New Missouri Tigers women’s basketball coaching staff shares a unique connection
Mizzou women’s basketball assistant coaches Jennifer Sullivan, Liza Fruendt and Kenzie Kostas were in the front row at the opening news conference for new coach Kellie Harper on March 31.
“Y’all, I hit a grand slam with my staff,” Harper said. “Those three sitting right there, that’s who I wanted with me for this journey.”
Sullivan, Fruendt and Kostas shared the same sentiment Tuesday afternoon when talking with media members.
Sullivan demonstrated her willingness to join the Tigers when she left a head coaching position to be an assistant coach. She stepped down as the Florida Atlantic coach March 25 because she wanted to work with Harper again, she said.
“Kellie (Harper) is the only person that I would have done it for,” Sullivan said.
She saw the opportunity to rejuvenate a fan base and program again with Harper. Sullivan noted she got to do that once at Missouri State with Harper.
Sullivan was an assistant for the Bears from 2013-18; Harper coached Missouri State from 2013-19.
Missouri State went 118-79 in Harper’s six seasons. The Bears won the Missouri Valley Conference in 2016 and 2019, while also reaching the NCAA Tournament in those years. The tournament appearance in 2016 was the first appearance for Missouri State since 2006.
Kostas was a redshirt senior and Fruendt was a sophomore on the Bears team that won the Missouri Valley Conference in 2016. Both former teammates and now assistant coaches were excited when it became apparent they would be near each other again.
“We’ve been different places, supporting each other from afar,” Kostas said. “Now to be daily working with her, being on the same team, is just a dream come true.”
Fruendt said she did not really talk with Kostas beforehand because both were busy with their current jobs. Kostas was an assistant, helping coach the Bears in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
Fruendt was focused with Illinois, as the Fighting Illini were in the NCAA Tournament.
Fruendt said Harper had brief conversations about the position, but the full conversations did not start until the end of 2024-25. However, Harper’s son, Jackson, kept calling Fruendt to make sure she knew Harper was recruiting her to Mizzou.
After consideration, Fruendt said, it was an opportunity she couldn’t turn down. It was different from other coaches who had called to see if she’d be willing to move.
“She’s my coach,” Fruendt said. “It’s just a unique dynamic that we’re never probably going to get again.”
The unique dynamic is felt between all three assistant coaches.
In her 20 years coaching, Sullivan said it is one of the most familiar staffs from Day 1.
She said a normal coaching staff is like getting to know friends for the first time, but that is not the case at MU. Sullivan said she has known assistant coach Michael Scruggs for years and worked with assistant coach Todd Schaefer at Arkansas State, too.
Sullivan said she has enjoyed the first few months as the whole staff has been together scrambling to put a roster together with many late nights.
The work will continue into the summer.
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