The Missouri men’s basketball team faces its final preparation for the 2022-23 campaign, hosting Washington University on Thursday night. Tip off at Mizzou Arena is set for 7 p.m. with no tickets needed to attend the exhibition game.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri finished the 2021-22 campaign with a 12-21 record, placing 11th in the SEC with a 5-13 mark.
• The 2022-23 season marks the first for new head coach Dennis Gates, who joins Mizzou after a successful three-year run at Cleveland State.
• The Tigers return three student-athletes from the 2021-22 campaign, while adding 12 newcomers to the roster.
• Kobe Brown was named to the All-SEC Second Team after leading MU in points (12.5) and rebounds (7.6) last season.
ABOUT THE BEARS
• Washington finished the 2021-22 season with a 19-8 overall record, including an 8-6 mark in the UAA.
• The Bears advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before suffering a two-point setback to Wheaton, 63-61.
• WashU returns three starters with Hayden Doyle the top returning scorer at 10.6 points. He also had a team-best 3.2 assists per game.
DEBUT SEASON FOR COACH GATES
• After leading Cleveland State to a successful three-year run, Dennis Gates is in his first season as the Missouri Whitten Family Head Coach.
• Gates becomes the 20th head coach in 117 years of Missouri basketball.
• In his three years with the Vikings, Gates posted a 50-40 overall record – including a 39-19 mark the last two years and two regular-season Horizon League titles, one Horizon League Tournament championship and one NCAA Tournament trip.
• Gates was named Horizon League Coach of the Year following both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
BUILDING A STAFF
• Joining Dennis Gates on the bench is a veteran staff that includes multiple years of head coaching experience.
• All three bench assists have enjoyed time leading a college program: Charlton “C.Y.” Young (Georgia Southern, 2009-13), Dickey Nutt (Arkansas State, 1995-08; Southeast Missouri State, 2009-15) and Kyle Smithpeters (John A. Logan CC, 2012-22).
• Additionally, director of scouting and analytics Michael Fly spent the last four seasons as head coach at Florida Gulf Coast (2018-22).
EIGHT CORE VALUES
• One goal of Coach Gates in building a program is to instill eight core values in the student-athletes that they carry into the classroom, on the court and into the community.
• The eight core values are: friendship, love, accountability, trust, discipline, unselfishness, enthusiasm and toughness.
BROWN EARNS PRESEASON HONOR
• Senior Kobe Brown was recognized as one of the top players in the SEC by earning first-team preseason all-conference honors as voted on by the league’s coaches.
• Brown is the first Tiger in five years to collect the first-team accolade – Michael Porter, Jr. earned the honor prior to the 2017-18 season.
• A second-team All-SEC selection last season, Brown led MU in scoring (12.5 per game), rebounds (7.6) and steals (40), while ranking second in assists (81).
MOSLEY NAMED TO WATCH LIST
• Senior Isiaih Mosley was one of 20 student-athletes nationally named to the Jerry West Award Watch List during the preseason.
• The award recognizes the top shooting guard in the country.
• During the 2021-22 season at Missouri State, Mosley averaged 20.4 points – shooting 50.4 percent from the field, 42.7 percent from 3-point range and 90.2 percent from the free-throw line.
OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
• Four Tigers are set to serve as team captains during the 2022-23 campaign.
• Graduate students Tre Gomillion, Nick Honor and Ben Sternberg plus senior Kobe Brown are all set to take on the top leadership roles with Mizzou this season.
