Harper replaces Pingeton as Missouri head coach

Former Tennessee player and coach Kellie Harper has been hired as the new coach for Missouri women’s basketball, the school announced Tuesday.

Harper will be returning to the Show-Me State where she spent 2013-19 at Missouri State. She took the Bears to the Sweet 16 in 2019 and was then hired to replace Holly Warlick at Tennessee.

Harper went 108-52 in five years with the Lady Vols, making the NCAA Sweet 16 twice. She was fired after last season when Tennessee went 20-13 overall and 10-6 in the SEC and lost in the NCAA tournament second round to eventual Final Four team NC State.

“Missouri is a special place, and I know firsthand the passion and pride that surrounds this program,” Harper said in a statement. “Our family is excited to return to the state of Missouri. I look forward to working with our leadership and our student-athletes, building strong relationships throughout the community and winning championships in Columbia. The foundation is in place for success — and I can’t wait to get started.”

Harper’s ties to the SEC, as well as her coaching experience in the state, made her an “ideal” candidate, according to Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch.

“Kellie is a proven winner and dynamic leader who understands the ‘Will to Win’ necessary to succeed at the sport’s highest level,” Veatch said in the school’s statement. “She is nationally respected, and her experience in the SEC, her deep ties to the state of Missouri and her ability to recruit and develop championship-level players make her the ideal leader for our program.”

Harper, 47, also was head coach at Western Carolina from 2004 to 2009 and at NC State from 2009 to 2013. For her 20-season Division I coaching career, Harper is 393-260 for a .602 winning percentage and has nine NCAA tournament appearances. She spent this past season as an analyst for the SEC Network.

Harper replaces Robin Pingeton, who resigned after 15 seasons at Missouri. The Tigers went 14-18 overall and 3-13 this season. During her Mizzou career, Pingeton was 250-218. Pingeton took the Tigers to the NCAA tournament four times from 2016 to 2019 with leading Missouri career scorer Sophie Cunningham. Cunningham is a WNBA veteran who joins the Indiana Fever this season.

Harper, a Tennessee native, played point guard for coach Pat Summitt from 1995 to 1999, winning three national championships with the Lady Vols.