Hope is defined as a “feeling or expectation and desire for the certain thing to happen” and “a feeling of trust.”
It feels weird to say this, but as we head into a new women’s basketball season, this is my overarching feeling— hope. I look at the new coaching staff, the promised investment by the athletic department, the new additions, the schedule, and even the social media posts, and the main feeling I have feels an awful lot like hope. It’s refreshing.
It definitely wasn’t always this way.
Rewind
Way back in April 2024, a bunch of us — me, Quentin, Josh, Dylan, Adeen, Abigail, and Matthew — participated in a State of the Union roundtable on Mizzou’s Women’s Hoops after the Board of Curators and interim athletic director Marcy Girton decided (foolishly) to retain head coach Robin Pingeton for a 15th season despite ending the 23-24 season with 12 straight losses.