With the Missouri Tiger women’s basketball season at its end after a loss in the first round of the SEC Tournament, the search for the fifth coach in program history (and fourth since women’s basketball became an NCAA sport) has begun.
“We really believe we have a special opportunity here,” Missouri Athletic Director Laird Veatch said. “... We see and know from the success in other programs, the potential for programs to be highly successful at Mizzou. And we also know how our people support it, right? If you have a competitor, if you show, you know, real energy and passion and the capacity and ability to win, our people are going to support you and show up.”
Veatch gave some key points he and the Missouri search team will keep an eye out for when meeting with candidates. He said the school is looking for a proven winner who has had success at multiple stops with a preference for head-coaching experience.
“I think we’re at a time and place where a varied background is very beneficial,” Veatch said.
He added being a proven recruiter with a clear network within the recruiting space will be key as well as being able to connect with Mizzou, Tiger fans and the Columbia community.
But the key, he said, was the candidate already knowing themselves and not needing to learn much on the fly.
“We are at the top level of competition in this, in all of our sports,” Veatch said. “... We want a competitor, somebody that really expects to win at the highest level and sees the opportunity, particularly here at Mizzou, to do that.”
But one of the main focuses moving forward, and one of the main questions asked by media and fans, is just how much the Tigers are willing to commit financially to a sport that loses money year over year. Like the vast majority of college sports (only football and the highest levels of men’s basketball make a profit) women’s basketball is a money loser for the university.
So the question arises, is it worth it to spend more money on a program that is losing the university big dollars when the athletic department is already working heavily in the red and the upcoming house settlement on revenue sharing is just past the horizon?
“There’s a balance there and that’s the balance that’s got to be struck,” Veatch said. “We have to recognize the greater, you know, financial pressures we’re under, all the changes we’re going through. But I also think there’s more revenue upside in this sport. I do believe that, you know, while, you know, you’re not necessarily going to generate the revenue that you can in some of our other sports, it is a sport that you can really see some upside. And I think with winning, particularly as I mentioned here in mid-Missouri, we’ll get a lot of people showing up and supporting the program.”
Veatch said he’s not yet ready to say the Tigers are willing to discuss whether Missouri will end up committing the 5 percent of revenue sharing that has been reported multiple universities are targeting for women’s basketball, but he reiterated the athletic department is committed to investing in women’s basketball at a high level. He clarified, his uncertainty was about discussing the revenue sharing plan and not saying the Tigers are planning to commit less than 5 percent of their revenue sharing to women’s basketball.
“We need to manage those conversationgs internally,” Veatch said. “We are committed to women’s basketball and I do feel good about how our approach to NIL, I think we’ve proven that here at Mizzou in recent years, is a point of pride … It’s a real advantage for us, so we have a selling point there and we’re going to fully fund rev share, right? So we’re committed across the board, all that. If it’s 20.5 (million) we’re goint to be committed to 20.5, it’s just, how do we manage that?”
But as the Tigers think through their financial commitment, they will have to weigh the benefits to getting a candidate hired quickly and set up in Columbia before the opening of the transfer portal on March 25, against the benefits of waiting for a more currently-successful candidate whose season may not end by that point since the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament will be March 23-24.
“It’s something you have to kind of feel your way through,” Veatch said. So, I’ve been a part of several of these searches in the past and it depends on various individual citations. … It is quite a process and it’s really something you just have to sort of manage as you go, but understanding what that end goal is and at some point, you know, those time pressures are going to impact, you know, what your pool looks like and when you need to make a decision and is it worth waiting for it longer or is it not? Those are all the kind of things you have to go through and manage as you realize the candidates and what you’re working with.”
Veatch said Missouri has hired TurnkeyZRG, a recruiting firm the Tigers have used for other coaching hires, to work with a small group of administrators and help move through the process, while aligning with school leadership.
Veatch said with Robin Pingeton exiting, her ability to run the program internally, academically and with respect to the connection with the Columbia and Mizzou communities, is something he hopes to continue.
“I think those things are really important,” Veatch said. “Particularly when you’re in a, you know, small college town in the midwest. I think that’s extra important. So we want to continue to carry that kind of, you know, just goodness around the program forward and then we need to compete and win at a higher level.”
But with that focus in mind, Veatch said one goal stands above the rest.
“I never want us to shy away from expecting to win championships,” Veatch said. “We got to get to a point where, you know, in all of our sports, we’re going to play for championships. Now, you know that that is a process, right? And it doesn’t just happen overnight and it is in a highly-competitive environment. So, you know, I talk to our coaches all the time about trajectory and knowing where the programs are at and continuing to see positive movement and growth to where we get to a point where we’re competing for championships year in and year out, that has to be the continued focus.”
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