'It's Just Right': Battle-Tested Kellie Harper Paving New Era with Mizzou

What ensued for Horston and Harper was a four-year stint that produced three NCAA Tournament bids and one "should-have" after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled Horston's freshman year postseason after she made the SEC All-Freshman team averaging 10.1 points and a team-leading 4.6 assists.

"We were going to make it," Horston insisted. "It was because of COVID-19. We didn’t miss the tournament, it just never happened."

Even without the fourth bid on her résumé, Horston was selected by the Seattle Storm with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft. When she left Knoxville behind, she felt like a better player and a better person.

She credits Harper for the latter.

"That’s what Coach Harper emphasized," Horston said. "Being authentic and doing the right thing when no one’s watching. I’ll always be grateful for that."

Harper stuck around for one more season after Horston's departure before she was fired by Tennessee. In the season she was out of a job, she took up work as a TV analyst for SEC Network awaiting the next step of her journey.

Like Horston, she was nervous. Picky, too — traits of a Taurus.

"Tauruses are very by-the-book," Horston said. "Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. That’s her. She lays it out: 'Here’s the plan. Get on board or don’t.'"

Harper knew she eventually wanted back on the sidelines. As one of only three women's basketball coaches to produce four straight first-round picks in the WNBA Draft, there was more for her to give.

"I know that there are still players out there that I can have a positive impact on," Harper said, "and I knew if I had the right opportunity, I wanted to get back into coaching."

With Horston in mind, Harper picked up when the Missouri Tigers called.

"I knew really quickly that this was the perfect, perfect fit for me," she said.

Storied as they were, the 1997–98 Tennessee Lady Volunteers got up some trouble during their time in Knoxville. Kellie Harper — then Kellie Jolly — was a junior. The "slow-talking sort," as her coach, Pat Summitt, would say.

Prior to the season, Harper, Chamique Holdsclaw and a few other upperclassmen decided to vet the incoming freshman talent.

Their process? An after-hours pickup game without Summitt's watchful eye.

Holdsclaw and Harper were paired together, Harper serving as her teammate's facilitating point guard, in a "friendly" game that soon carried more weight than it should have. After an hour of play, all of the players left the court without a winner.

"It was a draw," Harper told Summitt with a smile the next morning, peeking into her office to explain the previous night's events.

It was one of many interactions the two shared during that championship-winning season and the rest of the time Harper was a Volunteer.

"That was my model," Harper said. "Having Pat Summitt as my head coach."

When Harper eventually moved into the coaching sphere herself, taking the same job her role model once held, she was able to "draw from" that experience once more.

Harper wasn't going to copy Summitt, though. She knew better than that.

"I was never trying to be her," Harper said. "I knew I would probably fall quite a bit short if I was trying to be somebody else. But I definitely did learn a lot of things ... really just observing her, how she interacted with her assistants, how she interacted with the players."

Horston, in particular, benefitted from the latter.

"It meant everything," she said of Harper's coaching style. "She’d been where we wanted to go. Played at the highest level, under a legend, won a national championship. She’d already done what we aspired to do."

Harper used that credibility to lead Tennessee to the NCAA Tournament every year it was held and send several players, including Horston, to the WNBA. She drew from Summitt, but added her own coaching flare.

Now, she's prepared to do so again at her next stop, once again using Summitt's methodology.

"One of the things that she always said was: 'Surround yourself with good people,'" Harper said. "She was a great speaker. That was her my signature line, and it is so true. You can be so much more successful when you're around people that ... elevate you."

Missouri women’s basketball has been understandably overlooked for the better part of the last decade.

The program has failed to reach above .500 in SEC play in each of the last six seasons — all under the guidance of former coach Robin Pingeton. The program was struggling; change was needed.

On Feb. 26, Pingeton announced that she was departing from the program following the conclusion of the 2024-2025 season. For weeks, Missouri women’s basketball was without a leader.

With the program’s future hanging in balance, Missouri Director of Athletics Laird Veatch addressed what he was searching for in a new coach. 

“We want somebody with real energy," he said. "Somebody to reinvigorate and reinstill energy in the program”

In came Harper. On March 18, the coach took hold of Missouri women’s basketball, and her ‘real energy’ instantly reignited interest in the program. 

“Doesn’t a (championship) banner here sound really good?” UM system president Mun Choi said at Harper’s introductory press conference. “That’s not a wish, it’s an expectation.” 

Given the recent history of Missouri women’s basketball, it'd be simple to think that Choi’s expectation is unreasonable for most coaches. Not Harper.

Harper has long-known winning. To name a few, she's secured three national championships as a player, nine NCAA Tournament appearances as a coach, four conference championships, the 2019 Kay Yow Coach of the Year and 10 consecutive seasons with a winning record.

It’s obvious Harper knows the recipe to success. Still, the question of what makes her different remains. Her relationship with Horston explains it all.

While at their first meeting for a pitch visit at The Tomato Head, Horston was quiet. Evidently, Harper was, too.

“I was just sitting there thinking, 'Oh, she’s nice,’” Horston said. ‘“She’s quiet.’”

The safety Horston felt ultimately led her to remain committed to Harper and Tennessee, marking the beginning of the pair's relationship.

Horston was a protective personality — another trait Summitt used to describe her former player — so it took an effort from Harper to reach a point of deep connection with her. 

"I told her early on: ‘If we have a real relationship, I’ll run through a wall for you,'" Horston said, "and that’s exactly what happened.

"Don’t tell anybody, but I felt like I was her favorite. We just had that bond."

The pair’s relationship allowed Horston to maximize her talents. She broke out into the player she knew she was capable of being, and under the leadership of Harper and Horston, the Lady Volunteers made three trips to the NCAA Tournament — reaching the Sweet 16 in the final two.

Horston finished her collegiate career with 1,445 points, 731 rebounds and 455 assists. She became 1-of-2 players in Tennessee history to do so, and her success continued as she achieved her lifelong goal of reaching the WNBA.

Through it all, she hasn't stopped learning.

"My first year was about giving myself grace," Horston said. "Last year, I focused on confidence. I grew the same way at Tennessee — learned something new each season."

Harper has a chance at replicating her success at Tennessee with the Tigers’ rising junior guard, Grace Slaughter. In wake of 10 players from the 2024-2025 roster departing from the program along with Pingeton, Slaughter was initially unsure about the future of her team.

Like Horston, those worries were put to rest when she saw Harper would be taking over as her next head coach. 

“When I saw it was Coach Harper," Slaughter began, "and got to know her and her staff, I felt like that was a really big positive."

Little did she know, Harper had already been watching Slaughter.

“I've kind of been a fan from afar," Harper said. "I've followed her career and enjoyed watching her play, especially this past year."

With the two now united at Missouri, Slaughter can assume the role that Horston once had.

“I'm excited about the growth even Grace can have,” Harper said in the Monday press conference. “We want to celebrate who she is but also continue to push her to be the best she can possibly be.”

Slaughter has already taken the mantle as Missouri's best player, averaging a team-leading 15 points per game as a sophomore. She’s not satisfied there, however, as she’s had lifelong aspirations to reach the next level. 

“I would love to get to play afterwards,” Slaughter said. “Coach Harper has had experience developing players who go to the next level — that's the type of development I would get to have here.”

Slaughter’s former Missouri teammate and 2,000-point career scorer Hayley Frank now plays professionally overseas for the Saarlouis Royals. Frank was previously recruited by Harper during Harper’s stint at Missouri State, and thinks she makes for an ideal running mate alongside Slaughter.

“Both are big time competitors," Frank said. "They want to win, (and they) just care about people, too. It just seems like they'll be a really good fit.”

Harper's experience with sending players to the WNBA certainly doesn't hurt.

“She knows what it takes to get someone to the league,” Frank said. “Grace really deserves that opportunity… I’m really hoping, with this new staff, that for her, that this program can get turned around and going the right direction, and she can hopefully turn that dream into a reality.”

If Jordon Horston's goal was to go pro, Kellie Harper got her there.

Between several hours-long conversations in Harper's office, Horston learned how to deal with Tauruses. She also saw a side of her coach not many got to.

"We were like family," Horston said, recalling Harper's two kids who would often hang around Tennessee's facility. "We’d go to her house, have dinner there. That alone said a lot — she’s genuine, real and down-to-earth. She truly cares about people."

Harper's children are older now. The Summitt-inspired coach also has a few more years of coaching under her belt, but her mantra still applies. Coming to Columbia was going to be more than just basketball.

"Every box kept getting checked for me," Harper said. "I told a lot of people, when people talk to me to ask me about it, I'm just so happy. I feel like I'm walking around and like I'm just cheesing."

“All knowing each other for 10-plus years, working together at multiple stops and playing with each other,” Missouri assistant coach Liza Fruendt added. “I think that it’s something that’s for life.”

If that was true, Harper added several new members to her family in a matter of weeks, including the Tigers' incoming transfers and freshmen who are hoping to take the program to a place it's sought after for years.

"I think I can speak for the team," Slaughter said. "We're all looking forward to the summer, getting everyone here, and seeing how we can develop."

Slaughter will pave the way on the court as she hopes to realize her own dream of playing professionally, but behind the scenes, it'll be Harper. If she plays her cards right, she'll have a roster full of wall smashers by her side.

She might be the one most excited for that.

"I just feel really good about what I know we're going to be able to do here," Harper said. "Sometimes it's hard to put into words when you know it's right.

"It's just right."