Gove recently capped off his 10th season as Associate Head Coach at West Texas A&M University leading the Buffs to the program’s fifth regional championship and third Final Four appearance.
There is not a more decorated Associate Head Coach in Division II than Coach Gove. In his 26 years, he has helped lead teams to two National Titles, two National Runner-Up, six Final Four appearances and eight Regional Titles. Gove also has led teams to NCAA Division II records of 38 wins in a single season (2008) and 57 consecutive wins (2006-2007). Throughout his career, Gove’s teams have made 18 NCAA tournament appearances with an overall record of 43-15 in NCAA Tournament games played.
Taking over a last place program going into the 2015 season, Gove has been instrumental in transforming the Buffs into a Division II National Power. Currently, Gove has helped lead the Buffs to five LSC Regular Season Championships, along with six straight LSC Conference tournament Titles. The Buffs recorded four seasons with over 30 wins and have a record of 266-62 (.811) during this time. In Gove's 10 years with the Buffs, the Buffs have been to six Sweet 16, four Elite 8, three Final 4, and one National Championship appearance. In his 10 seasons, he has coached six All-Americans, five LSC Players of the Year, four LSC Freshman of the Year, four D2CCA Regional Players of the Year, two LSC Newcomers of the Year, and one LSC Academic Player of the Year.
In 2023-24, the Buffs defended their Lone Star Conference regular season title, finishing the year with a 20-2 conference record. After falling in the opening round of the LSC Tournament, WT earned the No. 1 seed and hosting privileges to the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament. The Buffs defeated Angelo State and Dallas Baptist before capturing the regional championship with an 88-76 victory over No. 6 Colorado Mesa. Returning to the Elite Eight for the fifth time in program history and fourth with Coaches Brown and Gove on the bench. After defeating North Georgia 90-76 in the Elite Eight, the Buffs saw their season end in the program’s third Final Four appearance. Eight WT players brought in Lone Star Conference honors with Larry Wise earning Player of the Year, Ryland Holt earning Defensive Player of the Year, and Kieran Elliott earning Freshman of the Year. The awards continued as Wise, a Bevo Francis Award Finalist, was selected as the D2CCA Region Player of the Year before being named to the NABC All-America and D2CCA All-America teams.
2022-23 saw the Buffs end with a 27-7 record, appearing in the NCAA Tournament for a 21st time. Along with the NCAA appearance, WT also secured it's sixth-consecutive Lone Star Conference Tournament title. In the title game, Zach Toussaint nailed a go-ahead jumper with less than three seconds to play, pushing the Buffs over Angelo State. WT eventually made its way to the South Central Regional Championship where a final shot left the hand a fraction of a second too late, ending the Buffs' season in heartbreak. Julius Brown was named the LSC Player of the Year while Damion Thornton earned Newcomer of the Year and Toussaint picked up Sixth Man of the Year. Brown and Thornton went on to win All-Region awards and Brown was named a D2CCA Honorable Mention All-American.
In 2021-22, WT finished 28-7 making the programs 20th NCAA Tournament appearance. Julius Brown was named the LSC Newcomer of the Year leading the program to its fifth consecutive conference tournament title.
During the 2020-21 season, WT made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championship game led by All-American’s Qua Grant and Joel Murray. They went 19-3 in the abbreviated CoVID season where the Buffs ranked as high as second in the National Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Division II Coaches Poll.
In 2019-20, WT won more than 30 games for third straight season, one shy of the NCAA DII record. They finished 32-1 including a 21-1 record in LSC play while winning the LSC Championship for a third consecutive season. The Buffs ranked second nationally in turnovers forced, turnover margin and 3-point defense.
During the 2018-19 season, Ryan Quaid was named the D2CCA South Central Region Player of the Year after leading the Buffs to a program record 34-4 record and second consecutive trip to the NCAA DII Elite Eight. The Buffs also won the LSC Regular Season Title outright, along with the LSC Conference Tournament.
During the 2017-2018 season, WT made their first-ever trip to the Final Four led by the program’s all-time leading scorer David Chavlovich. They won a then-record 32 games en route to winning the program’s first outright conference title since 1994. The Buffs also won the LSC Conference Tournament Title.
Prior to WT, Gove spent 16 years as an Assistant Coach at Winona State University turning that program into a National Power. Gove helped coach Winona State to the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2006 and 2008, while also playing for the title in 2007. Winona State set a NCAA Division II record with 57 consecutive wins. The 2007-08 Warrior squad won 38 games, an all-division NCAA record and WSU posted a 105-6 combined record during the 2005-06 through 2007-08 seasons. Winona’s consistent success allowed the Warriors to be named Division II Bulletin’s “Program of the Decade” for the first decade of the 21st century.
In 16 years at Winona State University, Gove coached 3 National Players of t Year, 4 NCAA Regional Players of The Year, 12 NABC All-Region Players, 27 First Team All-Conference Players, 7 Defensive Players of The Year, and 5 Conference Players of The Year. During that span he was part of 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, 6 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season titles and 5 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament titles.
While at Winona State University, Gove also spent 3 seasons with the WSU Baseball program. In 1998 Gove helped lead the baseball program to their first Division II regional appearance in school history, this also marked the first regional appearance for any team sport at WSU at the Division II level. During those 3 seasons Gove helped lead the baseball program to two NCAA Division II Regional Appearances, 2 Regular Season Conference Titles along with 2 Conference Tournament Titles.
Gove also spent 6 years (2006-2011) as a high school baseball in Wabasha, Minnesota. In his six seasons, he led the Wabasha-Kellogg Falcons to four Conference Titles and three State Tournament appearances with one runner-up finish. The Three-Rivers Conference titles were the first for the school in 24 years while the State Tournament Appearances were the first in 26 years. The 2009 State Runner-Up finish was the best season in school history.
Gove played basketball at Winona State for two seasons and baseball for 3 seasons at WSU. As a baseball player, he started at first base on WSU’s 1992 NAIA third-place team and was also an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American during the 1994 season. Gove holds degrees in Business Administration and Physical Education from Winona State and he earned a Master of Science degree from WSU in 2004.
Gove and his wife Katie are the proud parents of two daughters, Sydney and Jordyn.
