Remember the lengthy courting process it took University of Missouri athletics director Mike Alden last spring to find a replacement for departing head basketball coach Mike Anderson?
When Anderson was wooed with big bucks to return to his coaching roots at the University of Arkansas, Alden found himself needing to replace Anderson’s “Forty Minutes of Hell” with another coach who could replicate Anderson’s considerable success in returning Mizzou from the sordid and forlorn Quin Snyder era. After being turned down abruptly or during the interminable interview process by several candidates, most especially Purdue head coach Matt Painter, Alden settled on Frank Haith, the low-key head coach at the University of Miami.
Haith formerly had been an assistant coach at Texas A&M, so he knew the difficulties and challenges of winning in the Big 12 conference. While his record at Miami was less than sizzling, he had a reputation of being a solid recruiter. So, Alden took a flyer on the young but relatively unknown coach to continue Mizzou’s resurgence.
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Before he coached a single game, however, Haith became embroiled in a simmering controversy and NCAA investigation into undue influence by a Miami booster. Reports surfaced that the booster, convicted felon Nevin Shapiro, said that Haith knew that Shapiro had paid a Miami recruit $10,000 in clear violation of NCAA rules. Additionally, phone records allegedly revealed that Haith had communicated with Shapiro hundreds of times during Haith’s era at Miami.
Haith denied any wrongdoing as the NCAA continued its investigation. At the revelation of the potential charges, however, many Mizzou alumni quickly called for Haith’s resignation before he ever set foot on a Big 12 court as Mizzou’s head basketball coach. He refused to abdicate, has professed his innocence of any wrongdoing and has the apparent support of Alden and the university.
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Then the season began and something unexpected happened. Mizzou won and won and won, going undefeated in the lengthy pre-conference season. A single loss at Kansas State and several more victories later, Mizzou became the second-ranked team in the nation, behind Kentucky, in late January. After a quick hiccup defeat at Oklahoma State, Missouri rolled up impressive victories against Baylor and Kansas.
Currently, Mizzou is ranked fourth in the nation, with just two defeats, one of just a handful of teams of the nearly 350 Division I NCAA schools whose men’s basketball team has less than three losses. All of a sudden, college basketball experts are touting Missouri as one of the teams to watch in the 2012 NCAA men’s basketball tournament known as “March Madness.”
Oddly enough, clamor for Haith’s removal has been virtually non-existent since he has propelled his players (recruited by Anderson and his staff) to prominence. Where are the naysayers at the moment? All’s quiet on the allegation front while Haith, his staff and players systematically buy into Haith’s steady belief in a values system that stresses teamwork and team spirit at all times.
How far can Frank Haith take Missouri’s men’s basketball team this season? Can they win the Big 12 conference title? Can they take the Big 12 conference tournament? Can they avoid major upsets while continuing to post noteworthy victories against such formidable foes as Kansas, Baylor and Iowa State?
We’ll find out more throughout February and March. Certainly, though, Haith already has reinvigorated Mizzou’s basketball program quicker than anyone might have hoped in the wake of Anderson’s defection.
Evan Makovsky
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