Sitting in a golf cart at Dickerson Park Zoo — stopped at the first of two gates holding the bears — MSU men's basketball coach Dana Ford looked back at the media in another cart.
"These bears are about to be bigger than Boomer," Ford said referring to Missouri State's mascot.
The bears on the other side of the fence weren't the Bears the new head coach has been putting through drills on the basketball court. These bears were big, hairy and had razor sharp teeth and claws.
The zoo welcomed Ford to Springfield — along with his 5-year-old son Carson and 3-year-old daughter Charlie Rose — with an up-close look at lions, hippos and bears (oh my).