COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri men’s basketball coaching staff is getting some reinforcements in a key developmental area.
Coach Dennis Gates has hired Rob Summers as an assistant coach who will focus on helping the program’s frontcourt players.
The Tigers head coach will reunite with one of his assistants from the successful tenure at Cleveland State that preceded his time at Mizzou. He joins Ryan Sharbaugh and Matt Cline as former Cleveland State assistants and staffers now with MU.
Summers, who has been coaching at Miami (Ohio) University, will fill the assistant coach position previously occupied by David “Dickey†Nutt.
Nutt stepped back from a hands-on role midway through last season to undergo cancer treatment, and his title changed this offseason to reflect that adjustment. He’s as MU’s assistant to the head coach and senior adviser. His focus will be on scouting, analytics and film breakdown.
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“Coach Nutt is talking to us. He’s still on staff,†Gates said in March before the Tigers’ exit in the Southeastern Conference tournament. “He still watches games. We want him to stay as involved as possible with our team and with the game of basketball that he identifies with so he can always have something to look forward to every single day.â€
As Nutt pushes through chemotherapy, his role with Missouri basketball has produced some moments that lightheartedly challenged his recovery.
“One game, the nurses had to turn it off because his blood pressure went up. Sorry about that, Coach Nutt,†Gates said, chuckling. “But he loves it, man. He’s a ball coach.â€
Focus on post
Summers’ specialties as a coach check important boxes for a Mizzou program that is looking to recover from an 0-18 run through SEC play and 19 consecutive losses to close out the season.
At Cleveland State, Summers was Gates’ offensive coordinator and worked primarily with post players.
In that role, he guided the Vikings to an uptick in scoring, going from 64.2 points per game to 70.9 and 75.4 averages before Gates left the school to take the MU job.
“As somebody who specializes in post development, Rob is the perfect piece to round out our coaching staff,†Gates said in a statement. “Very few coaches have frontcourt playing experience, and his knowledge and ability to teach the position will no doubt elevate our program. As our top assistant coach at Cleveland State, he has familiarity with our system and was behind all of our success at CSU. Rob has continued to grow as a coach as he spent the last two seasons as associate head coach at Miami, helping turn that program into a MAC contender. He is without a doubt a future head coach and we look forward to him joining our program as we strive to win championships in the classroom, on the court and in the community.â€
The post development piece may be the most valuable for the Tigers, who have struggled to find consistent production from their frontcourt under Gates.
During this past season, Mizzou cycled through the likes of Connor Vanover, Noah Carter, Aidan Shaw and Jordan Butler while trying to find a serviceable combination of bigs. The result was a team that finished last in the SEC in rebounding with 31 boards per game, 2.5 rebounds fewer than the next-closest team.
That led to opponents grabbing 6.1 more rebounds than MU per game, a lopsided margin that lands 348th out of 363 Division I teams.
Summers boasts a couple of key success stories when it comes to developing college-level big men.
Center Anderson Mirambeaux has spent three seasons working with Summers, following him from Cleveland State to Miami. During a two-year span, the big man elevated his scoring from 1.5 to 14.3 points per game with 5.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.9 blocks to round out his stat line.
Summers has been credited with developing wing Torey Patton at Cleveland State, elevating him to a 2020-21 season in which he averaged 14.7 points and eight rebounds to land on the All-Horizon League first team. Forward Deante Johnson, a Horizon League All-Defensive Team selection, was another Summers protege who became a force on the blocks.
That track record bodes well for Summers’ future work with Butler, a 7-foot center who will be entering his second season, and incoming freshmen Trent Burns and Peyton Marshall, who stand 7-2 and 6-10 respectively.
Summers’ skill at coaching frontcourt players stems from his playing days. Standing 7 feet tall, he played center at Penn State and West Virginia. His last season with the Mountaineers saw him average nearly a block per game with 4.9 rebounds and a 63.3% field-goal percentage, still one of the best marks in program history.
Summers made a lasting impression on one of his West Virginia teammates, Joe Mazzulla, who is now the head coach of the NBA-leading Boston Celtics.
“Rob and I not only played together at WVU but we worked together in our first coaching job as assistants,†Mazzulla said in a statement. “From him, I learned the importance of recruiting and relationship building. Since then, I have watched him grow in teaching the game and he has worked extremely hard to become a well-rounded coach. He has great energy, passion and desire to learn. I know he will be a great addition to any staff he joins.â€
Before settling into coaching, he played professionally in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. Summers previously was an assistant at James Madison and the head coach of Division II Urbana in Ohio. He hails from Columbus, Ohio.