As we head to March Madness, here’s where the potential next Mizzou coach is dancing
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. That’s right folks, the NCAA Tournament is right around the corner. The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament bracket was released Sunday night and Mizzou is not dancing after a 14-18 (3-13 SEC) season.
That doesn’t mean that Tiger fans should tune out of the tournament completely, however. After Athletic Director Laird Veatch’s press conference last week, the rumor mill has been abuzz with the next potential coaching hire after the departure from Robin Pingeton. Rock M compiled a list of 15 potential candidates, which has since been cut down to five in the last week (including someone who wasn’t even on the list):
Tier 1
Jeff Mittie (Kansas State)
Jacie Hoyt (Oklahoma State)
Kellie Harper (former Tennessee coach)
Tier 2
Charmin Smith (Cal)
Beth Cunningham (Missouri State)
While Molly Miller was originally under consideration, recent developments have pointed to Mizzou dropping out of the sweepstakes and the potential candidates left as Arizona State and Arkansas (or staying put at GCU). The updates have since slowed, as many of these candidates are still in the middle of their season, and various insider accounts have pointed to Mizzou’s search slowing due to candidates playing “meaning March basketball.” Jeff, Jacie and Charmin will all be playing in the NCAA Tournament in the SAME REGION (Regional 4). In addition, Beth and MO State are heading to the 2nd edition of the WBIT.
Here is a comprehensive list as to the seasons these potential candidates are having and where they are heading this postseason.
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Jeff Mittie: Kansas State is coming off its best season record-wise since 2003-04 under then-head coach Deb Patterson. At 26-7, this is the second consecutive season under Mittie the Wildcats have finished with single-digit losses. K-State finished No. 5 in the Big 12 tournament with a 13-5 record in conference play. In the tournament Mittie and the Wildcats beat No. 12 seed UCF before falling to No. 4 West Virginia in the quarterfinals.
In the tournament the Wildcats are a No. 5 seed taking on No. 12 Fairfield, coached by Carly Thibault-Dudonis (who was one of our favorites for the Mizzou job, check out the Majority Rules pod here, but it’s been reported that she turned down a Missouri interview). This game takes place in Lexington on Saturday.
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Jacie Hoyt: Oklahoma State is in the middle of its best year in the Hoyt era, finishing the year 25-6. This is the best season for the team since 1990-91, as Jacie continues to lead the team to heights unseen in years. The Cowgirls entered the Big 12 tournament as the No. 3 seed, avoiding an upset in the quarterfinals to No. 14 seed Texas Tech. After taking down the Red Raiders, Hoyt’s squad narrowly lost to No. 2 seed Baylor in overtime in the semis.
The Cowgirls did receive an at-large bid quite comfortably as a No. 7 seed. They are a part of the UConn pod, playing in the first round against No. 10 South Dakota State (coached by Aaron Johnston, also on the initial list of 15). This game will be played on Saturday.
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Kellie Harper: Currently Harper is the coach of NO team and she will be on TV for the remainder of the postseason run. Most recently, she served as an analyst during the SEC Tournament. But she does have plenty of tournament experience, with 3 separate Sweet 16 runs with two different schools, Tennessee and Missouri State.
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Charmin Smith: Cal is another team coming off a historic season, finishing 25-8 (12-6 ACC). This was the highest winning percentage since the 2012-13 team, which went all the way to the Final Four under the guidance of current USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb. Cal finished as the No. 7 seed during its first season in the ACC, defeating No. 10 Virginia before losing to No. 2 Notre Dame.
Smith and the Golden Bears earned the at-large bid as a No. 8 seed in Regional 4, taking on SEC’s own Mississippi State as a No. 9 seed on Saturday. Apparently, the loss to Mizzou courtesy of Grace Slaughter wasn’t enough to move them down to a double-digit seed.
It has been reported by the school that Charmin signed a contract extension in the last week, so we’re not sure she’s really still a candidate, but we will leave her in for the time being.
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Beth Cunningham: Over at Missouri State, Cunningham led the team to a record of 25-8, 16-4 in the MVC as the conference Coach of the Year. This is the 7th straight of 20+ wins for the Lady Bears spanning back three different coaches (including Kellie Harper, lol). Missouri State finished as the No. 2 team in the Missouri Valley, losing in the semifinals of the tournament to No. 3 Belmont and Bart Brooks (another one of our initial 15 candidates, small world). This is the first time since the 2016-17 and 2017-18 season where MO State has missed the tournament back-to-back seasons (under Coach Harper, hello again).
Despite missing out on the NCAA Tournament, the Lady Bears will be active in the postseason. Missouri State is in the second ever WBIT, coming in as a No. 3 seed meaning they will host the first round matchup against No. 6 Oral Roberts this Thursday.
If you are interested in seeing the coaching props of these coaches, tune into their first round postseason games taking place from Thursday-Saturday on various ESPN networks (to be determined).