New Missouri women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper doesn’t want to be patient rebuilding the Tigers.
“I wanna do that this year, right?” Harper said. … “I’m not trying to look years down the road. I’m trying to figure out how we’re gonna do it this year.”
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UM System President Mun Choi has lofty ambitions.
“Doesn’t a banner in here sound really good?,” Choi said. “That’s not a wish, it’s an expectation. And please know that we have very high expectations.”
Mizzou athletic director Laird Veatch doesn’t expect Harper to want to rebuild slowly.
“She’s clearly a competitor, right?” Veatch said. “And I’m sure she’s going to have less patience than anyone to turn a program.”
On Monday morning in the practice facility inside Mizzou Arena, Missouri officially introduced Harper as the fifth head coach in program history. Her contract officially goes into effect Tuesday, ushering in a new era for women’s basketball in Columbia.
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Expectations, evidently, are high on all fronts.
But, the problem with wanting to reach the mountaintop and to get there via the quickest route? That takes a significant monetary commitment in the current college athletics landscape.
So, how will Mizzou stack up?
Harper, returning to the coaching ranks after a season out of that world, seems to be encouraged by where Mizzou’s commitment stands. Indeed, it doesn’t seem as if she would have taken a job that wasn’t prepared to financially commit to the modern necessities.
“I don’t know if it’s fortunately or unfortunately — it’s a big part, because that’s where we’re at in athletics,” Harper said. “And so I had to feel and know that the support was going to be there for women’s basketball, and support not just in being here, in showing up, but the support financially (that will) give us an opportunity to be competitive in not just our league, but region and then nationally.”
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In the coming weeks, a revenue sharing bill is expected to pass through the courts and allow universities to allocate approximately $20.5 million in direct name, image and likeness payments to their athletes. How schools will divide the money up between sports will be on a case-by-case basis. Veatch has gone on record saying Mizzou will opt in at the full amount.
Veatch, in the past, has had no qualms saying that the university’s primary focus will be its main revenue generator: Football. Men’s basketball likely falls second on the totem pole. MU’s athletic director has not disclosed how Mizzou plans to spread the money, meaning it’s ultimately unknown what kind of money Harper will have to work with.
As for spending compared to other SEC teams …
“I would say we are highly competitive,” Veatch said. “We are not going to outspend everybody, but we’re also not going to be at the lower end either, right? We are going to be competitive, and we’re going to provide her what she needs.”
New Missouri women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper, left, is gifted a personalized jersey by Mizzou athletic director Laird Veatch during Harper’s introductory press conference Monday, March 31, 2025, in the practice facility at Mizzou Arena.
Before the coaching search that brought Harper to Columbia started, Veatch said that the university and athletic department was going to invest in women’s basketball. So far, that’s holding up.
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Missouri already has made at least one financial commitment to women’s basketball just by hiring Harper.
According to her contract, obtained by the Tribune through an open records request, the coach will earn $850,000 in total compensation in her first season, as well as a slew of potential bonuses and benefits. Harper’s total compensation will rise to $950,000 in the final year of her five-year deal, per the memorandum of understanding.
That is at least $300,000 more than MU paid Pingeton in her final season, and according to USA Today’s coaching salary database likely puts Harper in the top 25 highest paid coaches nationally. The contract, in its entirety, is a $4.5 million commitment.
More: Here’s what new Missouri women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper will be paid under new contract
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Perhaps the first behind-the-scenes glimpse for Harper for some proof of financial backing was who Veatch brought with him for an in-person interview with Harper: Brad Larrondo, who is the CEO of Mizzou’s Every True Tiger brands, which is the main NIL marketing and branding agency for Missouri athletes.
“I wanted her to see what our Every True Tiger program, what our NIL structure looks like, and just all the depth to it that goes beyond the vast majority of places,” Veatch said. “And I know that that was another selling point for her really quick, because she knows she can get up to speed really quick. She’s going to have that support.”
Harper seems to like what she saw and heard.
From left, UM System Board of Curators vice chair Michael Williams, UM System President Mun Choi, new Missouri women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper and Mizzou athletic director Laird Veatch are pictured during Harper’s introductory press conference Monday, March 31, 2025, in the practice facility at Mizzou Arena.
Veatch also said that since making the hire, he’s heard from numerous donors and former players “thank us for making a hire of this magnitude.” He doubled down Monday that the university is committed to supporting the program.
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Harper is going to need support from all of the above. The former Tennessee and Missouri State coach has taken every team she’s coached with to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 on three occasions.
Mizzou hasn’t been dancing since 2019 and hasn’t made it past the second round since 2001 — a couple years after Harper graduated from Tennessee with three national championships under legendary coach Pat Summitt.
Harper recognized that it’s hard to “move up” in the SEC. She’s encouraged by the Tigers’ returning core, which includes standouts Grace Slaughter and Ashton Judd, and teased some “interest from some really talented portal players” during her meeting with media shortly after her formal press conference.
More: Why new Missouri women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper is returning to sideline after year away
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More: 7 potential transfer portal targets for Missouri women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper
Missouri seems ready, more so than in recent years, to fund the process. That appears to be why Harper is here.
“I knew where I felt like we needed to land, where we needed to be,” Harper said, “and I think that’s where we’re going to be. As the landscape changes — because I feel like now, something’s new every week — if things change and there needs to be a different approach, I feel really, really confident in our administration to be able to figure out how to keep us competitive, regardless of the landscape.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Will Mizzou invest enough in women’s hoops to win? Kellie Harper thinks so
