Learning more about Kellie Harper: A Q&A with Jack Church

Hearing from someone who’s actually covered a Harper-led team, The Daily Beacon’s Jack Church

When Kellie Harper was announced as the new Mizzou WBB nearly two weeks ago, it sparked a new wave of excitement across the fanbase. At this point, her four head coaching stints and three Sweet Sixteen appearances have been engrained into my brain. But how much do we REALLY know about Harper as a coach?

If we want to learn more about Harper’s tendencies as a coach, who better to ask than someone who’s actually covered a Harper-led team. I reached out to my friend and fellow student journalist, Jack Church, who is the assistant sports editor of Tennessee’s The Daily Beacon.

He has covered Tennessee Women’s Hoops the last two years, including the final year of Kellie Harper’s time at the helm of the Lady Vols. Many thanks to him for helping with this project.

Here’s what he learned about Harper’s teams, and what Mizzou fans can expect heading into next season:

Why did Tennessee hire Harper in the first place?

Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer considered it very important to make a hire within the Tennessee family. She had recent success at Missouri State in the year prior and was a simple hire to make.

If you could give Kellie Harper a letter grade for her tenure at Tennessee, what would it be and why?

I’d give her a B-. She by no means did anything terrible at Tennessee and kept the Lady Vols competitive. But her goal was to push for Final Fours and SEC and national championships, and the Lady Vols never got there.

Give me 3-5 words to describe a Kellie Harper-led team

Poised, resilient, talented

What kind of play style does she run?

Harper’s teams definitely wanted to play a half-court game. She’d take advantage of strong post players like Tamari Key along with three-level scorers like Jordan Horston and Rickea Jackson to make things happen offensively.

How did Tennessee win games under Harper?

Late in her tenure (when I covered her and was on campus), Harper won games with her stars. Jordan Horston, Rickea Jackson and Jewel Spear would make big plays late in games for Tennessee to win. It’s a testament to how she harnessed that talent and turned it into wins.

What was her relationship like with her players from your perspective?

I’m obviously on the outside looking in, but it seemed to me like Harper got good buy-in from her players. I never thought, at least from my perspective, that any of the players didn’t like her or respect her as a coach.

How was Harper’s relationship with the community at large?

The community really bought in around Harper. That’s easy to do when you have an LVFL and three-time national champion at the helm. The fans in the arena always loved her and showed appreciation even when the online ones wouldn’t.

How would you describe Harper’s recruiting skills? Specifically, when it came to in-state talent?

Harper struggled at times on the recruiting trail, which was surprising both because of her connection to UT and the strength of the program from a recruiting perspective. The only ESPN five-star that Harper recruited on her own was Justine Pissott, and she transferred out after a year (Jordan Horston and Tamari Key were commits in Harper’s first year, but most of the recruiting came under Holly Warlick). It’s especially problematic now that Kim Caldwell has four top-50 recruits in her first cycle.

Tennessee never really got any big-time in-state recruits. Most of that has to do with the talent level in the state though. (Writer’s Note: Tennessee only had 1 top-100 recruit in the state in 2024).

Why did things not work out at Tennessee? Do you think this change of scenery will help?

It’s no secret that Tennessee women’s basketball has one of the highest expectations in the country. After Pat Summitt’s retirement in 2012 and Holly Warlick’s tenure, Tennessee decided to stay with someone who had Tennessee connections.

The problem with Harper’s tenure was there was no sign of pushing forward. Sure, there were the two Sweet 16 appearances, but that’s not good enough for a program with eight national championship appearances and the resources that came with the Tennessee job.

Do you think Mizzou’s lower WBB expectations benefit a coach like Harper that somewhere like Tennessee can’t offer?

I think it can pose a benefit, but there are reasons Tennessee has expectations and Missouri doesn’t. It’s no secret that Tennessee is an easier place to recruit to than Missouri. There’s a more passionate fanbase. There’s more NIL and donation support. There’s more media attention, which can help garner recruiting noise.

However, a low-pressure situation might be what Harper needs right now. Even if it’s harder to accomplish the same things, maybe it’s easier for Harper to build Missouri into a consistent NCAA Tournament team than to bring Tennessee to the Final Four.

Why should Mizzou fans be excited about the hire? What does she bring as a coach?

Missouri hasn’t hired a coach with power-conference head coaching experience in its history. The Tigers should be hoping Harper’s experience of going to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament will help them in big moments, especially as they hope to rise up the SEC standings.

(CAL TOBIAS/ROCK M)

It’s no secret that Kellie Harper flamed out with the Lady Vols. She found what 99% percent of programs call success. However, Tennessee considers itself the top 1% for a reason. I’ve considered Harper a high-floor, low-ceiling hire for this reason. It would be shocking to see the Tigers in the bottom three of the SEC under her tenure, but fans should not look to plan the parade anytime soon.

But after her introductory press conference, it appears that she already fits with the Mizzou system and enters with a clear drive.

“I‘m thrilled to be your coach, and I can’t wait for what we are going to be able to do together,” Harper told a group of passionate fans at her press conference on Monday. “When Missouri called, I knew really, really quickly that this was the perfect, perfect fit for me. I’m honored to have a passion for this program, that I have to be able to lead this program.”