The question has been out there for nearly a year. More than that, really. After the 2022-23 season, then-Mizzou Director of Athletics Desiree Reed-Francois stated publicly she was bringing women’’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton back for another season. Any time that has to be stated publicly, the ice is pretty thin.
"I think we all know the expectations,” Pingeton said at the time.
It’s only gotten thinner under Pingeton in the ensuing 11 months. A 68-61 loss to Vanderbilt Thursday night was Missouri’s 10th in a row. The Tigers are now 11-17 overall and 2-13 and locked into the 13th or 14th seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Greenville, SC.
So after Thursday’s final home game, the question came up again: Does Pingeton expect to get a 15th season on the Tigers’ bench?
"I'm a firm believer in being where my feet are about being present about controlling what I can control, winning the day," Pingeton said. "That's what we talk to our players about on a daily basis. And I think it's really important that I'm in a place that I'm modeling that behavior for them."
Pingeton, who has coached 434 games at Mizzou, still has at least two more to go. The Tigers close the regular season at Mississippi State on Sunday and then will play in Greenville next Wednesday. After that, nobody knows.
She came off as a coach who might know the end is near. She appeared emotional sitting between seniors Hayley Frank and Mama Dembele during the post-game press conference. She was asked what she thinks about when she thinks about her program and her time at Missouri.
"This community, 14 years, you know, they've just been on the ride with us," Pingeton said. "I mean, they've been through it all with us.
"There's nobody more competitive than who's in that locker room, all of us in that locker room. But also I think, you know, it hurts most for our fans. We care so much about them and just the way they continue to show up for us and we love them to death and are so grateful for them and I know none of us wants to disappoint our fanbase because they are a part of our family."
Should Pingeton be fired, Missouri would owe her approximately $233,000 (the exact amount could vary depending on when the firing occurs). Her current contract is set to expire at the end of next year.
Of course, there’s the question of who exactly would make that decision. Reed-Francois left Missouri for Arizona ten days ago. Marcy Girton is Mizzou’s Interim Director of Athletics. Sources have indicated to PowerMizzou.com that the search for a permanent replacement could take a while.
The SEC Tournament runs from March 6-10. Unless the Tigers make a miracle run, their final game will be played some time that week. The transfer portal opens on March 18 and remains open for 45 days. If Missouri is going to make a coaching change, it would almost certainly want to do so before the opening of the portal. But for that to happen, the school would need to move on from Pingeton, hire a new athletic director and a new coach in the next 18 days. The other alternative is to put a new coach behind the eight ball in year one.
Could Pingeton be saved by lack of an athletic director? It seems unlikely for a coach who has gone 65-79 in the last five seasons, hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and has never made it past the opening weekend. Plus, without an extension, she is entering the final year of her contract, something virtually unheard of in major college coaching.
There are plenty of questions about Pingeton’s future. None of the answers were given Thursday night. If she leaves, she does so expressing plenty of gratitude and no regret.
"I know it seems weird from a maybe 50,000 foot viewpoint, but it's been my most enjoyable season that I've had. It's just an incredible group of young ladies," Pingeton said. "It's a really, really special locker room. You guys don't get a chance to see that. But I know what's in that locker room and I've seen so much growth and you know, they just continue to work really hard.
"We've gone through some, you know, adversity. It's been hard. They're handling it the right way. They're uncommon."
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