Missouri basketball: Dennis Gates relishes time with fans on Come Home Tour
Dennis Gates wasn’t originally on the schedule. On the first day of Missouri’s Come Home Tour in Sedalia, Tiger basketball assistant Dickey Nutt was in attendance to speak to fans.
On the second date, fellow assistant coach Kyle Smithpeters was supposed to go. Both times, MU’s head coach made a late appearance, getting huge applause from the Tiger faithful in attendance.
The athletic department has made stops in Sedalia and Jefferson City, but has branched out to bigger cities like Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City.
More: Missouri football, basketball and volleyball coaches appeal to fans for speaking tour opener
At every stop, Gates has been there, more than any other MU coach.
“I’m asking our fans, no matter what is going on, to come fill up Mizzou Arena,” Gates said at the Kansas City stop when asked why he kept showing up so consistently. “If I can ever repay them, it’s in my time, me sharing time to come to these events. That’s why I walk around and try to meet everybody or take pictures with every single person.”
Gates did just that once fans started to arrive. He had conversations, asked names and had MU staffers acting as his personal photographers, taking fans’ iPhones and grinning for the picture.
Once the speech started, Gates usually stayed on the same topics. He was suffering from post-season depression; the Tigers underachieved during the 2022-23 season and needed the help of fans to lift trophies and cut down nets in the future.
His speech always did well, with the audience laughing and cheering when it was supposed to.
“That’s outstanding to get an idea of how deep their love and the introduction of their connection with Mizzou goes,” Gates said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to add to the memories.”
Gates has been joined on the tour by MU athletics director Desiree Reed-Francois and a variety of others including volleyball head coach Dawn Sullivan, wrestling coach Brian Smith and football assistant Brock Olivo. In Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, football head coach Eli Drinkwitz made appearances.
Drinkwitz played for laughs, noting that he wasn’t going to tell the crowd who the starting quarterback was, and asking one attendee with muscular arms if he had “a license to carry those guns.” Drinkwitz said afterward that getting face-to-face time with fans was a valuable use of time, and he continues to get a positive response, even as some fans on the internet get impatient with him, looking for more success in his fourth season.
“Face to face it’s a lot more excitement because there’s actual investment,” Drinkwitz said. “People are actually coming out, spending their money to come visit us, spending their money to go get tickets. Actually invested in a program, instead of potentially burner phones, burner account, sitting behind the screen to make comments. That’s two different types of fans. The fans that I value the most are the ones that are actively engaged in our program on a day-to-day basis.”
Drinkwitz earned positive reactions from the crowds as well, as did everyone else who was given a microphone. However, it was clear Gates was the star of the show, which was expected given how successful his first season at the helm was.
The fans appreciated him, and Gates reciprocated.
“The best thing I can tell you that has happened on these Come Home Tours is me seeing someone last year and remembering their name,” Gates said. “And that is outstanding, and I look forward to seeing not only the same faces, but new ones.”
The Come Home Tour has future stops in Springfield, Missouri, Dallas and Denver on its calendar.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Dennis Gates meets Missouri basketball fans on Come Home Tour
