Since Dennis Gates took over as the Missouri Tigers head men’s basketball coach in March of 2022, he and Tim Fuller have talked once a month over the phone.
Talking after Missouri’s 2024-25 season, Gates told Fuller he was looking into hiring a general manager for the first time in program history. It was a role that piqued Fuller’s interest as a former marketing representative at Nike and executive at Overtime Elite.
“After discussing the role, it was a ‘Coach, I think I could be a fit for that,'” Fuller recalled when speaking to the Missouri media Saturday.
Gates kept Fuller on his list and had further discussions, but also did a through process, considering multiple other candidates. But ultimately, Fuller ended up being the best fit, being named to the job in early June. It’s a position the former Missouri assistant coach was eager to take on in the new age of college athletics.
“I had kind of made up my mind that coming into this new day of college basketball, somebody needed to take the bull by the horns and manage these agent relationships, manage the transfer portal,” Fuller said.
Gates and Fuller have collaborated on creating plans on exactly what Fuller’s role will be with the program. Though multiple college basketball program’s have hired general managers in recent months, not all of those positions are created equally.
“One of the interesting elements of this is the interpretation or definition of GM at different places is different,” director of athletics Laird Veatch said to reporters Thursday. “(Gates) wanted to have that kind of role on staff and have somebody that can really help him interact directly with agents and manage some of those kinds of elements.”
Fuller expects to be “wearing different hats” to help out the program in multiple areas he already has experience in — managing agent relationships, help student-athletes make the most out of NIL opportunities and recruiting.
The first task for Fuller is to become an expert in the new and constantly changing world of college athletics.
“Initially, coach has me on certain tasks to understand the landscape, first and foremost, of where we’re heading as college basketball,” Fuller said.
Fuller has also developed a plan for his first 100-days with the program. Out of his time, he plans to spend 10% of it is forming relationships with current players, and explaining the ways he can assist them.
“Retention for coach Gates and his culture and what he wants to build moving forward, I think, is check mark No. 1,” Fuller said. “The first players that you have to recruit when it comes to transfer portal are your own, and making sure that you’re retaining the guys that you want to keep to help continuity.”
Another 30% of what Fuller wants to commit his time to in his first 100 days is forming relationships with agents the staff the players are working with, and to connect them to other agents he’s already connected with.
“So we have several buckets that we’re putting these relationships in,” Fuller said. “One is an agent bucket. One is an elite player high school bucket, and then there’s an international bucket, so that we can all collaborate on the different approaches that we’re going to have.”
After becoming acquainted with the players and agents currently with the program, Fuller will turn more of his focus toward talent at the high school level, and internationally. Several of Missouri’s coaches will be attending international basketball events through FIBA over the offseason. While they’re looking at talent across the world, Fuller will be meeting with agents of players.
Fuller and Gates will also be going to the NBA Summer League to meet with NBA executives.
“I’m setting up meetings now so that I can get certain agents on his (Gates’) calendar as well, just so we can start to understand what their expectations are going forward in this new day of college basketball,” Fuller said of his plans for the NBA Summer League.
During the season, Fuller will focus on ways he can support the assistant coaching staff with tasks that have become heavy burdens and time-consumers in the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
“I think that the assistant coaches main responsibilities, and kind of their day-to-day, is about building the proper relationships with the current players,” Fuller said.
Fuller was once in that role as an assistant coach on the Missouri staff, all be it in a very different era, serving as an assistant from 2011-2015 with the Tigers. At that time, Fuller’s top focus was on doing whatever it took to become a head coach. Since then, his priorities have changed.
“I’ve kind of settled into a place where, ‘How many people can I help them reach their dreams and full potential?’ And so I’ve kind of made a mantra of the last decade of my life, helping other people reach their full potential,” Fuller said.
Fuller’s goals at the individual level with the coaching staff and players is the same for the ones for the program as a whole.
“I’m at this point here to serve,” Fuller said, “and eliminate some of the burden that coach Gates may have in terms of some of the outside relationships, the handshaking, the agent relationships, and just making sure that Mizzou basketball is covered 360 degrees.”
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