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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri men's basketball coach Dennis Gates made a slight tweak to his coaching staff Tuesday, promoting assistant coach Kyle Smithpeters to associate head coach.

Smithpeters, who has been on the MU staff for the entirety of Gates' tenure in Columbia, is now the top assistant for the Tigers. That spot was previously occupied by Charlton "C.Y." Young, who departed earlier this offseason for the same job at Miami.

“Kyle has played a pivotal role as we’ve restored Missouri basketball nationally and placed it among the top of the SEC,” Gates said in a statement. “During the last three seasons, his efforts in recruiting and development of student-athletes is one of the key reasons for our success at Mizzou. He has been tremendous at building relationships and locking down top targets before helping them reach their full potential on the court, in the classroom and in the community. He has exceeded all of my expectations and this promotion is well earned as we continue to chase championships.”

Smithpeters was hired after a 10-year stint as the head coach of John A. Logan Community College in Illinois, where he posted a 241-73 record. He's a product of Southern Illinois.

“I’ve enjoyed every aspect of my first three seasons with Missouri basketball and I couldn’t be more thrilled in my new role as associate head coach,” Smithpeters said in a statement. “I’m truly excited about the future as there is so much more that we can accomplish. I’m honored to work with so many great basketball minds on a daily basis. To learn from Coach Gates — from X’s and O’s to game management — has been very fulfilling and I’m looking forward to continuing to build off that as we elevate the Mizzou program even further.”

Missouri's four assistant coaches are David "Dickey" Nutt, Ryan Sharbaugh, Matt Cline and Steve Wright.