COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri is prepared to hire Cleveland State’s Dennis Gates as its next men’s basketball coach, pending approval from the UM System Board of Curators, sources confirmed Saturday. The Board must give 24 hours notice before holding a closed executive meeting to approve the contract. As of noon Saturday, the Board had not issued that notice. Terms of a proposed deal are unclear. Gates is under contract at Cleveland State through 2027 with a salary of $550,000.
ESPN first reported Friday night that Missouri had targeted Gates for the job. On Saturday morning, a plane owned by longtime Mizzou donor Richard Miller was scheduled to leave his company’s headquarters in Pittsburg, Kansas, and fly to Cleveland then head to Columbia Regional Airport.