The basketball season has snuck up on us once again, as November is nearly here. New Mizzou women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper and her roster spoke to the media to give us an inside look at the last several months as they continue to prepare for the 2025-26 season. Here are our main takeaways from the event.
Team Chemistry
With a whole new coaching staff and eight new players, the biggest concern for Harper was not a technical question. Instead, she was looking at how she could connect with the team and make
sure they were all on the same page.
“We also did several exercises together to start working on that team chemistry,” Harper said. “I think we really accomplished our goals this summer. We have meetings with our players, and every player in their exit meeting with me in the summer raved about their teammates and the chemistry and connection.”
In addition to Harper’s comments, each player I spoke to raved about the team chemistry as well and how much they like playing with one another. This was a big emphasis for the returners, banding together to help teach some of the ideas of Mizzou culture.
One of the players who took this to heart was Averi Kroenke. As a redshirt junior entering her fourth year on the roster, this makes Kroenke the longest tenured Tiger on the roster. Her outgoing nature makes it quite easy to help new players get adjusted. Plus as a local, she knows some of the best spots in Columbia.
“Each week we’d get a different pairing,” Kroenke said. “One week, you had to make a Tik Tok with your partner. The next week, you had to go out to dinner with a different partner..to get us some like, one on one interaction with each other. And then all of us do a great job of getting in the gym, so doing shooting workouts with other people, that’s been a really great job to meet and get to know others.”
Now with the team chemistry established, it’s time to talk strategy.
Think Fast!
Looking back at SEC Media Days, Harper talked about the idea of playing fast, having her team make quick decisions with the ball. But I was wondering, what actually goes into playing fast? Harper included the fact that it mostly had to do with the mental side and nothing really about the actual speed of the players.
“It’s a very hard thing to teach, actually,” Harper said. “Thinking quicker is is being one step ahead on the defensive end…What are you about to do? Not what you’re doing, because then you’re too late…I think offensively, reads and reactions quicker. A lot of that’s reps. Some players are naturally quicker thinkers and it’s easier, and some players are more process-driven.”
Like Harper said, this sort of idea has been a learning curve for the entire team. While it may take some time to getting used to, this sort of high-level thinking will benefit Mizzou when they are taking on some of the best collegiate athletes in the world in the SEC.
“I would say it has gotten easier, especially getting used to the type of system that Coach Harper wants us to play,” junior star Grace Slaughter said. “Getting used to the system is first and now just making the right reads and making the right cuts. Those things have definitely gotten easier with time…it’s not what am I doing right now, but what am I doing next? So I think it’s gotten easier with time, but definitely something we’ll still work on.”
Newcomers on Notice
It’s no surprise that this team’s success/shortcomings depend on the seven transfers that Coach Harper brought in during the offseason. She referred to the portal as “speed dating”, trying to see who would be a viable fit for the team. She mentioned not only looking for talent, but for fit and attitude; looking for players that would be a good fit for the program.
One player who will have a big impact on the team is Cleveland State transfer Jordana Reisma. With the Tigers extremely thin at the center position, Reisma will be relied upon to eat up a large portion of minutes for Mizzou. Plus she has the talent to do it, averaging 14.5 points and 6.9 rebounds in her final season at Cleveland State.
“It’s crazy to think about that, playing at the SEC level,” Resima said. “Doing this, and how much confidence [Harper] has in me, and so her having that confidence in me makes me [and] my family feel better about Coach.”
The other player folks should keep an eye on is Illinois State transfer Shannon Dowell. She is perhaps the most anticipated transfer, someone I viewed as an immediate starter once the commitment was announced. During her last year as a Redbird she averaged 17.6 points while shooting a tad under 50% from the field and over 30% from deep. She has already made an impression in a Tiger uniform, leading the team with 19 points in a not-so-secret scrimmage against Nebraksa.
“I really feel like my pace and athleticism is what will translate the best,” Dowell said. “As for doubt, I don’t have any doubt right now. These coaches, they put so much faith in me, and they just really infuse so much confidence in me that I haven’t had a chance to doubt myself just because of how much they put into me.”
With five other transfers on a 13-player roster, you can expect all of them to see the court in some sort of consistent capacity this season.
Practice Takeaways
To preface, I never got to watch any practices under Robin Pingeton, so I don’t have any sort of reference point to compare with. What I will say is that even the little things were clean— when the players were doing dynamic stretches, for example, they would repeat the name of the stretch whenever one of the assistant coaches would say it. It’s small, but there’s the old saying that how you do anything is how you do everything.
We also got to watch a few drills. One was a transition passing drill where one player would fly up the court, passing the ball to three players before making a layup. This fits Harper’s desired up-tempo play style, which will apply in both transition and in the halfcourt, which made the last drill we saw rather interesting.
It was a modified five-on-five scrimmage between the women’s basketball team and the male practice players. The women’s hoops team would start with the ball in the half-court, and they ran their offense that appears to feature a lot of off-ball screens, cuts and handoffs. Whenever a whistle blew, whoever had the ball would drop it, and Mizzou would have to get back in transition. The only grey area that I’d like to clarify is that I’m not entirely sure if they were intending to score or not. That could explain why they never attempted a shot. Their transition defense had some highs and lows, as the lows usually involved someone not picking up an opposing jersey, which led to some easy scores.
Sandwiched in between was a boxout drill against the male practice players. An injection of rebounding prowess is needed, as Mizzou hasn’t been higher than 200th nationally in rebounds per game since the 2021-22 season. The practice players would often outmuscle the women’s hoops team, but the latter improved their effort and execution as time passed.
The Tigers will open the team to the public next Tuesday, October 28 at 6:30 for the team’s exhibition against Maryville.
