What Dennis Gates and Trent Pierce had to say before the Tigers take on the Golden Bears in the ACC/SEC challenge.

On Tuesday, Dennis Gates will do something he’s never done before as a head coach: face one of his alma maters

Gates received a master’s degree at Florida State, but he played basketball and earned his undergraduate degree at California. Mizzou will host the Golden Bears in the ACC/SEC challenge Tuesday, with the Tigers looking to defeat their first high-major opponent in the young 2024-25 campaign after falling to Memphis in the season-opener.

Here’s what Gates and Trent Pierce told reporters ahead of the matchup.

Dennis Gates | Head coach

On Caleb Grill: “Caleb Grill, obviously, will not be playing (Tuesday). He’s going to be day-to-day, one of those situations where I can comfortably sit and say to you guys and everyone out there. He’s in great spirits, but he will not be playing. The interesting part with the Caleb Grill story, and this is speaks for his character. First of all, he spent majority of the time in the hospital watching his team play on his phone. The other part of it is, as soon as he got released from the hospital, he spent time on the phone, it was about 2 a.m. where he called and said ‘coach, I’m good to go. I’m sitting here jogging in place’.”

On the release of the season’s first NET rankings: “NET rankings came out today, and what a great sight to see as it relates to our conference. 10 in the top 50, or 11 right there on the cusp. I just think our conference is in a different place in years past, but competitively, we’ve done a tremendous job. Still have work to do in the month of December, but we’ve done a tremendous job, top to bottom, being able to schedule how we’ve scheduled, but also giving our conference a chance to be one of the top conferences in the NET rankings. Hopefully, that will continue as we go toward January, February, March, and into the NCAA Tournament. But more specifically, there’s a lot of work to do in the month of December, but it’s a great sign to see with the NET rankings coming out and the results that we’ve seen in our conference.”

On playing his alma mater, Cal: “It was going to either be, I think, Florida State, with me playing one of my biggest mentors, or now hosting Cal, a place that I’ve graduated from and got my degree from.

“Whatever storyline it is, it’s still going to make for a good game. It’s not about what I’ve done in my career. It’s about our players and, obviously, their journey. I’ve made some great relationships and met some great people still that I keep in contact with. Obviously, my teammates, you can never take that away. The big picture of it all is just simply being able to stay in the moment as I’m a coach. I’m no longer a player. Don’t get any ideas out there. I have not shot a jump shot since 2002.”

On one of the challenges Cal presents: “They’ve had great pieces, all of which I think can make a run for them. They’re a good team. I don’t think (Mark Madsen) put his team together thinking they’re going to have injuries. They’ve they’ve had some shortcomings with injuries, but their guys have been able to step up, so it speaks for the depth of his team.”

On replacing Grill: “You do it by committee. Caleb is definitely an important piece to it. But we saw last game, Marques Warrick. We saw Jacob Crews. We see Annor Boateng. I think those three guys have to continue to step up in their own way without trying to be Caleb Grill, and we’ll be fine. I think by committee, the things that he does, intangible-wise, is a part of our identity. It just stands out because he does more, and it usually is in a more intense fashion, but we have guys willing to do the labor, and that’s the most important part.”

On Mark Mitchell’s impact: “He’s a very versatile player, and what I see from him is the ability to impact the game of basketball on both ends. Offensively, with his high field goal percentage, finishing around the rim, ability to get to the free throw line, but also the ability to make plays for other people. Defensively, he can block shots, he can rebound, he’s able to get in position, switch one through five sometimes. So those are things that I think he brings to the table, his ability to talk, his intensity, but I also think he allows his teammates to impact the game as well. He’s not a guy that I think demands the ball with time of possession, but he’s a guy that keeps the ball moving, and that’s most important. I do want to see more from him, and I think ultimately, whether it’s a higher field goal percentage, more touches around the rim or even the ability to push after rebounding that gives us an extra advantage defensively…I want to continue to see his versatility. I want to see him in double-digit rebounds, too. I think those things will help us.”

On managing the month of December: “We don’t over-analyze the entire month, but as a head coach in our scheduling, what I see now is higher level of NET, and then a drop in NET. Higher level of NET, drop in NET. What I want our guys to do is be consistent and not challenge the front of the jersey, but challenge our own identity. And if we can go out there and be consistent, that’s how I’m measuring December. I don’t want our guys to have an emotional let down or mental let down of any sort based off of who we play, where we play them at, and how many times we have to play them.”

On defending Andrej Stojakovic, who’s averaging 18 points and seven free throw attempts per game this season: “We just have to play without fouling, but also still get to that thin line of playing as intense as we can, but also don’t put referees in a situation where they can call fouls. Don’t reach in the last five seconds of a shot clock, being able to show both hands versus one on a drive, to make sure that the referee doesn’t make a mistake thinking that we’re fouling.”

On what he’s learned about his team through almost one month of action: “I think you have to understand the big picture. It all balances itself out. We put ourselves in a pretty good situation in November. We got to make sure we put ourselves in a situation, a great situation in December, because ultimately, in our conference, we’re going to have double the amount of games than in any other conference, as it stands right now, with Quad 1 games, and that’s what you want to have. That’s what you want to take place. Preparation is based off that team, not the country. Our team is in a progression where I think it’s positive, and that’s what we have to continue to protect. And obviously, the NET rankings, whether it’s an opinion of our schedule or not, the performance is what it is, and that’s what we have to make sure we’re having positive performances, positive assist-to-turnover ratio, being able to rebound the basketball, being able to get to the free throw line, which we’re one of the top teams in the country. Can we sustain those things is the question. Although injuries are part of it, we want our guys to continue to stay healthy. We want guys to step up, if there’s opportunities to step up, and at the end of the day, our team is getting better.”

Trent Pierce I Forward

On his confidence shooting from beyond the arc: :Coach Gates has told me he want sme to shoot the ball. He’s giving me that confidence. I’ve always done been known as a shooter, so even I’m not hitting, I know the next shot’s gonna go up. I have that confidence in myself. Having coaches and teammates who you know still have confidence in me as well to keep shooting makes me happy to keep shooting with confidence.”

On where that confidence comes from: “My confidence comes from my faith and just knowing that I’m not out there to play for anyone else. I’m out there to have fun. God has given me the abilities to go out there play the game, and I’m not out there to perform for him or anyone else.”

On the difference between his game last year and this year: “It was just nervousness being a freshman, just kind of being unsure … I think just being able to have a little bit experience on my back as well as having more confidence has really just given me the power out there and play confident play, play un-nervous.”

On improvements in his game: “Being able to not just be a three-point shooter. I think last year, I was really focused on making shots, and that’s kind of what caused me to have a bad three-point percentage, because I only thought about my mid shots last year. I think this year, I could come in and been able to go downhill attack the basket … being able to play downhill has really opened up my game.”

On his increased physicality: “It’s impacted me a lot. It started in the weight room with me. I’ve been getting bigger. I’ve put on about 10 pounds since coming in here as a freshman. I’ve seen improvement in the weight room, and it’s translated on the court for me.”

On his improved defense: “I think my defense has improved a lot. I think being able to get steals, get fastbreak points, that’s some of the easiest points you can get in games. Being more active as well as my rebounding. (I want to) show scouts that I’m not just a shooter, I’m not just a scorer, but I can do things on both sides of the court.”

On being able to handle the loss of Grill better this year: “The team is better connected. If one guy falls down, we have guys picking back up. We have a very deep team.”