (M) |
| 2022-23 | Rodney Terry – Texas (M) | Tyneshia Lewis, Elizabeth City State, NC (W) |
| 2021-22 | Hubert Davis – North Carolina (M) | Janice Washington – Lincoln, PA (W) |
| 2020-21 | No Winner (COVID) | No Winner (COVID) |
| 2019-20 | No Winner (COVID) | No Winner (COVID) |
| 2018-19 | Kelvin Sampson – Houston (M) | Lonnie Blow, Jr. – Virginia State (M) |
| 2017-18 | Leonard Hamilton – Florida State (M) | Ricky Jackson – Claflin University (M) |
| 2016-17 | Dawn Staley – South Carolina (W) | AnnMarie Gilbert – Virginia Union (W) |
| 2015-16 | James Jones – Yale (M) | AnnMarie Gilbert – Virginia Union (W) |
| 2014-15 | Ron Hunter – Georgia State (M) | James Hill, Jr. – Virginia State (W) |
| 2013-14 | Monté Ross – Delaware (M) | Leon Douglas – Tuskegee (M) |
| 2012-13 | Tommy Amaker – Harvard (M) | James Stinson – Livingstone (M) |
| 2011-12 | Anthony Evans – Norfolk State (M) | Jacques Curtis – Shaw (W) |
| 2010-11 | Shaka Smart – VCU (Men) | Cleo Hill Jr. – Shaw (Men) |
