NASHVILLE, TENN. • Kevin Puryear came to Missouri a year into Kim Anderson’s brief time as coach fully expecting to help steer the program back to relevance, if not glory. Four years and 128 games later, Puryear experienced far more defeats than victories but insists he steps away from a stronger place than the one he joined.
“The culture is a lot better,” Puryear said Thursday in Nashville, minutes after MU’s season-ending loss to Auburn in the Southeastern Conference tournament. “Coming in it was a little rocky. The turnover rate was pretty high. We’ve started to create an environment where people can grow, like a four-year program, where you can graduate and all that good stuff.