Kellie Harper meets with media
Mizzou women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper met with local media Monday after her team dropped a matchup with Kansas. Here is everything she had to say.
Opening statment
Harper: “Yeah, obviously, we’ve had a lot going on with signing day and coming off a big, very intense game with KU. We talked to our players after that game about needing to let it sit a little bit. Let it hurt and then wake up the next day and find a way to get better. So I think we had a pretty good balance of that since the game. And then, now we were looking ahead to three games in seven days.
“So we, this, this the preparation for these upcoming games is a little bit quicker, a little bit shorter in terms of how many days we’re working on our opponent. So it’ll be an opportunity for us to show some, show some growth and turning around scouting reports.”
Question: With Natalya (Hodge) in particula, can you walk us through a little bit of the process of recruiting her?
Harper: “Yeah, man, Natalya’s recruiting was, was interesting, because she had a relationship with almost everyone on our staff. We had recruited her from previous institutions. Obviously, coming from Knoxville, I’ve known about her for several years now, been able to watch her grow in the last few years and super excited about her. She brings in a tenacity, a competitiveness and so and a lot of fire, and I think that will be much needed for our program.”
Question: What were some of the emphasizes that you were looking for in this 2026 recruiting class?
Harper: “We wanted some size. I think you could see that really quickly. We, bringing in Khloe Ford, Cecilie Brandimore, and Ellie Muller and all three of those players bring some size and length. Hopefully give us some depth in some positions, down low, and love the ability that they also have to be able to stretch the floor. Love their versatility.
“We definitely wanted to address some athleticism on the perimeter as well, and we did that with both Natalya and Jada (Maples). So I think we, we have some, some players coming from really elite programs there know how to win. They expect to win. I think that’s really important. We didn’t luck into that. That’s by design. And I tell you what, I’m super excited about this.”
Question: With a five-player class, if all of your eligible players return, that puts you right at 15 for next year’s roster. So how do you weigh the difference of wanting to build through the high school ranks and recruiting this way versus through the portal?
Harper: “Yeah, I think every year is different. But we understand that our high school recruiting is going to be very important to our, to building a successful program. It’s, that’s what we’re going to have as a foundation. And I think that we were able to go out and do just that, this, with this signing class. You know, the portal is still a valid option where you need it, but we were able to address a lot of things in the with the freshman class that we wanted to address.”
Question: Do you feel like the timeline of the recruiting process was a little shorter for you because of when you got started here? How did that play out versus previous signing classes at other stops?
Harper: “Recruiting is fluid. It changes. And you know, you can go back and look at players that you’ve signed, that you recruited for years. And then you can go back and look at players that you signed, that you recruited for weeks. And it, there’s no exact science to it. I think the biggest thing for us is identifying who will be a good fit for us, and then building a strong relationship and finding that trust early on. And sometimes that takes a long time to do. Sometimes, you know, for us, you know, we can get in there, start recruiting people, but we were late for some kids. And for some kids, we were right on their timeline. So I think it worked out very positively for us.”
Question: Back to the Kansas game, a couple of days later, what are some of your kind of lasting takeaways?
Harper: “Yeah, you know, I think defensively, I thought we missed some executions that that we needed to be able to, to see. You know, we had a scouting report. I didn’t think we executed the scouting report as well as we’ve done. Maybe. So I’d like to see us be able to do that a little bit better. I thought we could have been had a little bit more urgency with our transition defense.
“And offensively, although we scored a lot, I mean, we scored a lot of points, we left a few opportunities out there with it. Whether it was a missed execution or turnover, or just not comprehending what we needed in that moment. So it was a high-level game. I thought it was an intense game the entire, the entire 40 minutes. I thought we competed, and I thought we were, we had a pretty good mindset. I love to see the competitiveness. So I think we can find some growth there.”
Question: You talk about the scouting report. When you’ve got this pretty compact stretch of games in just a matter of a few days here, how much of a challenge or opportunity is that to work on that implementing the scouting report?
Harper: “Yeah, that’s exactly what I challenge our team. You know, I think that’s one area we can get better at. And, you know, we’re, we’ll try to structure things for our players in practice, to allow them to get better, to challenge them in practice. To put them in game-like situations. But ultimately, when it is game time, they’ve got to have focus. They have to be able to apply what they learned in that moment when things are going really fast. And I think a big part of that is our communication. Really been challenging our players to find a better level of communication.”
Question: When you talk about that game being so competitive and intense, the environment, how advantageous is it to have that kind of game this early in the season?
Harper: “I think it was a great game for us to have. Obviously, I, you know, you don’t draw it up and you’re happy with the loss, you don’t do that. But in terms of having that game on our schedule, where it is, like it was really good for our team, I think it gave our staff a really clear picture of where we are, where we need to grow. I think it, I think it showed some little grit and a little toughness that we needed to see. And on it, hopefully, it motivates us and gets our players excited about the improvement that we can have.”
Question: After that game you talked about how good it was to see the positive contributions from everybody who played. At this point, four games in, how are you feeling about the depth of your roster and what you’re seeing from everybody that’s getting minutes?
Harper: “Yeah, well, we finally have 10 available. That’s not a huge number to have, just available players, but I think what we saw in this last game was that everyone that stepped out on the court was able to contribute in some way. I think that’s, I think that’s great for them. I think it can be a little bit more added motivation in practice. We talked about their minutes, whether it’s 2, 20, 40, doesn’t matter what they are. They’re important. I think our players could see that from this game. I think it was a great example of how each possession, each play, each action, matters. Regardless of who you are, you’ve got to be able to contribute and play.”
Question: Saniah (Tyler) made her return against KU. Have you gotten a chance to talk with her and see how she’s feeling about making her debut?
Harper: “You know, I think she’s, first off, she’s been chomping at the bit she was she’s been so excited about getting out there and playing. And I’m really proud of her coming out and, and honestly, playing under control and playing with great energy. That’s what she’s going to give us. She’s going to give great energy. She’s going to give us a physicality defensively that we just don’t have anywhere else. And she gives us another opportunity, another ball handler out on the court. So, you know, playing point for us, giving us some depth there, allowing me to move Shannon (Dowell) back to the wing a little bit more is going to be be good for us.
“I think we have to be a little patient with her that, you know, she’s, that’s a big old playbook that she missed a few weeks of live action, and a very lengthy playbook. So I’m really proud of actually, how she handled it. And we’re going to continue to give her some extra work as she as she gets back in and gets more minutes.”
Question: Along the same lines, is there any update on Hannah (Linthacum) and Sydney (Mains) and king of getting the roster back to relatively full strength?
Harper: “No, no. No changes. No changes. We’re still kind of day to day with those two. And, you know, would love to, love to add to our depth in terms of our numbers. But you know, when we got 10, we’ll go with the 10 we got.”
Question: What did you learn mostly about your paint and post defense, especially with Jordana (Reisma) out of the game? And what needs to, I guess, improve or change?
Harper: “Yeah, I think we have to be a little bit, find a little bit more urgency to guard early. I think when you’re out matched, you can’t be late to the party. You can’t be delayed because you’re already down, right? So for us, I think seeing things, understanding things, where we are, personnel and matchup wise, and guarding earlier. That allows us to maybe be a little bit more physical, because we’re going to have to play a little bit more physical when we when we just don’t have the size. And we may have to be creative as coaches, may have to figure some things out to help our mediums play big.”