In the months ahead, the way Frank Haith's first season at Missouri ended will be remembered most. College basketball fans across the country will remember how sophomore guard Phil Pressey collapsed on a sideline after his last-second 3-point attempt bounced off the rim, how Norfolk State players poured from their bench toward midcourt and how senior guard Kim English struggled to find words in a sullen locker room to describe his pain.
They will remember how an NCAA tournament that began with so much promise for the second-seeded Tigers came to a close last Friday at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb. It happened in the second round of the West Region with one of the most stunning upsets in history.
Yes, the months ahead will be hard for everyone who made Haith's first season at Missouri one of the school's most memorable. The way it ended against the 15th-seeded Spartans felt incomplete. The way it ended felt as if it did not fit after all the good that came before.
But news that the U.S. Basketball Writers Association named Haith its national coach of the year Monday offered a chance to recall positive memories from a season most in Missouri won't forget soon. More than 11 months ago, Haith was a joke among some. His record of 43-69 in the Atlantic Coast Conference from seven seasons at Miami was cause for concern. And there was the Yahoo! Sports investigation last August that included embarrassing photos with former rogue booster Nevin Shapiro. It seemed as if Missouri athletic director Mike Alden had made a giant mistake.
Then, Haith started winning. He won with precision – the Tigers' non-conference schedule included victories of 39 (California), 38 (William & Mary) and 37 (Kennesaw State) points. He won with a small lineup – the Tigers played with four guards. And he won with dramatics – the Tigers' 30 victories included a late comeback against Kansas at Mizzou Arena and a Big 12 tournament championship game victory over Baylor.
With time, Haith's image changed in Columbia, Mo. He went from an unknown face with baggage to someone who turned a lazy and uninspired team under former coach Mike Anderson into one of the country's most feared.
For that, Haith's honor Monday is deserved. Yes, the Norfolk State loss is part of his record, but so are these benchmarks: The Tigers earned a 30-win season for the second time in program history with only seven scholarship players, and the 14 Big 12 Conference victories this season stand as a school record.
There will be time to remember how it all ended. But Haith's progress the past five months must not be forgotten.
"The award might be in my name, but I look at it as a team award, because this belongs just as much to our kids and our staff as it does to me," Haith said in a release. "The year we had was special, because it was touched along the way by so many people that made it possible."
Even so, Haith has room to do more. It is uncertain how he will fare in Missouri's first season as part of Southeastern Conference next year. There are questions about how the Tigers will adapt to life without leading scorers Marcus Denmon (17.6 points per game) and English (14.9). And some wonder what punishment – if any – Haith might receive for his alleged role in approving a $10,000 payment to former Miami recruit DeQuan Jones.
Those concerns are valid, because Haith's first season at Missouri was marked by paradox. He produced unforeseen success, but the Tigers did not go as far in the postseason as almost everyone predicted once he did. He won over a skeptical fan base, but he gave followers one of their most painful March memories. The USBWA named him its national coach of the year, but Big 12 coaches refused to select him as one of their league's top two.
This much is for certain: Haith grew from an embattled leader to the face of his new program. The transformation did not achieve its desired result in the NCAA tournament. But the change deserves recognition nonetheless.
