Gates was a highly touted recruit coming out of high school, and he committed to play college basketball for the Cincinnati Bearcats. As a junior, he was suspended for a game due to a confrontation with an assistant coach.[1] As a senior, he was a part of the 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, punching Xavier center Kenny Frease. After the brawl, a tearful Gates apologized for his role in the scrum.[2] He was suspended for six games as a result.[3] After the suspension, Gates blossomed, scoring 23 points in an important win over Georgetown and 18 points in a huge upset over the second-ranked Syracuse. He averaged 12.4 points and just under 10 rebounds a game in leading Cincinnati to the Sweet 16 of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.[1]
Professional career
On August 29, 2012, Gates signed with Lithuanian club Pieno žvaigždės for the 2012–13 season.[4] On May 18, 2013, he signed with Brujos de Guayama of Puerto Rico for the rest of the 2013 BSN season.[5]
On July 27, 2013, Gates signed with Hapoel Eilat for the 2013–14 season.[6]
On July 31, 2014, Gates signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv for the 2014–15 season.[7]
On September 3, 2015, Gates signed with Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem,[8] but left the team in pre-season. In October 2015, he signed with Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association.[9] In December 2015, he parted ways with Shanxi after appearing in 18 games.[10] On January 4, 2016, he signed with German club Telekom Baskets Bonn for the rest of the season.[11] On March 6, 2016, he parted ways with Bonn after averaging 14 points and 6 rebounds per game in Beko BBL.[12]
On July 25, 2016, Gates signed with Ironi Nahariya for the 2016–17 season.[13]
In the summers of 2016 and 2017, Gates played in The Basketball Tournament on ESPN for Pedro's Posse. He competed for the $2 million prize, and in 2017 for Pedro's Posse, he scored 23 points in their first round loss to Team 23 by a score of 107–92.[17]