COLUMBIA, Mo. — As last basketball season wore on, Missouri coach Dennis Gates spent more and more time in a hospital room.
He’d be seated at the foot of one of those unmistakable hospital beds, sometimes, when assistant coach David “Dickey” Nutt woke up — like the morning after Mizzou had lost to Auburn on its path to an 0-18 record in Southeastern Conference play.
Nutt was undergoing cancer treatment away from the team during that span, stuck watching games on TV when he could stay calm enough to keep the nurses from getting concerned over his vitals.