After a Year Away, Mizzou was 'Right Fit' for Kellie Harper to Return to Coaching

The veteran coach was picky in the process of finding a program to return to coaching. The Missouri Tigers checked off many off the boxes she was looking for.

March 31, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri athletic and university leadership introduce Kellie Harper as the program's new women's basketball head coach — (Left to right) University of Missouri Board of Curator member Michael Williams, University president Mun Choi, Harper, athletics director Laird Veatch. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

COLUMBIA, Mo. — In the last year, the most difficult thing Kellie Harper had to do was first-grade homework.

Not the actual execution of addition and subtraction problems, but coaching her son to put pencil to paper.

Now the head coach of the Missouri Tigers, Harper took a break from coaching last year after a five-year stint at Tennessee. It was the first time in two decades that she wasn't coaching on a sideline, instead staying invovled as an analyst on the SEC Network.

The year off gave Harper time to relax and reflect on what drove her as a coach, and the passion for it she had to tap into.

"I enjoyed my time off, but there's just so much about it that I missed," Harper said Monday at her introductory press conference. "I was able to look back and really have probably a different perspective on what's important, and I think that's one reason I'm so fired up."

Being a TV analyst kept Harper in the game, but not being able to work one-on-one with players and staff on the ups and downs of a season drove her desire to get back to coaching.

"It reminded me what I do love about coaching, and one of the things that I miss more than anything, well two things; the interactions with the players and interactions with my staff. I love people. I love fighting for something. I love teaching someone how to do something and seeing them go and do it. I love challenging a group and watching them figure it out."

March 31, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers women's basketball head coach Kellie Harper speaks at her introductory press conference at the Mizzou Arena practice gym. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

Even though Harper was looking to scratch that itch again, she wasn't going to just buy her plane ticket off to the first team that called. She was very selective heading into the process. With her resume, which includes three trips to the Sweet 16, she's earned the right to be selective in the search.

"It was just this big build up of making a decision that if the right call came, and it had to check so many boxes. I was so picky. But if I could get the right one, I wanted to do it."

For her, it didn't take long to see that Missouri would fit what she was looking for.

"I think I knew right off that this was the right fit," Harper said. "Every box kept getting checked for me. ... I'm just so happy. I feel like I'm walking around and like I'm just cheesing, because I just feel really good about what I know we're going to be able to do here."

That optimism for Harper comes from confidence and trust in the athletics administration's commitment to the program. Not only in physical support, but also by filling the financial needs to compete in the sport. Both in the current landscape, and for possible future changes.

"I knew where I felt like we needed to land, where we needed to be, and I think that's where we're going to be," Harper said of the administration's financial commitment to the program. "If things change and there needs to be a different approach, I feel really, really confident in our administration to be able to think how to keep us competitive."

Harper pulls confidence not only from the program's anticipated ability to bring in players from the transfer portal and out of high school, but also in the returning core of players. Three of the team's top four leading scorers from last season are expected to return.

"We have a good core of returners that, that is our number one priority. They're really making up the core, the foundation. And I'm super excited about who we have here."

Harper's initial meeting with the returning players ran around a hour long, much more expansive than the brief, 5-10 minute conversation athletics director Laird Veatch was anticipating.

That immediate dedication was something that "stood out" to Veatch.

But it's the effort and connection that has pulled Harper back to the job. Even with the quicker pace and added stress compared to breaking down a game on TV or encouraging a first grader to complete his homework.

“At the end of the day, I’m a basketball coach. ... I know that there are still players out there that I can have a positive impact on, and I knew if I had the right opportunity, that I wanted to get back into coaching, and I wanted to be able to make that impact."