This time last year, a new coaching staff was beginning to settle in at the University of Missouri.
Dennis Gates was in the process of hiring his staff and filling out his men’s basketball roster.
We all know how that ended -- a successful season with a top-four finish in the Southeastern Conference and a win in the NCAA Tournament.
There’s a similar process going on again this year at Mizzou Arena. Only it’s the women’s basketball program that will be undergoing changes.
On Friday, word spread Missouri athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois had decided women’s coach Robin Pingeton will be returning for her 14th season.
There were questions if that would happen.
Pingeton is 225-181 in 13 seasons at Missouri. Under her direction, Missouri made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2016-19. The last three seasons have resulted in trips to the WNIT.
So the Tigers are advancing to the postseason. But they’re doing nothing when they get there as the Tigers have advanced just once past the second round of the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT under Pingeton. That was a third-round appearance in the WNIT in the 2014-15 season.
To be blunt, the Missouri women’s basketball program hasn’t been relevant on the national scene since the days of Sophie Cunningham.
The Missouri women finished 18-14 this season, ending with a 75-47 loss to Kansas in the second round of the WNIT. That was after the Tigers won 14 of their first 16 games, including getting off to a 3-0 start in the SEC.
After the loss to the Jayhawks, Pingeton talked like a coach who knew her job future in Columbia was definitely uncertain.
“We’ve got work to do in the offseason, and it’s on all of us,” Pingeton said. “As a staff, we’re going to have to flip everything upside down, evaluate everything we’ve done on the court, off the court and be willing to make some changes.”
So what’s coming?
• It’s safe to assume there will be changes to the staff to bring in new voices and ideas. But with the potential of being one-and-done, that will be a tough sell to coaches.
• There will be a roster shakeup. Missouri will have to dive into the transfer portal to find some talent. And with the Tigers potentially only losing Haley Troup as a senior, there are players on the roster this season who don’t figure to return.
“We’ll hit that portal pretty hard,” Pingeton said after the loss to Kansas. “I think it’s going to be really important that we grab a couple out of the portal and you want to be careful, you know. You want to make sure they fit your needs. But I think the last time I looked there was, I think, over 400 names already in the portal.”
Missouri is adding two players in ESPN’s Top 100 in Grace Slaughter from Grain Valley -- Miss Show-Me Basketball this season -- and Skylar Jones from Chicago. Also in the class are Hannah Linthacum of Jefferson City and Abbey Schreacke from Quincy (Ill.) Notre Dame.
Missouri averaged more turnovers than it had assists this season -- 15.3-13.5. That shows the Tigers could use a pass-first point guard.
The SEC is arguably the toughest women’s basketball conference in the country, with four teams advancing to the Sweet 16 this season. Missouri was ninth in the conference, winning just three of the last 13 games after the 3-0 start, and the Tigers have been in the bottom half of the SEC the past four years.
Reed-Francois has not been hesitant to make coaching changes in her time at Missouri. She has hired new head coaches for volleyball, cross country, women’s golf, men’s basketball and tennis in her two years in Columbia. It’s a business and winning is good for business.
Pingeton avoided that fate. But it’s obvious it’s NCAA Tournament or bust next season for Pingeton with the Tigers.