COLUMBIA, MO. • His first two years at Mizzou, Kevin Puryear usually pulled a hoodie over his head when he walked to class, hoping to conceal his identity as much as possible. That’s not easy as a 6-foot-7 African-American at a predominantly white university, but when you win 18 games in two seasons, a stroll through campus becomes a personal walk of shame.
Even though the 2017-18 season ended with a couple of postseason thuds, the Tigers revived their program under first-year coach Cuonzo Martin and his blended cast of newcomers and holdovers from the Kim Anderson years.