Coming off Missouri's 20th win of the season, Whitten Family Men's Basketball Head Coach Dennis Gates was named to the 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's Coach of the Year Watch List presented by AXIA Time on Friday.

Gates is one of 15 coaches in the country named to the Watch List and one of three from the Southeastern Conference. 

In his third season at Mizzou, Gates has guided the No. 15 Tigers to a 20-6 overall record. Picked 13th in SEC preseason poll, the Tigers are 9-4 in conference play, tied for fourth place in the league standings and three games out of first place heading into Saturday's game at Arkansas.

With five regular-season games remaining, the Tigers' 20 victories are tied for the program's second-most over the last 11 seasons. Gates has led Mizzou to five victories over nationally ranked opponents, including three wins over teams ranked among the top five, most recently Wednesday's 110-98 victory over No. 4 Alabama. It's just the second time in school history Mizzou has earned three victories over top-five teams in a single season, last accomplishing the feat in 1988-89. MU is one of only two programs with three top-five victories this season.

The Tigers also own wins over Kansas (No. 1 at the time), Florida (No. 5), Mississippi State (No. 14) and Mississippi (No. 16). Mizzou has been nationally ranked in the AP Top 25 each of the last five weeks.

It marks the second time in three seasons Gates earned a spot on the 15-man watch list.

Prior to joining the Tigers, Gates spent three years as head coach at Cleveland State where he was honored as Horizon League Coach of the Year in both 2020 and 2021. Gates is 103-80 overall in six seasons as a head coach.

The Tigers are back in action Saturday night at Arkansas. First tip at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville is 7 p.m. on ESPN.