Gates played college basketball at California, where he was a two-time first-team All-Academic selection in the Pac-10, having graduated in three years, playing his senior season as a master's degree candidate. Gates was also a member of Cal's 2002 NCAA Tournament team.
Coaching career
After graduation, Gates served as a coaching intern for the Los Angeles Clippers before heading to the college ranks for two graduate assistant coaching positions at Marquette and Florida State for a season each. He would return to his alma mater as a full assistant coach in 2005 under Mike Montgomery. From 2007 to 2009, Gates served as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois before another two-year stint as an assistant coach at Nevada. In 2011, he rejoined the Florida State staff as an assistant coach under Leonard Hamilton and was part of the Seminoles' 2011–12ACC Tournament championship squad. He was a part of seven Seminole NCAA Tournament teams, including two Sweet 16 and one Elite Eight runs. During a January 10, 2017 contest between Florida State and Duke Gates was shoved by Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen as the guard went for a loose ball near the Florida State bench. The clip garnered national attention, but Gates defended Allen in the aftermath stating he was not the victim of a dirty play.
On July 26, 2019 Gates was named 17th head coach in Cleveland State basketball history, replacing Dennis Felton. Gates won his first game as a college head coach on November 9, 2019, against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, a 54-79 victory for the Vikings. Following his efforts in his first season, Gates was rewarded a share of the Horizon League Coach of the Year after Cleveland State won seven games in Horizon League play, the most for the school in five years. Gates is only the second head coach in Cleveland State history to be named Horizon League Coach of the Year, joining Gary Waters. He was also the first head coach with an 11-win season to be named Horizon League Coach of the Year and only the second coach in league history to be awarded the honor with a sub-.500 record, joining 1980-81 Horizon League Coach of the Year Bob Staak. Gates also coached junior forward Algevon Eichelberger to a Horizon League All-Third Team selection, as well as Torrey Patton to Player of the Week and Hugo Ferreira to Freshman of the Week. Cleveland State saw significant improvements in his first season at the helm, winning three straight league games for the first time since the 2014–15 and winning three straight non-conference games for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
