What is Mizzou Looking for in New Women's Basketball Coach?

Missouri has not made the NCAA Tournament since the 2018-2019 season. The 2024-2025 season was the sixth straight where the team finished with a losing record in conference play.

"We need to compete and win at a higher level," athletics director Laird Veatch said in a press conference Friday. "I never want us to shy away from expecting to win championships. We got to get to a point in all of our sports we're going to compete for championships."

Despite the lack of recent success, Veatch says the athletics administration has already seen "considerable interest" in the job from potential candidates.

"People do see and realize the benefit and the opportunity, particularly in this conference."

The Southeastern Conference has been a signifigant factor in the rising popularity of women's basketball. Each of the three most recent National Champions have come from the conference.

Missouri is looking to move itself into that conversation.

"Women's basketball, clearly, it is on the rise. It is getting so much more attention, deservedly so. We think it is a platform that can continue to provide more brand exposure, benefit to our University, to our state."

The athletics administration is looking for a refreshing new face for the program. One that has "real energy" to "reinvigorate and reinstall energy" within the team and fanbase. Veatch believes this sound, confident leadership will come from a candidate who has developed their leadership style through considerable experience.

"I believe it's important to hire someone, particuarly at this level of competition, who really knows herself or himself and really understands the type of the program that they lead. This is not a place where you can come in and sort of learn on the fly."

Because of this, a top priority for Missouri is finding someone who has already proven themselves as a winner, preferably as a head coach with multiple stops.

"I think we're at a time and place where a varied background is very beneficial."

Having experiences with multiple different rosters and regions has become especially important with the rise of the transfer portal. With year-to-year roster turnover being an inevitable part of college athletics now, knowing how to work and recruit various types of personalities has become an essential skill for any coach.

"A proven recruiter," Veatch added as a trait the administration is looking for in candidates. "Somebody that really has a very clear network in the recruiting space and also has really demonstrated an ability to recruiting in this era."

The transfer portal timeline also directly interacts with the coaching search itself. The NCAA window for women's basketball opens in less than three weeks on March 25, just a day after the conclusion of the second round of the Women's NCAA Tournament. This creates possible conflicts for candidates who may be on the coaching staffs of teams making a tournament run.

There's also the balance of avoiding rushing to hire a candidate while also assuring the new coaching staff can make the most of the transfer portal.

"It's something you kinda have to feel your way through. I've been a part of several searches in the past, and it depends on various individual situations where they're at, what the candidate pool looks like. It's quite a process, and it's really something you just have to sort of manage as you go."

"At some point, those time pressures are going to impact what your pool looks like."

Veatch will be working alongside COO of athletics Marcy Girton and Executive Athletics Director Tami Chievous in the search. Chievous will be on the "front lines" of roster retention, having conversations with the team's players elligibile to return. Veatch is also set to meet with the team Friday afternoon to hear their input.