Missouri

Missouri hires former Tennessee star and coach Kellie Harper as its new women’s basketball coach

Published

1 year ago

March 18, 2025

Missouri hires former Tennessee star and coach Kellie Harper as its new women’s basketball coach

Kellie Harper has been hired as the new women’s basketball coach at Missouri, where the former coach of SEC-rival Tennessee will have the job of rebuilding a once-proud program that has not been to the NCAA Tournament in six years.

Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch announced Harper’s hiring Tuesday.

Harper grew up in Sparta, Tennessee, and played under Pat Summitt with the Volunteers, helping them to win three consecutive national championships. She began her coaching career in the SEC as an assistant at Auburn in 2000, and was the head coach for Western Carolina, NC State and Missouri State before replacing Holly Warlick at her alma mater in 2019.

Harper led the Vols to the NCAA Tournament each of the four seasons it was held, including back-to-back Sweet 16 trips in 2022 and ’23. She was fired after last season, when Tennessee went 20-13 and made the second round of the NCAA tourney.

“Missouri is a special place, and I know firsthand the passion and pride that surrounds this program,” Harper said. “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.”

Harper replaces Robin Pingeton, who stepped down after 13 seasons leading the Tigers.

“Kellie is a proven winner and dynamic leader,” Veatch said. “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. We are incredibly excited about the future of Mizzou women’s basketball under her leadership.”

Harper, who is only the fifth women’s basketball coach in school history, has spent 20 years as a Division I head coach. Her teams are a combined 393-260 with nine NCAA Tournament appearances and four conference tournament titles.

Missouri is planning an introductory news conference for Mizzou Arena. The date for it has not been announced.

“The foundation is in place for success,” Harper said, “and I can’t wait to get started.”

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Missouri

Safeguarding health care in rural Missouri demands a new approach

Published

9 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Press Room

Safeguarding health care in rural Missouri demands a new approach

Missouri lawmakers are right to treat the collapse of rural health care as an urgent crisis. Nearly half of the state’s remaining rural hospitals are at risk of closure, and many communities already know what it means to lose emergency rooms, labor and delivery services and timely stroke care. In this environment, legislation allowing MU […]

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Missouri

Montgomery County man pleads guilty in child death involving fentanyl

Published

21 hours ago

April 13, 2026

Press Room

Montgomery County man pleads guilty in child death involving fentanyl

A man charged after a 2-year-old was found dead under his care pleaded guilty to charges including murder in connection to the child’s death.

Bryan Danter, identified in court documents as the child’s father, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony murder, second-degree drug trafficking and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court records.

Danter was charged in September 2024 with drug trafficking and child endangerment counts after state troopers found a 2-year-old child dead in an apartment, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.

After investigators concluded the child died of exposure to fentanyl, a felony murder charge was added to the case, according to previous reporting. An individual can be charged with felony murder in Missouri when someone dies during the perpetration of a felony.

The probable cause statement filed at the time described guns discovered by state troopers during the child death investigation.

The guns included a pump-action shotgun, a semi-automatic shotgun and a semi-automatic .22- caliber rifle. Troopers said the serial number on the rifle had been sanded off, according to previous reporting.

Since Danter was previously convicted in a felony case and is not allowed to own firearms by law.

Danter has a sentencing hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. June 12.

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Missouri

Missouri women’s basketball adds high-major starting point guard transfer

Published

1 day ago

April 13, 2026

Press Room

Missouri women’s basketball adds high-major starting point guard transfer

Make that two signings for Kellie Harper’s team in the opening week of the transfer portal.

Missouri women’s basketball landed a commitment Sunday from Indiana point guard Nevaeh Caffey, who announced her decision to sign with the Tigers via social media. Caffey is a native of Warrenton, Missouri, who started all 32 Hoosiers games last season as a true freshman.

The Tigers have now made two additions out of the transfer portal since the window opened April 6, with Caffey joining Michigan transfer and freshman shooting guard McKenzie Mathurin.

Caffey is from the St. Louis area and played her high school at Incarnate Word Academy, winning 139 straight games and four straight MSHSAA Class 6 titles with the powerhouse. She was named Miss Show-Me Basketball as a senior in 2025.

In 32 starts, averaging 32.1 minutes on the floor per game, Caffey scored 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game. The 5-foot-10 shot 41.7% from 3-point range on 36 total attempts, and she averaged 3.3 free-throw attempts per game with a 81.3% clip.

Point guard — and guard depth at large — looked likely to be a target area for the Tigers in this transfer window, which will remain open for new entries through April 21.

The Tigers can return Averi Kroenke, who sustained a season-ending injury before the Tigers’ season-opener last year, and have a top-100 high school prospect in Natalya Hodge with the ability to run the point.

With high-major starting experience, Caffey sets up to find a prominent spot in the rotation next year in Columbia.

Five Missouri players have entered the portal and will transfer out of the program this offseason, including core rotation members in guards Chloe Sotell and Shannon Dowell. If there had been no outward movement, Mizzou would not have had any room to work in the transfer portal due to the NCAA’s 15-player roster limit for college basketball programs.

Mizzou has now filled two of those five possible open roster spots.

Frontcourt depth is now the clear-and-obvious major need for Mizzou. The Tigers need experience at both forward and center to round out their roster.

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