My only real concern about Gates is that, in the three years he's had at Cleveland State, he's shown the propensity to be a good mid-major coach. The teams have been good enough the last two seasons to be a contender for a Horizon title without ever looking like a GREAT mid-major. Take Lamont Paris at Chattanooga this year, for example, by comparison... if you can take a mid-major to a top 75 KenPom ranking, you're gonna raise eyebrows. Gates never cracking 150 in three years, while maybe it's just a byproduct of him still being relatively new, doesn't exactly scream "he's ready already to take the leap."

The FSU background is nice, because Hamilton's quite a good coach... but he's also never been a Title Program coach. While Gates was there, they went to, what, 1-2 Sweet 16s? And it's not like they've lacked for talent during that time, there were plenty of pros there. So it's not like hiring an assistant from a top 5-6 program, where you think "holy shit, this guy's got serious upside"...

I just don't think, if getting fans excited about the program again is the goal, that an assistant coach from a Top 20 program who's had two good Horizon League seasons is that guy. Maybe I'm crazy.

And maybe they just liked the money value, like you said. Maybe for the price, Gates is the best coach available, that's certainly an option. I'm just surprised there aren't any boosters they can go to to beg for more money, lol. And maybe they aren't looking for a home run swing, they just want a guy who can get them back to something resembling consistent bubble-team quality. Gates could be that guy, certainly. And maybe they know something about his acumen that we just haven't seen in his HC work to date. I just think most of the SEC is nabbing sexy picks from the mid-majors, so having the least sexy hire when you're trying to get fans to care again... just feels like a missed opportunity.

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