Elbie Gates grew up in Garland Texas where she attended North Garland High School. She was a four-year letter winner. She earned All-District 11-5A first team honors all four years and was named to the TABC 5A All-Region team (Region II) as a senior. Selected the Garland online.com Player of the Year for District 11-5A and named to the 2004-05 Dallas Morning News All-Area third team. She was named District 11-5A MVP her senior and junior year while also leading the district in points and rebounds. She was also the recipient of the Garland Hall of Fame award in 2005.
After high school, she received a full basketball scholarship at Southern Methodist University. Her Freshman year, she was second on the team in field goal percentage. She helped lead her team to a Conference-USA championship in 2007 and later competing in the NCAA tournament.
Elbie is currently in her 2nd year as the Assistant Varsity Girls Basketball coach at Sachse high school. Her first year, the lady mustangs went 14-0 in district becoming the district 11-6A Champions. Elbie's enthusiasm for the game shines through her hard work and commitment she has for the development of young ladies on and off the court. She strongly believes that the process is just as important as the results.