Fans admire Missouri HC Dennis Gates for politely declining a reporter's question: "Hate having to respect a rival coach, but he's forcing me to"

Fans praised Missouri coach Dennis Gates for his professionalism following his postgame comments after the Tigers' 95-81 loss to Florida on Friday.

After Missouri was knocked out of the SEC Tournament, a reporter asked Gates about the changes Florida has made since the two teams' first meeting earlier this season.

"I'm not gonna give that gameplan out because the next game, in my eyes, I wanna see the SEC successful in the NCAA tournament," Gates replied (via an X post by @RyanTTKWilliams).

"I'm not trying to be rude to you, but I do like to respect our opponents, especially when I know that somebody will be preparing for them outside of this conference, and they'll listen to press conferences."

However, Dennis Gates, the third-year coach at Missouri, provided some insight into the No. 4 Gators' dominant season and even referred to them as "title contenders."

Hoop fans applauded the exchange.

"Dang I hate having to respect a rival coach, but he’s forcing me to," one wrote on X.

"Class act. He'll coach at a very high level school one day," another said.

"High accolades for this coach," a longtime Florida fan commented.

"He is one heck of a coach. He will be successful in the SEC. Missouri will make a run in the NCAA tournament," one user praised.

More fans complimented Gates:

"Very classy! Hats off to what you have done at Mizzou coach," one added.

"I respect this Coach even more for how he answered that question! Love this!," another chimed in.

Missouri played its first matchup against Florida in January, which they won 83-82 in Gainesville, Fla.

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Dennis Gates reflects on season and what's next for the program

Despite Missouri's lopsided loss to Florida in the SEC Tournament, Dennis Gates expressed pride in the team's effort and achievements throughout the season.

"We finished sixth obviously in the conference, and that's an accomplishment for us," Gates said after the Florida game. "We still left opportunities out there to finish higher.

"We're only one of two schools nationally with three top-five wins. ... But I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of our program, and we'll debrief how we need to debrief."

The Tigers played 18 quad-one games this season — the fourth most in the country — and won seven, including victories over Florida, Alabama, Kansas and Ole Miss.

Missouri awaits its NCAA Tournament seeding on Selection Sunday. Sophomore guard Anthony Robinson is confident that the Tigers are ready to tackle whatever comes next in the Big Dance.

With the schedule they faced and the wins they grinded out, Dennis Gates' team deserves to be recognized as a tough, battle-tested squad heading into March Madness.