Texas A&M's Buzz Williams and Vanderbilt's Jerry Stackhouse were named co-SEC Coaches of the Year earlier this week. It was a reasonable split; Williams guided the Aggies to a second-place finish in the conference after starting the season 6-5, and Stackhouse's Commodores finished tied for fourth in the league thanks to an 8-1 record in their final nine games of the regular season.
I'm happy for both men.
But the truth is that, if folks just couldn't bring themselves to vote for Alabama's Nate Oats because of the way his school handled the Brandon Miller controversy, the SEC Coach of the Year should've probably been Missouri's Dennis Gates. That's whom I would've voted for, at least.
"Pretty good for a bunch of mid-major guys!" Gates reportedly yelled in the tunnel following his Tigers' 79-71 win over Tennessee in Friday's quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
It's actually really good.
Gates took over a program that went 12-21 last season while finishing 12th in the SEC. In his first offseason, this former mid-major coach at Cleveland State totally revamped Missouri's roster through the transfer portal, largely with former mid-major players — hence the mid-major quote from Friday. The result is a first-year Missouri coach with first-year Missouri players serving as nine of the team's top 10 scorers.
Despite that type of turnover, or perhaps because of it, the Tigers have a 24-8 record and are 20th in Saturday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Impressively, Missouri hasn't lost a game outside of Quadrant 1 all season.
All of this is why coaches asking fans for patience doesn't really fly these days -- not with the transfer portal, one-time transfer waivers and NIL rights serving as tools for staffs to quickly remake rosters. As Gates just showed, it's possible to turn around a high-major program in literally one offseason. You just have to be excellent at your job, which Gates obviously is.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Marcus Sasser finished with 30 points and five rebounds in Friday's 60-46 win over East Carolina. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Cincinnati in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament. | -- | 32-5 |
| 2 |  | Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 75-56 win over Oregon. The Bruins' next game will be Saturday against Arizona in the championship game of the Pac-12 Tournament. | -- | 16-17 |
| 3 |  | Jalen Wilson finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 71-58 win over Iowa State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Texas in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament. | -- | 23-11 |
| 4 |  | Brandon Miller finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 72-49 win over Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide's next game will be Saturday against Missouri in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. | -- | 25-12 |
| 5 |  | Mason Gillis finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 70-65 win over Rutgers. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday against Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Brandon Newman finished with19 points and five assists in Sunday's 76-71 win over Illinois. The Boilermakers are the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. | -- | 34-5 |
| 6 |  | Dylan Disu finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in Friday's 66-60 win over TCU. The Longhorns' next game is Saturday against Kansas in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament. | -- | 21-13 |
| 7 |  | Tyler Kolek finished with 17 points and six assists in Friday's 70-68 win over UConn. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday against Xavier in the championship game of the Big East Tournament. | -- | 27-10 |
| 8 |  | Drew Timme finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 77-51 win over Saint Mary's. The Zags' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | -- | 27-8 |
| 9 |  | Azuolas Tubelis finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 78-59 win over Arizona State. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against UCLA in the championship game of the Pac-12 Tournament. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 10 |  | Jordan Hawkins was 2 of 11 from the field in Friday's 70-68 loss to Marquette. The Huskies' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 1 | 37-3 |
| 11 |  | Kansas State shot 23.3% from 3-point range in Thursday's 80-67 loss to TCU. The Wildcats' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | -- | 19-15 |
| 12 |  | LJ Cryer, Keyonte George and Adam Flagler combined to go 9 of 31 from the field in Thursday's 78-72 loss to Iowa State. The Bears' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | -- | 24-11 |
| 13 |  | Darrion Trammell finished with 15 points and two rebounds in Friday's 64-59 win over San Jose State. The Aztecs' next game is Saturday against Utah State in the championship game of the Mountain West Tournament. | -- | 26-11 |
| 14 |  | Souley Boum finished with 23 points and six assists in Friday's 82-60 win over Creighton. The Musketeers' next game is Saturday against Marquette in the championship game of the Big East Tournament. | 1 | 16-18 |
| 15 |  | Wade Taylor IV finished with 18 points and two steals in Friday's 67-61 win over Arkansas. The Aggies' next game is Saturday against Vanderbilt in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. | 1 | 21-15 |
| 16 |  | Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 24 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 70-60 win over Maryland. The Hoosiers' next game is Saturday against Penn State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. | 1 | 19-14 |
| 17 |  | Jayden Gardner finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds in Friday's 76-56 win over Clemson. The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday against Duke in the championship game of the ACC Tournament. | 2 | 23-11 |
| 18 |  | Kyle Filipowski finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's 85-78 win over Miami. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against Virginia in the championship game of the ACC Tournament. | 2 | 27-9 |
| 19 |  | Miami allowed the Blue Devils to shoot 54.9% from the field in Friday's 85-78 loss to Duke. The Hurricanes' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 5 | 15-17 |
| 20 |  | Kobe Brown finished with 24 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 79-71 win over Tennessee. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Alabama in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. | 3 | 8-24 |
| 21 |  | Damian Baugh was 1 of 8 from the field in Friday's 66-60 loss to Texas. The Horned Frogs' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | -- | 21-13 |
| 22 |  | Saint Mary's allowed Gonzaga to shoot 58.0% from the field in Tuesday's 77-51 loss to the Zags. The Gaels' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | -- | 26-8 |
| 23 |  | Josiah-Jordan James was 1 of 7 from the field in Friday's 79-71 loss to Missouri. The Vols' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 5 | 27-9 |
| 24 |  | Creighton missed 16 of the 23 3-pointers it attempted in Friday's 82-60 loss to Xavier. The Bluejays' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | -- | 25-10 |
| 25 |  | Johnell Davis finished with 18 points and four steals in Friday's 68-65 win over Middle Tennessee State. The Owls' next game is Saturday against UAB in the championship game of the Conference USA Tournament. | NR | 25-9 |
| 26 |  | Tamin Lipsey was 1 of 6 from the field in Friday's 71-58 loss to Kansas. The Cyclones' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 1 | 29-8 |
