The End of an Era

Kim Anderson was asked to stabilize the Mizzou program. Although he didn't produce wins, he reflects on the task at his final press conference.

Kim Anderson knew from the moment he was hired at the University of Missouri that he would be fired. It’s been a long three years, shackled with unwanted inheritance, but, alas, it has come to a close.

“If you would have asked me when I knew I was going to get fired, I would have said the first day,” he said, deep in voice, at his final press conference last night in Nashville, Tennessee. “I knew it was going to be challenging.”

Challenging is a program routed with internal cuts, bruises and an NCAA investigation; it’s a roster left vulnerable from Haith’s band-aid recruiting approach; it’s retaining a staff not your own; it’s a team in constant flux, with 13 players either dismissed or transferring after his acceptance and seven of 11 scholarship players in his first season disciplined to some extent.

“I maintain when I was hired I was pretty much asked to kind of stabilize this program,” he said. “It took a while. Obviously, it took too long. But I’m proud of what we’ve done.”

Anderson is someone you want to root for. He’s the good guy. His players praise him. Coaches across the conference commend his leadership. He’s loyal, poised and, if nothing else, honest. But he didn’t win, and when your teams are 27-68 overall, 9-47 in the SEC, nothing else matters.

“Obviously we didn’t win enough games. And we didn’t generate enough money,” he said at the Bridgestone Arena podium. “And when you don’t do that in college athletics, you don’t get to do your job. And I’m not bitter. I certainly understand that.”

There’s nothing that hasn’t already been said of the last three seasons on the court. They were dismal, and the end came last night. Like the majority of the season, it lacked suspense. The 86-74 loss to Ole Miss was sealed with foul trouble — 29 personal fouls on the Tigers to be exact. The Rebels shot 47 free throws, and the end got chippy, if not to add drama to a frustrating season. The typically calm-demeanor Anderson even got slapped with his first technical of the year, let that set in. The Tigers finished 8-24 on the year.

“I saw a game that got a little bit physical, a little bit rough. We made some fouls that weren’t very smart,” he said. “These guys have always played hard. They probably haven’t always played smart.” But there’s no one questioning that they’ve played hard for their Sedalia-native coach. Last night’s locker room was emotional, “We have a great deal of love for him,” said Kevin Puryear, who tallied 45 points over the past two days, with a career-high 30 and a game-winning buzzer beater on Wednesday night. “He always has and always will have our best interests. It’s never easy saying goodbye.”

“I think Coach A’s leaving this program in great shape with some great guys,” said Terrence Phillips. Puryear chimes in, “I think we can do something great if everyone sticks together. I’m confident we’ll stick together.”

After Wednesday’s overtime win against Auburn, Anderson was happy for another day to be the coach at Mizzou. Today, that dream is gone, and reality once again sets in, as Athletics Director Jim Sterk, who was in Nashville for each game, searches for a replacement.

“This decision has been very difficult for me personally because of the tremendous respect I have for Kim,” Sterk said in a statement following the announcement. “I know how hard he and his staff have worked to turn the program around over the last three years. However, the lack of on-court success has resulted in a significant drop in interest surrounding our program, and we could not afford for that to continue another year.”

As Anderson concluded last night, “I certainly hope that whoever the coach is that we have provided a little bit of a building block for them.”

Anderson, in the third year of his five-year contract, will receive $450,000 in a negotiated lump-sum buyout, as well as an additional $200,000 for ‘meeting or exceeding’ an academic accomplishments and social responsibilities incentive.

Photo Credit: Timothy Tai-USA TODAY Sports

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Norm Stewart Unveiled His Thoughts on Kim Anderson’s Coaching

Kim Anderson tipped off the season on Nov. 13 with a career record of 0-0 as head coach of the Missouri Tigers. No, that’s not a typo – it’s the way former Coach Norm Stewart views his longtime player, protégé and friend. Stewart believes Anderson’s 19-44 record in his first two seasons with the Tigers says far more about the hand he was dealt than it does about his coaching ability.

“I think Coach Anderson now has the program where he wanted it two years ago,” Stewart says. “So this is kind of like his first year as far as I’m concerned. Kim Anderson is a winner. I have known him since he was in eighth grade. He is probably one of the ten-best players ever to play at the University of Missouri, but nobody ever talks about that, because he never talks about it.

Stewart understands the challenges of reviving an alma mater’s floundering program. The Tigers finished 3-22 under Bob Vanatta the year before Stewart took the helm for the 1967-68 season. His first two teams finished an uninspiring 24-27, but he went on to post a career record of 634-333 over 32 seasons.

One difference between pupil and mentor is their court side demeanor. Fans rarely see Anderson storming on the sidelines of Norm Stewart Court. “He’s a John Wooden-type,” Stewart said. “You’re not going to see a lot of expression.”

Anderson is using that professorial style to teach the players he recruited to play the style of basketball he wants to play.

“I think we have some guys who understand what it takes,” Anderson says. “We’ve recruited them, we know their families and we know their backgrounds. I hope we will make improvements, and I think we will. I don’t think we’re ready for the Final Four yet, but I do think our guys are excited about the season.”

Whatever the record, he expects to bring back something that has been missing all too often in the seasons since Stewart retired: F-U-N.

“We had a lot more fun when we coached, but we didn’t make any money,” Stewart says. “Now I hope they’re having some fun, because they’re making a lot more money. Either way, it’s still a great game, with great kids playing and great coaches coaching. But when you’re running the shop and you’re making a little money, you have to do a little better.”

Anderson is more than ready to relax a bit and enjoy his dream job.

“I probably haven’t had as much as I did the few years before when I was at Central Missouri and we won a lot of games,” he says. “When we came in, we had to make some adjustments and change the culture a little bit. That’s part of the profession. But we’re going to have some fun this year. We’re excited.”

kim-anderson-terrence-phillips-univesity-of-missouri-basketball
He expects the fun to be contagious.

“We want to play faster. We went to Italy, played faster and scored more points. Everybody wants to play fast, and I think we have guys now who can score better and are a little better defensively. Come on out. We’ll be exciting.”

Stewart understands the journey. “[Anderson] won the national championship over at Warrensburg, and he’s going to win games at Missouri. He will be an outstanding coach, and this season is the start of it.”

Photos: Courtesy of Mizzou Athletics

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“I think we’ve probably got to win more games,” Kim Anderson deadpans. “What that number is, I don’t know.”

In Anderson’s first two years, the Tigers had won only 19 games. They had lost 44. The regular seasons have been a mixture of troubles on and off the court, and the off seasons have been a revolving door — players leaving the program to be replaced by new, hopeful faces. In Anderson’s third year, all he knows is that it’s time to end the cycle.

“We have to be able to be competitive, more competitive in games — in every game,” says the Sedalia, Missouri native, who knows the reality. “You lose to Kentucky by 100 and you lose to Arkansas at home. We have to make significant improvements from both offensive and defensive standpoints, and I think we have to change the culture of the program, which we’ve tried to do for two years.

“I think we’re getting there.”

If the Tigers are to make that leap, it will be on the backs of a four-man sophomore group that Anderson has lauded since it arrived on campus in the summer of 2015. Kevin Puryear, the team’s leading scorer as a freshman; Terrence Phillips, a dynamic if sometimes erratic point guard; K.J. Walton, a slashing guard who is looking to become a more balanced player; and Cullen Van Leer, a sharpshooter who never really found his shot as a freshman. It’s that group, along with senior big man Russell Woods, who will try to lead yet another fresh-faced, inexperienced roster of Tigers.

“I think the success of the culture of this program is on those guys,” Anderson says. “Those four guys — it’s important that they’re good.”

It’s Phillips whose optimism is lauded. “We have our core here for the next three years, and we’re going to turn this program around,” Phillips adds. “Every guy’s going to compete this year, and that’s just who we are.”

Woods is Missouri’s main man in the middle, at least to start the season, and he’s the only player listed at taller than 6 feet, 7 inches who has played a Division 1 game.

“Russ has made the most improvement on and off the floor of anybody,” Anderson says. “We need him to play and do the things that he can do — and that’s score around the basket, block some shots, play good defense, make the hustle plays.”

Woods will particularly need to be good early on, as the Tigers try to break in freshmen Reed Nikko and Mitchell Smith. Nikko has been back in action since mid-September after having hip surgery following his senior season, and Smith, at 6 feet, 10 inches, needs to add lots of bulk and muscle to his frame.

Missouri also brought in a recruiting class headlined by a pair of high school teammates from Ohio, Frankie Hughes and Willie Jackson. Hughes is a combo guard who can score in clusters, while Jackson is a wing player who can guard any position but center.

“Playing defense is number one,” Jackson says. “I’m not the who came in as a scorer. I come in, they look for me to rebound and take my guy that I’m guarding, and basically give him hell. I’m not that ‘go to’ guy, but I can come off a screen, and I can make that open shot. I’ll be ready at all times.”

Along with Jackson, Missouri will await the ability of using fellow wing man Jordan Barnett. Barnett was a star at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis and signed with Rick Barnes and Texas. Midway through his second season in Austin, and after a coaching change, Barnett transferred back to his home state. He will be eligible at the start of the second semester, with his first game December 17 against Eastern Illinois.

“Jordan Barnett is a trump card,” Anderson says. “He’s played at the highest level, so he understands how hard you have to play when you start playing. The one thing I’ve been encouraging is that he needs to dominate practices. He needs to step up his game in practice because he has a tendency to hide sometimes. I’ve told him this: you should know that Jordan Barnett was at every practice.”

The Tigers opened the regular season on November 13, and have gone 3-3 since.
“We’re a lot further ahead this year than we were the last two years,” Anderson says. “I think it’s important that we start off and play well early and have a chance to win some games in the non-conference. Three or four games makes a difference, and it gives you the confidence [needed].”

Anderson says they have to avoid the long droughts that cost them games last year. “Can’t go 10 minutes without scoring; can’t go five games or six games without winning,” he says. “That’s the key. I’m excited about this group, and I think we’re headed in the right direction. Are there going to be ups and downs? Absolutely. There are with every team. Hopefully we’ve got enough experience that we don’t let the downs prolong themselves.”

Missouri will fight to move up the ladder in a wide-open Southeastern Conference. The league has taken its lumps over the past two years and could again this season.

“There are a lot of new players,” Anderson says. “I think there are a lot of teams that probably have question marks like we do. It will be a very competitive league, and I think it’s probably pretty wide open, at least at the beginning, with the exception of Kentucky.”

While the Tigers hope the results change, the goals never have.

“Your sophomore year is supposed to be a better year,” Phillips says. “If we win 25 games or whatever it is and make the tournament, I don’t care if I start. I just want to make the tournament, I want to win, I want to put people back in these seats.”

Photos: Travis Smith | ContentAllStars.com

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