On the day he was introduced, Dana Ford picked up the biggest win of his career.
In front of a large crowd in the PRIME Overtime Club at Great Southern Bank Arena, the young coach hired right out of Tennessee State delivered an introductory press conference that won over a starving Bears fanbase.
He delivered the energy fans had been clamoring for following a frustrating Paul Lusk era. He spoke of his faith and family. He also spoke of the high expectations that he set for himself and the program heading into the future under his leadership.
“I was hired here to win championships. Period,” Ford said.
He never did.
Missouri State announced on Simdau that Ford was fired as the men’s basketball coach following his sixth season without a Missouri Valley Conference championship or an NCAA Tournament appearance.
More: Who will replace Dana Ford as Missouri State’s basketball coach? Here are some candidates.
What Missouri State once hoped would rejuvenate the fanbase, with a young, energetic head coach, has seen its interest dwindle to perhaps an all-time low. A program that is well past its glory days and can still be one with so much potential hasn’t gone dancing in 25 years.
Dana-mania delivered hope in Year 1
To begin his career in Springfield, Ford took over the mess that was left behind by the previous regime.
Coming off an 18-15 year, with a 7-11 finish in the Missouri Valley Conference, Ford had to take over a program that was picked to win the league in 2017-18 and ultimately finished in seventh — the lowest a preseason favorite had ever finished. One of the best players to come through the program, Alize Johnson, graduated and was on his way to the NBA.
Some fan favorites stayed, including Jarred Dixon and Ryan Kreklow. Around them, Ford added the likes of Josh Webster, Tulio Da Silva and Keandre Cook to start building his program.
More: Missouri State basketball fires Dana Ford after six years
After a slow start during a difficult non-conference slate, the Bears found their groove late in the conference season and threatened to claim a share of the MVC title in his first year.
A notable win included a 70-35 beatdown of Loyola Chicago in the year after it went on a run to the Final Four. It included the Bears snapping their nine-game losing streak to former MSU coach Barry Hinson at Southern Illinois.
It also included the program’s most thrilling moment since MSU won the Valley in 2011 when Dixon scooped up a loose ball at midcourt with the clock running out as he threw up a game-winner at the buzzer for a 66-65 win over Illinois State, Ford’s alma mater.
“It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving kid than Jarred Dixon,” Ford said. “A close second would be Ryan Kreklow. Just happy for our players. We won a game that we probably shouldn’t have won.”
The win was the second in a four-game winning streak and it put the Bears in contention for the league title on the final day of the season. The Bears fell short in a 73-62 defeat to Drake, which was in its first season under Darian DeVries as the Bulldogs won a share of the Valley.
At Arch Madness, the Bears came up short in a 61-58 loss to Bradley with Dixon missing a game-tying halfcourt shot at the buzzer. The season ended at 16-16 but it instilled hope for a program that hadn’t had it in quite a while.
“It’s hard to think about that right now,” Ford said when asked about the season. “What I will say is that the type of kids that we want in the program is established. We want overachievers. We want guys that people count out, that exceed expectations.”
Picked to win the MVC, the Bears flopped
It would have been difficult for the Bears to exceed the sky-high expectations that they established for themselves heading into Ford’s second year.
After overachieving in year one, Ford’s recruiting prowess quickly became the main focus. He already had promising transfers like Tyrik Dixon and Josh Hall on the roster and retained Da Silva and Cook. But when he added a big fish in West Virginia transfer Lamont West, who was regarded as one of the top transfers in the nation, a four-star freshman, one of the top-rated junior college centers and three high-level recruits out of a state-championship winning team (one of which never appeared at MSU, only to go on and win a national championship as Kansas’ starting point guard), the Bears appeared destined to win a championship.
That’s not exactly what happened.
There was never any chemistry between the players on the floor and what seemed to be endless potential was never tapped into. An opening-night loss to Little Rock, right before the buzzer, set the tone for the entire season as they went 16-17 and 9-9 in the conference.
By the end of the year, there was a bit of hope when the Bears beat Loyola by 12 before losing to Valparaiso. They then beat Southern Illinois by 15 to close out the regular season before winning an Arch Madness quarterfinal game against third-seeded Indiana State by 27. Everything seemed to be falling in the right place for the Bears with seventh-seeded Valparaiso advancing to the semifinals.
It was too good to be true as the Bears fell 89-82 to Valpo to end their disappointing season. Javon Freeman-Liberty scored 29 points and helped lead a 12-2 run to put the Bears away.
“We just lost a game that we felt like we had a chance to win,” Ford said as his second year as the Bears’ head coach concluded. “I’m sure I let a lot of people down, but that’s life sometimes.”
Bears show promise in COVID-19-impacted season but couldn’t get over the hump
A lot of off-season movement gave the Bears a roster they hoped would play together better. The roster was to feature a promising sophomore in Isiaih Mosley and junior Gaige Prim, who spent the entirety of the previous season banged up but he showed that he could be one of the better big men to come through the program.
The season was put on pause early on because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hours before the Bears were to play Evangel in late November, the game was called off and they didn’t see the floor until Dec. 16. An understandably weak non-conference schedule finished at 3-0 before an unorthodox Valley schedule of back-to-back days of playing the same opponent over a weekend went on.
The Bears lost their second game to Northern Iowa before winning their next five and looking like a contender in the conference. With his high-scoring ability, Mosley looked like everything he was promised to be when he was recruited as the top player in the state out of high school. Behind him, the Bears looked like they could contend for the conference title.
The Bears’ shot at a conference title ultimately came down to a four-game stretch against Drake and Loyola with both series at home. If the Bears wanted to be in the mix, they were going to have to win a few games.
Missouri State went 0-4.
“We’ve got our work out to catch up with them,” Ford said. “We won’t see those guys until March, which is a lot of time to improve. I think they’re both doing a great job.”
The Bears responded by winning their next seven games before dropping their season finale at Evansville. They earned the No. 3 seed at Arch Madness where they beat Valparaiso in the first round by 11 behind Mosley’s 29 points to set up another matchup with Drake.
Missouri State’s semifinal matchup with Drake was spectacular with neither team leading by more than four points in the second half. Back and forth they went as Demarcus Sharp made a jumper with about 19 seconds left. It wasn’t enough, however, as Drake’s Joseph Yesufu got a game-winner to go right before the buzzer and concluded the Bears’ best season in a decade.
“It was a season of gratefulness is what I have,” Ford, ending his third season as the Bears’ head coach, said. “I’m grateful for this group and grateful for the opportunities and grateful for the growth. I’m just very grateful for this year.”
Over the offseason, Missouri State extended Ford’s contract by two years. At 49-40 and 31-23 in Valley play, the Bears appeared to be heading in the right direction following his best season and with star players coming back.
Star players lead MSU to NIT, but couldn’t win the big games when needed
With Mosley and Prim returning, along with the bulk of the roster from the season before, the 2021-22 season was Ford’s best opportunity to lead a team to the NCAA Tournament.
An opening-day loss to Southeast Missouri State put a sour taste in everyone’s mouth, as it did in 2019-20 when the Bears lost to Little Rock. Allowing 99 points in 40 minutes to SEMO was unacceptable.
It took the Bears a little bit to get over the loss in what was an up-and-down non-conference slate that featured a win over South Dakota State but included losses to Illinois State, BYU, Saint Mary’s and East Tennessee State.
Once non-conference play concluded, the Bears started to ramp up behind an incredible stretch from Mosley.
The Bears beat Drake before a road game in which he knocked down a 3 at the buzzer to lift MSU over Bradley on the road. He followed by scoring 43, 33, 32, 24, 40 and 25 in successive games with the Bears going 6-2 over the stretch. One of the wins included the Bears’ first win over a ranked team since 2011 when they beat the Ramblers 79-69 with Mosley scoring 40.
“We always know (Mosley) is capable of this,” Ford said. “When he’s dialed in, it’s just whether or not he makes or misses it. We’re fortunate to have him. Just very fortunate.”
Wins followed with Prim showing his dominance while averaging 20.9 points and 7.9 rebounds over the Bears’ final 12 games. Over his two-year career, he was one of the most efficient players in college basketball.
The Bears were in a three-way tie atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings heading into the final week of the year. In a game to break the tie, at Northern Iowa, the Bears weren’t competitive with the Panthers running away with a 95-75 win. The Panthers shot 58.9% with Valley Player of the Year A.J. Green scoring 21. The Bears’ offense was consistent enough to be a winner but the defense wasn’t consistent enough to be a champion.
“If you look at us throughout the year, our defense is good enough to win when you match it up with our offense,” Ford said.
Missouri State finished second in the MVC standings before heading to Arch Madness. The setup was perfect with the Bears being undefeated against the teams on their side of the bracket. MSU took care of business in a quarterfinal win over Valparaiso before being matched up with Drake in the semifinals for the second straight year.
Another thrilling game followed as the two went to overtime where the Bears had a lead in the final seconds. Mosley was called with a blocking foul with 1.1 seconds left on the clock and Tucker DeVries followed by making both of his free throws. A full-court heave and a good look at a shot from Donovan Clay at the buzzer couldn’t connect as the Bears’ hopes at the NCAA Tournament ended.
“I love coaching these guys and that’s ultimately why I do what I do,” Ford said. “For me, it’s been a fantastic season. I’ve enjoyed coaching this team whether that’s on or off the court. In regards to how others view it, I feel like we had a good year.”
Missouri State’s season wasn’t over as it earned its first bid to the National Invitation Tournament since 2011. The Bears went to Oklahoma and couldn’t get many stops in an 89-72 loss. Mosley scored 28 points in what was ultimately his final game in a Bears uniform.
New roster couldn’t find consistency in fifth season
Mosley hit the transfer portal, as did many others amid a changing landscape in college athletics. Mosley moved to the school up north when Prim ran out of eligibility. Missouri State entered the 2022-23 season with 10 newcomers on scholarship.
In the second game of the season, Ford found himself down his starting point guard for the season. Matthew Lee, a transfer coming off an Elite Eight appearance at Saint Peter’s, tore his ACL. It forced the coach to play younger players in positions that they weren’t all that familiar with.
An inconsistent season followed. The Bears would lose four, then win four before winning two and losing two. There was never a groove for MSU during a frustrating season that finished 16-14 and 12-8 in the Valley. Before the conference tournament, Missouri State’s administration voiced confidence in Ford saying he would be back for the 2023-24 season. “Dana Ford is our guy,” MSU President Clif Smart proclaimed.
The Bears opened Arch Madness with a 17-point win over Illinois Chicago before advancing to the quarterfinals where they played Southern Illinois. Another close postseason game turned into the Bears’ downfall as they fell 54-51 to the Salukis in a back-and-forth battle. SIU star Marcus Domask sank a pair of free throws to go up by three. Missouri State hung on to the ball and struggled to get an open look before missing a 3 as time ran out.
Another Missouri State season was over. An increasingly frustrated fanbase was going to have to go another year without a trip to the big dance.
“Number one, our group that we have next year is not responsible for that long drought,” Ford began. “We don’t have to carry that weight at all. No. 2, it’s currently a challenge at the moment. Our league is not what it was in 1999 where three-and-four teams were gonna go. We’re sitting up here thinking the winner of Sunday is gonna be the only one that goes. I think you have to take that into consideration.
“It’s our goal next year to put a group together that can get to Sunday and play for it. If we don’t, that won’t be any indication of whether or not that season’s successful or not.
“Fans are supposed to be frustrated. That’s the joy of being a fan. What I can tell Missouri State fans is that when that moment comes, when we go back to the tournament, whether I’m the coach or somebody else is, it’s gonna be a joyful moment because you had to wait a long time.”
Dana Ford era ends after ‘disappointing’ sixth season
There weren’t many joyful moments for a Missouri State fanbase in a season that turned out to be Ford’s last.
Ford managed to maintain the majority of his roster heading into the year, a rarity in this day of college basketball with the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness. He added a few pieces, including the addition of a healthy Lee at point guard, to try and give the program the spark it needed.
Hopes were built up amid a 6-1 start and eventually a marquee win over Saint Mary’s before heading into the bulk of the conference schedule. There were some reasons to believe that maybe the Bears were ready to get over the hump and compete for a championship.
Those hopes were quickly dashed. A loss to Northern Iowa on the third day of the new year began a stretch in which the Bears lost five of six games.
Amid the stretch, a 24-point home loss to Murray State ended with Ford calling out the team’s energy, effort and enthusiasm. About an hour later, MSU athletics director Kyle Moats did the same in a surprising social media statement that Missouri State “expects more” from its program, putting Ford’s future even further under the microscope than it already was.
The Bears eventually stopped the bleeding by winning four-straight games, including a surprising double-overtime win over Drake, along with double-digit comeback victories over Southern Illinois and Belmont. They appeared to be on to something.
But they weren’t. Missouri State lost six of its next seven games with three coming by double-digits. Smart felt the need to write in a blog post, ahead of the team’s final two games of the regular season, that the season would be evaluated once it concluded, rather than ahead of the end of the year as he did before.
Missouri State finished ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference — a low point for the program that it hadn’t reached since Cuonzo Martin’s first year as head coach in 2008-09. It was a finish lower than any under the Lusk regime.
The university was noncommittal to Ford entering Arch Madness, where the Bears won an opening-round game against Murray State dominantly but couldn’t pull off an upset over league-champion Indiana State.
The Bears lost 75-59 in the quarterfinal round. They hung with the Sycamores early but couldn’t keep pace in the second half.
With all signs pointing to Ford’s exit, he was asked what he’d remember most about during his time in Springfield.
“I’m proud of a lot of things,” Ford said. “I would probably be the most proud of the young men that have come through the program, whether that be for one day or four years, and how they’ve developed into college graduates and high-character individuals.
“We’ve experienced the ups and downs and what college is all about,” Ford said. “I’m proud of the guys that I’ve had the privilege and honor to coach because that’s ultimately why we decided to do this. It’s about the guys.”
Two days after the Bears’ season ended, Ford’s career in Springfield did, too. The university announced it parted ways with Ford after compiling a 106-82 record, the same number of wins his predecessor finished with.
“Dana has been an amazing role model for our players and a great ambassador for our university and our program,” Moats said in a press release. “Likewise, he has given so much of his time in support of youth programs, charities and other community endeavors. That’s why this decision was not easy.
“I want to thank Coach Ford and his staff for their hard work and professionalism during their tenure at Missouri State.”
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Dana Ford: Missouri State fired men’s basketball coach after six years
