Mizzou basketball '13

[BW23]

I had a good friend of mine who is an alum say "Are we really now a stepping stone? What has happened?"

To that, and I say this as a fan, when were they more than "that". Not so much as a stepping stone program, but they've never been elite. Norm had some good years, and the last three bums all had a shining moment in what was overall crappy tenures.

There's really no reason for a good coach to want to come to CoMo. I don't know the answer. Someone needs to build the program back up and at least get interest in it again. Then start to win. Find the next Brad Stevens (or the next-young-hot-winning-coach) and pray.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Haith didn't go to a better place. Anderson didn't go to a better place (arguably) and went 'home'. I can't even remember who was before that, was it really Quinn? He certainly didn't use it as a stepping stone. Mizzou's not really a stepping stone, but they're also not one of the elite programs so if they do, miraculously, get a great up and coming head coach, it'd be silly to expect them to stay.

[Socnorb11]

Both Anderson and Haith left on their own terms, for more money. So in that regard, Missouri was a bit of a "stepping stone" for them.

I think it's a stretch to label Missouri as a "stepping stone" program, though.

[lukethedrifter]

Haith didn't leave for more money. Oh, maybe he's getting more. I don't know. Read Burwell's article if you're confused as to what this was about.

oh and I won't be snocrobbed. If you want to argue semantics you'll have to find someone else.

[JL21]

Depending on how you define it, I think all but 7 to 10 programs in the country are stepping stones to the 7-10 elite jobs. Mizzou's not one of those elite jobs and I'm ok with that. It'd be great if they were but they aren't. If Duke, UNC, UCLA, Louisville, or Kentucky came calling, there aren't many coaches in the country that would turn them down.

The stone that Haith stepped on was a step down in exchange for longer job security because he was probably going to get fired 12 months from now.

In other news, Andy Katz is reporting that Kim Anderson is a finalist for the job.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... tigers-job

I'm having a very hard time with that.

[BW23]

I think of a job that's a stepping stone as one that allows a coach to prep himself for a job at a better school. Not Arkansas or Tulsa.

[JL21]

The curators are meeting on Monday, presumably to approve a coach. It's amazing how quiet the search has been. The only three candidates that RMN seems to be mentioning at this point are Kim Anderson, Ben Howland, and a longshot at Gregg Marshall. Of those three, Marshall's the only one I'd really want (obviously... I mean, who wouldn't want Marshall?). I guess could talk myself into the other two but I'd really rather they hire neither. Tim Floyd was an interesting name and he would've been my number two behind Marshall. But even then... warts.

The Kim Anderson fascination amongst older fans is bizarre to me. The D-II success is nice but it doesn't exactly translate to D-I for a variety of reasons. Recruiting in D-II is a different beast. In the very least, he's pretty unproven (or completely unproven depending on how you look at the D-II stuff). It's neat that he's a link to the program's past and (by all accounts) a great guy, but that stuff means nothing if they're missing tournaments. Nor does it really help him build the level of talent on the squad.

I'm kind of at a point where I assume it'll be someone whose name hasn't even been mentioned.

And seriously... listen to this dude. It's aural NyQuil.

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[Transmogrified Tiger]

I could be more willing to be talked into Anderson if he had actually built a super-program at UCM. He missed the D2 tournament 3 of the last 7 years and 2 of the last 4. The fact that there's no reason to think he'd be on anyone's list if he hadn't played at Mizzou is extremely worrisome to me.

[redbirdjazzz]

I could be more willing to be talked into Anderson if he had actually built a super-program at UCM. He missed the D2 tournament 3 of the last 7 years and 2 of the last 4. The fact that there's no reason to think he'd be on anyone's list if he hadn't played at Mizzou is extremely worrisome to me.

Yup.

[Jocephus]

Missouri hires Kim Anderson
Updated: April 28, 2014, 4:27 PM ET
ESPN.com

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... rson-coach