Kellie Harper Looking to Make Quick Turnaround of Mizzou Women's Basketball

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Kellie Harper knows that the clock has already started ticking.

Introduced as the Missouri Tigers' new women's basketball head coach Monday morning, the coaching veteran enters a program looking to bring itself out of a drought.

"I'm sure she's going to have less patience than anyone to turn a program," athletics director Laird Veatch said to reporters Monday.

It's been six years since Missouri has had a winning record in the SEC. In that timeframe, Harper led Tennnessee to five of its own.

The last time the Tigers made the Sweet 16 (2000-2001), Harper was just two years removed from her playing career, and in the first season of her coaching career as an assistant at Auburn.

This past season, Harper was not on the sidelines for the first time this century. She said one of the things she missed most about coaching was the "pace" of the job.

With the jam-packed offseason calendar, the work for Harper starts immediately to utilize the transfer portal to rebuild the roster. This ability also comes with added pressure and expectations from athletics administrations to build quickly.

"No, it doesn't happen overnight," Veatch said of a program turnaround. "But in this day and age with the transfer portal, with NIL, with the SEC as it is, and people wanting to play at this level, I think we can get back to better and more competitive really quickly."

Rebuilding a program so far removed from recent success might've been a multiple-year project in the past. But neither Veatch nor Harper thinks that is the case in the new era of talent acquisition.

"I'm not trying to look years down the road," Harper said. "You get the right pieces, you can make some waves pretty quick."

This will be Harper's 21st season as the head coach of a program. She's seen the landscape of collegiate athletics completely change in that timeframe. Being a bridge between the two different eras, she's tried to learn how to adapt, and thrive with the new tools.

Jan 23, 2011; Raleigh, NC, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack guard Amber White (00) listens to head coach Kellie Harper on the sidelines in their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Reynolds Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-Imagn Images | Mark Dolejs-Imagn Images

"Building rosters has changed throughout the years," Harper said. "I've coached a very long time now, and I think you have to adjust with the times, and obviously now, with the transfer portal being such a big piece of athletics, you have to learn how not to just manage the portal, but then, how are we going to manage our team? How are we going to work together?"

Missouri hasn't acquired any players through the portal quite yet, but according to Harper, the program has heard "a lot of interest from some really talented portal players."

For talent out of high school, Harper already has connections in the state of Missouri after spending six seasons as the head coach at Missouri State. She feels confident in her and her staff's ability to recruit at the level nessecarry to build Missouri into a sustainable program.

"I just felt like the type of players that we're going to be able to recruit, we're going to get them, and we're going to be successful with them," Harper said..

Harper knows what it takes to win in the SEC. Both as a player, winning three national championships under Pat Summitt, and as a coach. The timeframe to meet those expectations is now shorter than ever. But there's optimism from both the athletics administration and Harper herself that she'll be able to rise to that pace to bring success back to the program.

"Doesn't a (championship) banner here sound really good?" University president Mun Choi asked the crowd at Mizzou Arena.

"That's not a wish, that's an expectation."

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