Mizzou basketball opens its regular season Tuesday night with a familiar face on the other sideline and a roster built to make a statement right away. The Tigers host Cleveland State at Mizzou Arena at 7 p.m., and the matchup comes with plenty of overlap between the two programs.
Dennis Gates enters his fifth season at Missouri after launching his head-coaching career at Cleveland State in 2019-20 and staying there through the 2021-22 season. Cleveland State is now led by Rob Summers, Gates’ former assistant at both Cleveland State and Missouri, who is in his second season as the Vikings’ head coach. Tre Gomillion, a former Viking and Tiger guard, is also on Summers’ staff, while CSU assistant Dalon King previously worked on Gates’ staff at Missouri.
Gates said, “I take pride in building a tree but also looking at the success of its branches,” Gates said. ... “It’s emotional to say, but also it’s one that I look at with a smile versus tears of emotion.
It’s being proud of what Rob Summers is able to do, but also what Missouri and what Cleveland State has able to do for his dreams and aspirations. And he’s going to do a wonderful job.”
The teams already met once, with Missouri beating Cleveland State 86-59 on Nov. 28, 2025, in Columbia.
This time around, the Tigers will lean on five-star freshmen Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant, four-star transfers Jamier Jones, Bryson Tiller and Kennard Davis, plus returning veterans Mark Mitchell and Trent Pierce.
Missouri comes in off an exhibition loss to UNLV, falling 90-81 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Thursday. Crowe Jr. led the Tigers with 25 points on 6-for-18 shooting, while Bryant and Kennard Davis Jr. each added 10.
Cleveland State did not play a public exhibition game and will open its season against Missouri.
Missouri On SI beat writers will also provide coverage with a live blog featuring score updates and anlysis throughout Tuesday’s game.
In Other News...
Missouri Wrestling Rolled Early But Brian Smith Saw One Clear Concern
Missouri opened its season in dominant fashion at the Missouri Duals inside the Hearnes Center, rolling to three wins and a combined 132-9 edge across the day. The Tigers got strong work from a mix of freshmen and transfers, a good early sign for a roster that is still settling in and figuring out where its best lineup combinations will land.
Brian Smith still left the event with one clear concern, though, even after the lopsided results. For a program that expects to contend, the early-season margin was encouraging, but the head coach pointed to an area that needs to tighten up before the schedule gets more demanding, making the next few weeks just as important as the opening sweep. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Will Test Whether Arch Manning's Turnaround Is Actually Real
Steve Sarkisian sounds convinced Arch Manning has started to settle in after an uneven opening stretch, and Texas has reason to feel better about where its quarterback room stands heading into the heart of the schedule. Manning has helped the Longhorns string together consecutive wins, and his recent play has looked more composed, with better accuracy and a steadier command of the offense than he showed earlier in the year.
Now comes the part that will tell everyone more. Texas is about to run into a tougher slate, with road games looming that will shape its College Football Playoff hopes and provide a clearer read on whether Mannings recent surge is a real turning point or just a short-lived spike against friendlier competition. For Missouri, and for the rest of the SEC, that means the Longhorns are about to be measured in the kind of games that tend to separate a promising stretch from a true breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]
Florida States Coaching Search Just Took A Notable Turn
Florida States coaching search has already started to ripple beyond Tallahassee, and Missouri has been pulled into the conversation because of Eli Drinkwitz. The Seminoles moved on from Mike Norvell after seven seasons, turning the program over to Rick Stockstill on an interim basis after a stretch that never quite matched the schools expectations, including just 10 wins over the past three years.
Drinkwitz has already been asked about the opening, and he pushed back on the idea that he is looking elsewhere, saying his attention is on Missouris next game against Texas. For the Tigers, that matters because any external buzz around their coach tends to travel fast, especially when a high-profile job opens in the middle of a season and the speculation starts before the dust has even settled. [Read more 🡒]