Everything Kellie Harper Said at 'Zou to You' Event in St. Louis

ST. CHARLES, Mo. –– Missouri Tigers head women's basketball coach Kellie Harper was on site for Mizzou Athletics 'Zou to You' event tour to talk to supporters in the St. Louis area Tuesday night.

Before speaking to fans, Harper addressed the media regarding how her team is approaching building the roster, her relationship with fellow coaches and how she's settling into Missouri. Below is a full transcript of everything Harper said.

On how she's adjusted to her new role with Missouri, and the help she's had doing so:

"Anytime you take over a program, your first few months are very fast-paced and very busy. But I tell you what, we got in, got a great staff right off the bat, and they have been killing it. They've been doing a great job in the office with our current players on the court, obviously recruiting. So I think we're in a really good position considering we just got here."

"I think a lot of it had to do with the people. The people make the place, for sure. And I think we're strategically placed right now with a lot of support from our administration. And they're just good people. You want to be around good people. I think if you start that way, you start with good people, you work hard, good things are going to happen."

On the camaraderie between herself and other Missouri head coaches:

"I love it. For me, I know getting to talk to other, in particular, head coaches about their experiences, their stories. And honestly, sometimes doing these caravans, doing these trips together, you get to sit on a plane and find out what you have in common. There's a lot of camaraderie built when we're traveling together. But I think also you just have the unity at Mizzou. You have a common vision, common goal, something you're pulling in the same direction for. And it's just a great vibe. It's a really good feel."

On forming the team's identity and how she wants Missouri to be percieved:

"I think there is a perception that things were done the right way at Missouri. I don't want to box us in. I don't want people to look at us and think one little thing. I want them to look at us and say, hey, this is a group of tough players that love being a Tiger, that are passionate about it, that will fight you tooth and nail. I'd like to also think we're very polished and highly skilled and have great size and athleticism. So I don't want to box us in. I want to make sure that when people look at us, they see a competitive team."

"We're working on this roster and we're putting it together. I really don't think you can truly know your identity until you get everybody there. You can't truly know your identity till you get everybody there on the court together talking about your vision. And I think once we do that, so I feel like this summer, it'll take us some time this summer, but I think this summer we're going to be able to see where we can go. And really the things that will give us an identity, those things will start to emerge this summer."

On how high school recruiting has differed from her time with Tennessee:

"I think the recruiting is different, but I don't think that's necessarily a negative thing. I think for me, just finding the right type of player that would be really good for me, that's the type of player that's going to want to come to Missouri. And I think the fit is there. Obviously, we feel like we can succeed recruiting those players here. And it's really exciting. We've had a lot of interest."

On how Missouri is focusing on the St. Louis area for recruitment:

"I think we were heavily regional recruiting when we were at Missouri State. I think that gave us a leg up now. We have a lot of connections. My staff has a lot of connections in this area. And broader than just the state, regional, but we've recruited quite a bit in St. Louis. I think we need to. I think that needs to be a Mizzou-heavy area for our program."

On what the team's summer process will look like:

"In June, we'll get everybody on campus. I'm super excited about that. We'll have our entire staff there. We'll have our entire team. And then we'll start working towards building our program and putting in our offensive package, defensive packages. So this summer we'll have eight weeks that we're allowed to work with them. We will utilize that time to do team workouts, bringing everybody together.We’ll also do a lot of individual work, so that’s where the individual development piece will come in. We’ll also spend some time off the court to try and build some chemistry and camaraderie as well."

On if the ongoing NCAA House vs. Settlement hearing impacts roster building:

"The roster limit is probably not going to effect women’s basketball as much as some of the other sports that we’re dealing with, equivalencies. I think for us, we’re trying to build a roster, we’re trying to get the number where we want it to be able to compete and practice consistently. Have to make sure that we’re moving forward the right way. Right now, the limits haven’t effected us as much as just building a roster. "

On how past role models have shaped her today:

" I think especially early on in my career, that was my model, having Pat Summit as my head coach. It's something that you would draw back to. Now, look, I was never trying to be her. I knew I probably fall quite a bit short if I was trying to be somebody else. But I definitely did learn a lot of things. I could take some things from my time at Tennessee, really just observing her, how she interacted with her assistants, how she interacted with the players. Tried to take some of the X's and O's and found out real quickly when I was the first time head coach that they work a whole lot better with All-Americans out there. So you learn what works for you, and you see other people model it at the highest level. What a great mentor."

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