In case you missed it, we hired a new men’s basketball coach last week and introduced him at a press conference yesterday.  Please join me in welcoming back Cuonzo Martin!

Zo coached at Missouri State University from 2008-2011. Under him, Missouri State won its only regular-season Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) championship in our 34 years in the league.

His career record is 264-198 (.587) in 14 seasons as a Division I head coach at Missouri State, Tennessee, California and Missouri. His teams have made nine postseason appearances in that span, including four trips to the NCAA Tournament, four appearances in the NIT (National Invitation Tournament) and a CIT (CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament) title with the Bears in 2010.

The board and I are very excited to welcome Zo back to campus. He’s highly regarded among fans and the community. He’s also well-liked and respected by his teams and has focused on student-athlete success.

These days, you can’t talk about hiring a new coach without discussing salaries. It’s true, Coach Martin will be the highest paid employee at Missouri State. To be competitive in basketball in the MVC, we need to be able to attract talented coaches.

The salary range for MVC men’s basketball coaches is $300K-$1 million. Coach Martin’s base salary is $600K, putting us around mid-range. We feel this is a good spot for us that will enable us to be competitive.

Farewell and thank you

I’d also like to take a moment to thank Dana and Christina Ford for their time at Missouri State and in Springfield. When they arrived, they immediately immersed themselves into the community.

Christina created the Rebound Foundation. It helps domestic violence survivors in our community by providing transitional housing and support, as well as engages young people in a relationship violence prevention program.

The Rebound Foundation will continue with this mission, with continued support from the Ford family and Christina’s position as founder remains intact. Truly, Dana and Christina embrace and live our public affairs mission. We wish them well!

Thank you for all you do for Missouri State.

Clif