Norm Stewart had been Missouri's head men's basketball coach for nearly 30 seasons. Stewart had led the Tigers to eight conference titles in his Hall of Fame career. This was not one of his finest. He had cycled through waves of memorable teams throughout the early 1980s and 1990s. This team was not so memorable.
It was the first week of February 1997. Missouri was 11-10 overall, 3-6 in Big 12 play. Any hope of a postseason bid was already gone. And now Mizzou's most detested rival, No. 1-ranked Kansas, a team starring Paul Pierce, Jacque Vaughn and Raef LaFrentz, was coming to Columbia, Missouri.