For the second time in a week, Alabama A&M head men’s basketball coach Dylan Howard has added another veteran presence to his staff with the addition of Kevin Missouri as an assistant coach on Thursday, July 8.
Among his 14 years in collegiate athletics, Missouri has spent six of those years on men’s basketball staffs in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), including on some of the most successful teams in recent years.
He comes to the Rocket City following a year as an assistant at Miami Dade College in 2020-21 after a pair of seasons with rival Alabama State. With the latter he helped lead the Hornets to the SWAC Tournament Semifinals in 2018-19 and helped develop a pair of All-SWAC Second-Team honorees in guards Reginald Gee (2018-19) and Tobi Ewosho (2019-20).
Prior to his time in Montgomery, Alabama, Missouri served as the video coordinator from 2014-17 and a special assistant to the head coach in 2017-18 at Texas Southern. While there he was part of six SWAC Championships, sweeping the regular season and tournament titles in 2014-15 and 2016-17 with a regular season title in 2015-16 and tournament championship in 2017-18.
The latter was one of four postseason trips, three of which were to the NCAA Tournament, and came in a season in which the Tigers knocked off North Carolina Central in the First Four after facing Gonzaga, Washington State, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kansas, Clemson, Oregon, Baylor, Texas Christian and Brigham Young in the regular season.
His time in Houston also saw NCAA berths in 2014-15 and 2016-17 and a spot in the National Invitational Tournament in 2015-16.
As a member of TSU’s staff, Missouri would help recruit and coach an impressive group of players, including back-to-back AP All-American Honorable Mentions in Derrick Griffin (2015-16) and Zach Lofton (2016-17). Griffin not only was the first SWAC player to achieve that recognition in 22 years but he also swept the league’s Player, Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year awards.
Lofton was also named Player and Newcomer of the Year in 2016-17 while Demontrae Jefferson and Marvin Jones collected Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. He also coached 2014-15 Player of the Year Madarious Gibbs who was among six All-Conference selections, four of which were First-Team.
“Kevin comes to Alabama A&M with great experience in the SWAC,” said Howard. “He was on the Texas Southern staff under head coach Mike Davis that won multiple SWAC championships and appeared in three NCAA tournaments. Coach Missouri is known as a coach who is well connected and a great recruiter.”
Missouri also spent three years as an assistant coach at Cal State Bakersfield from 2011-14, coaching the program’s all-time leading scorer in Stephon Carter, Western Athletic Conference (WAC) First-Team All-Tournament selection Issiah Grayson and future professional player Tyrone White.
No stranger to the State of Alabama, he also spent three highly successful years as a graduate assistant at Alabama-Birmingham. In that time the Blazers went 69-30 overall and 34-14 in Conference-USA.
That included three straight seasons of better than 20 wins, a pair of NIT appearances (2008-09, 2009-10) and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11. During their second NIT appearance UAB knocked off Coastal Carolina and North Carolina State before falling 60-55 to North Carolina.
Missouri has also worked with the National Basketball Associations’ (NBA) Golden State Warriors at their summer camp and directed the Junior All-American Camp in Birmingham in 2008.
He played at Pasadena City College in 1999-2000 before transferring to Fresno State for the 2001-02 campaign and it would be a path similar to that of his coach, the legendary Jerry Tarkanian, who also played for both schools in the 1950’s.
“It is truly an honor to be working with Coach Howard and joining his staff here at Alabama A&M,” said Missouri. “It’s great to be back and competing in the SWAC and it is great to join him in his quest to get the Bulldogs to a championship level. I am excited, honored and really looking forward to digging in and getting to work.”
SWAC Veteran Kevin Missouri Named Alabama A&M Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
