Brick-by-Brick for MSU’s Ford

Part 2 – Building A Culture

(St. Louis, MO) – Dana Ford has a unique opportunity to take Missouri State to Missouri Valley Conference heights not seen in almost two decades. The Bears have not won the Valley’s conference tournament since 1992 and their last regular season title was 2011. Their last NCAA Tournament appearance was 1999.

The Bears were an uber successful Division 2 program and moved up to D1. After joining the Mid Continent Conference in 1982, MSU won four straight league titles (1987, 88, 89 & 90) and moved to the MVC. In the last 28 seasons, the Bears have just those two titles.

Ford has moved to Missouri State with the hopes of winning championships and returning the Bears to some of their former glory. To do that, he needed to assemble a high level coaching staff, to bring about the culture and work ethic needed to climb that championship ladder.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Ford had complete autonomy in selecting his coaching staff and one of his first hires was interim head coach Corey Gibson. The former Paul Lusk assistant will continue on the current staff.

 

 

When a new coach arrives, often the talent cupboard is bear. That is not the case at Missouri State. Ford has 11 hold-over players including high level seniors Obadiah Church, Jarred Dixon and Ryan Kreklow. Among the other Paul Lusk-recruited players is Springfield Kickapoo star Jared Ridder. The 3-star Xavier transfer could be an important part of Ford’s building plan.

The former Tennessee State coach says there is a big difference between taking over an Ohio Valley Conference team and a Valley squad.

 

 

Despite the strength of the existing roster, Ford knows his team has needs. The former Illinois State player and assistant coach is looking for rim protectors and ball handlers during their current Spring recruiting period.

 

 

While Ridder doesn’t fit either of those bills, Ford says he is an elite-level shooter and extremely talented offensive player. His ability to play three different positions and score consistently will be used like the proverbial ‘swiss-army-knife’.

Ridder is Kickapoo’s all-time leading scorer and was Missouri’s Mr. Basketball his senior season and was a two-time all-state player.

 

 

Over the years, the St. Louis area has been a key recruiting region for MSU and other Valley schools. Ford remembers well that some great Southern Illinois teams were anchored by outstanding players from the metro area.

Two of SIU’s better current players, Armon Fletcher and Aaron Cook are from St. Louis. Indiana State’s leading scorer, Jordan Barnes is a St. Louisian, and Drake’s resurgence this past season was sparked, in part by several players from the Gateway City.

 

 

Mid-major programs all over the nation, and Valley teams in particular have drawn encouragement from Loyola’s recent Final Four appearance. So I asked Ford, what kinds of lessons he and other coaches can draw from the Ramblers’ magical ride.

‘Team basketball’ and ‘position less basketball’ are the terms you’re hearing a lot these days. The Golden State Warriors were one of the first teams recently to talk about that second term. As the game evolves, Ford says that coaches have to keep growing.

 

 

In Part One of this interview (Missouri State’s Dana Ford) the Bears’ new head man discussed why he made the move to Springfield, his philosophy building a program and his evaluation of the Missouri State program and the Missouri Valley Conference.

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