IN PICS: Mizzou HC Kellie Harper shares heartfelt snaps celebrating 25th marriage anniversary with husband Jon Harper
New Missouri Tigers head coach Kellie Harper celebrated her 26th wedding anniversary with husband Jon Harper in the offseason.
Harper posted pictures with her husband on Thursday. In one of the pictures, they are at the beach, while in the other, they are at a park. She accompanied them with a message dedicated to her partner.
"Happy 26th Anniversary! Here’s to 26 more. 🥰🏀🏡🎉☀️," Kellie Harper wrote.
Her anniversary celebration comes just as she's taken over a troubled program at Missouri.
Kellie Harper became the new head coach at Mizzou in late March. She landed in Columbia after spending the last five seasons at Tennessee. She previously took the Lady Vols to the Sweet 16, where they lost to the Texas Longhorns 68-59.
Before taking the Tennessee job, Harper had already been the head coach at Western Carolina, NC State, and Missouri State. She's led every program she has headed before to the NCAA Tournament.
At Missouri, she will take over a program that is coming off a 14-18 season, with a 3-13 SEC record under Robin Pingeton, who had led the program for 15 seasons, taking the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament from 2016 to 2019.
The SEC has become one of the most competitive conferences in college basketball, with three of the last four champions in Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks and Kim Mulkey's LSU Tigers. The Texas Longhorns were also a top seed in this year's tournament.
Kellie Harper built up familiar staff at Mizzou
Taking over as the head coach at Missouri, Kellie Harper will first have to take care of the personnel in the program. She has built her staff with people she already knew, creating a familiar atmosphere.
Harper is counting on some of her former players-turned-assistants like Liza Fruendt and Kenzie Kostas. Per Rivals.com, they feel like the coaching staff has become a sort of family.
“All knowing each other for 10-plus years and working together at multiple stops and playing with each other,” Fruendt said. “I just think that it’s something that’s for life.”
As for the roster, the Tigers have landed four players through the transfer portal already. Jordana Reisma (Cleveland State), Saniah Tyler (Kentucky), Sydney Mainz (Florida Atlantic), and Shannon Dowell (Illinois State) have already committed to Missouri.
The Tigers still have work to do, as they had seven players enter the portal, along with four others graduating.