Mizzou Basketball History: Best Players, Greatest Coach, SEC Results

Missouri has a rich yet underrated basketball history.

The Tigers recently advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 30th time. They’ve yet to make the Final Four, but they have reached the Elite Eight five times.

This page explores Mizzou’s basketball history, best players, teams, coaches and more.

How Many Times Has Mizzou Been to The NCAA Tournament?

The Tigers are making their 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Their first appearance was in the 1944 NCAA Tournament.

What Is The Farthest The Tigers Have Advanced in The NCAA Tournament?

Mizzou is still trying to reach the Final Four for the first time, but the Tigers have made the Elite Eight five times (1944, 1976, 1994, 2002 and 2009). The NCAA later vacated their 1994 Elite Eight appearance, however.

Has Mizzou Won The SEC Tournament?

No. The Tigers joined the SEC in 2012-13. In 2023, Mizzou reached the SEC Tournament semifinals for the first time. That remains their best result.

How Many Conference Tournament Titles Did Mizzou Win Before Joining The SEC?

Mizzou has won 8 conference tournament titles. Its most recent title came in 2011-12, when the Tigers captured the Big 12 Tournament in their final year in the league.

Has Mizzou Ever Been Ranked No. 1 in The AP Poll?

Yes. Several times, in fact. The Tigers spent 2 weeks at No. 1 during the 1981-82 season. And the 1989-90 Tigers spent 4 weeks at No. 1, including a 3-week stretch.

How Many First-Round NBA Picks Has Mizzou Produced?

Entering the 2025 NBA Draft, Mizzou has produced 17 first-round picks in the NBA Draft.

Consensus All-American Steve Stipanovich is the highest-drafted Tiger in program history. The Indiana Pacers selected Stipanovich with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft.

Derrick Chievous, Mizzou’s all-time leading scorer with 2,580 points, also was a first-round pick, going No. 16 overall to the Houston Rockets in the 1988 NBA Draft.

Doug Smith, Mizzou’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer with 2,184 points, was selected No. 6 overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1991 NBA Draft.

Mizzou in The SEC

The Tigers joined the SEC in 2012-13. Here’s how they fared in the regular season and SEC Tournament:

Mizzou’s Hall of Fame Coach Norm Stewart

Norm Stewart won 634 games as Mizzou’s coach from 1968-1999. He also won 6 of the Tigers’ 8 conference tournament championships.

No other basketball coach in Mizzou history has won 200 games.

Stewart also guided the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament 16 times. His 1994 and 1999 teams reached the Elite Eight.

It wasn’t just that he won. A lot. It was how he won. His sideline demeanor was so intense that he earned the nickname “Stormin’ Norman.”

Stewart spent most of his coaching career at Mizzou, where he also a standout guard who averaged 17.7 points per game during his 3-year varsity career. In 1955-56, Stewart averaged 24.1 points per game, which still ranks in the top 5 all-time in Mizzou single-season history.

Stewart was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Mizzou’s All-Time Starting Five

Norm Stewart would have loved to coach this group full of All-Americans and first-round NBA Draft picks.

Point guard: Phil Pressey

Who better to run this offense than the program’s career leader in assists?

Pressey was masterful in his ability to break down defenses and set up his teammates. In just 3 seasons, he totaled a program-record 580 assists.

Pressey led the Big 8 in assists as a sophomore in 2011, then led the SEC in assists as a junior in Mizzou’s first year in the league. He was a defensive menace as well, tying Anthony Peeler for the all-time lead in steals with 196.

Shooting guard: Anthony Peeler

Peeler was named Big 8 Player of the Year in 1992, and for good reason: The All-American averaged 23.4 points per game while dishing out 3.9 assists.

Peeler still ranks in Mizzou’s top 3 all-time in assists (No. 2, 497) and scoring (No. 3, 1970).

The Lakers drafted Peeler with the No. 15 overall pick in 1992.

Small forward: Derrick Chievous

Chievous is the greatest scorer in Mizzou history. A decorated All-American, the only reason he didn’t win a Big 8 Player of the Year award is he played at the same time Danny Manning was at Kansas. Manning won Big 8 Player of the Year 3 consecutive years (1986, ’87, ’88) — the final 3 years of Chievous’ career.

Power forward: Doug Smith

Smith won the Big 8 Player of the Year in 1990 and shared the award in 1991. He ranks No. 2 on Mizzou’s all-time scoring list (2,184 points) and No. 2 in rebounds (1,053). He is the only player in school history to top 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. He’s also No. 4 in program history in career blocks (129).

Smith gets the nod over Arthur Johnson, who also had a spectacular career at Mizzou and ranks in the top 10 for scoring (No. 6, 1,759 points), rebounding (No. 1, 1,083) and blocked shots (No. 1, 245).

Center: Steve Stipanovich

Stipanovich, an All-American in 1983, ranks No. 4 all-time in program history in points (1,836), No. 3 in rebounds (984) and No. 3 in blocks (149).

Johnson, who was 6-9, was listed as a center, but there was never a question about where Stipanovich would be.

The 6-11 big man controlled the paint throughout his career, which he capped by sharing the 1983 Big Eight Player of the Year award with Oklahoma star Wayman Tisdale.

Chris Wright

Managing Editor

A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.