Hope springs eternal for Kim Anderson, Missouri basketball

Missouri coach Kim Anderson received a pass from his bosses for two dismal seasons to begin his tenure.

Anderson will return for a third year despite a 19-44 record, including a 6-30 mark in the Southeastern Conference and back-to-back last-place conference finishes.

For better or worse, it’s Anderson’s team now. None of the players on the roster moving forward played under his predecessor, Frank Haith, and only one, forward Jakeenan Gant, was recruited before Anderson’s arrival.

If Anderson’s feeling pressure entering the most pivotal offseason of his career, it didn’t show Tuesday at Mizzou Arena during his first media availability since athletic director Mack Rhoades confirmed he’d remain the Tigers’ coach.

“I’ve been given no ultimatum that you have to win so many games,” Anderson said. “From our standpoint, I don’t think it changes in that every year, you try to improve.”

Still, it’s sink or swim time for Anderson, who believes he’s finally positioned to have a program crafted in his image.

“This summer will be a little bit tougher,” Anderson said. “I still think we need to create a culture of Missouri basketball. I’m not sure we’ve done that completely in the last year or so, but again I go back to I think we have guys who are: A. tired of losing; B. used to winning; and C. want to win. I’m hoping that will create the type of leadership and the type of work ethic that we need.”

The Tigers suffered extreme attrition again, losing five scholarship players — Martavian Payne, Wes Clark, D’Angelo Allen, Tramaine Isabell and Namon Wright — since the start of the 2015-2016 season.

Missouri hopes it’s addition by subtraction, and there are signs that chemistry, which has been problematic during Anderson’s first two campaigns, is improving.

“We have guys that want to be here and guys that want to get better every day, so I’m just going to leave it at that,” said freshman forward Kevin Puryear, a Blue Springs South graduate who led MU in scoring last season and was chosen to the SEC All-Freshman Team. “... This group that we have right now is a bunch of blue-collar guys that want to be in the gym at all times.”

Forward Jordan Barnett, who transferred from Texas between semesters, already sees improvement.

“When I first got here, I thought it (the team’s chemistry) was kind of off, but it’s starting to develop a little bit more,” Barnett said. “... It can’t get worse at all, so we’re going to build towards it and I think it’s going to be much better.”

Anderson is excited to have a group of fully committed players and repeatedly praised last season’s freshman class — Puryear and guards Terrence Phillips, Cullen VanLeer and K.J. Walton — as a solid foundation for the future.

“This freshman group is kind of bonded together and, hopefully, made it one of their goals to help get this program back to where we expect it to be,” Anderson said. “... I would hope people would evaluate this program based on improvement the guys have made and the guys that we recruited from day one, how stable are they?”

Anderson expects to have the entire roster — including the trio of Willie Jackson, Reed Nikko and Mitchell Smith who signed in November — on campus in June.

He also said Missouri will use at least two and perhaps all three available scholarships during the late spring signing period next month.

The Tigers are targeting a point/combo guard, wing scorer and another post player.

“The one thing we can really sell to them is an opportunity to come in and contribute immediately,” Anderson said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to sign some guys that can help us win next year.”

Things might seem bleak now, but hope springs eternal.

“We feel like we all are ready to take this thing to the next level,” VanLeer said. “The past week, after we took our week off, we’ve all been working hard and getting in the gym. The process is already beginning, and I think we’ll be a good team next year. We all think we can be the group that turns things around, gets back to the NCAA Tournament and gets fans back in the stands at Mizzou.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Hope springs eternal for Kim Anderson, Missouri basketball."