Robin Pingeton instructs her team during the Tigers game at Arkansas (photo/Mizzou Athletics)
Mizzou Athletics has extended the contract of Head Women’s Basketball Coach Robin Pingeton four years, ensuring she will be on the Mizzou sideline through the 2024-25 season. In her ninth season, Pingeton has built Mizzou into a consistent Top-25 team program, leading the Tigers to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 1984-86.
“It has been exciting to watch Robin and her staff restore Mizzou’s proud women’s basketball tradition while making a positive impact in the lives of our student-athletes, and a difference within the Columbia community,” said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. “She is a leader of impeccable integrity, who has re-built this program from the ground up, and I believe this new contract demonstrates Mizzou’s commitment to Robin and rewards her for the success she has enjoyed over the last eight seasons. Robin is a tremendous fit at Mizzou, and I look forward to watching her program continue to graduate its student-athletes at a high level while competing for championships.”
Pingeton owns a record of 150-109 (.579) at Mizzou, and stands 485-266 (.646) overall after leading her alma mater, St. Ambrose, to a 192-76 mark over eight seasons from 1992-2000 and Illinois State to a 144-81 record in eight seasons from 2003-2010. Among active coaches, Pingeton’s 485 career victories rank second among SEC head coaches and 37th overall among Division I head coaches. Her .579 winning percentage at Mizzou ranks second all-time, trailing only Mizzou Hall of Famer Joann Rutherford’s mark of .617 (422-262).
“I am extremely grateful, and appreciative to the University of Missouri for their faith and commitment to myself and my staff,” said Pingeton. “It is an honor to be associated with a great university and community. My family and I are so thankful to have the opportunity to work with great leaders, administrators and student-athletes. I am looking forward to continuing to grow this program and pursuing excellence both on and off the court.”
In her time at Mizzou, Pingeton has coached two All-Americans, 12 all-conference players and two conference freshmen of the year. She was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year following the 2016-17 season and was a top-10 finalist for both the Naismith National Coach of the Year award and the WBCA National Coach of the Year award after an outstanding 2017-18 campaign.
Senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) has earned back-to-back AP All-America Honorable Mention honors under Pingeton’s tutelage. Cunningham concluded her junior campaign by averaging 18.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and was the nation’s only player to shoot better than 54 percent from the field (54.2 percent, 186-for-343), 45 percent from three (45.7 percent, 69-for 151) and 83 percent from the free throw line (83.6 percent, 133-for-159).
Pingeton’s Tigers have achieved much success in the classroom as well, as Mizzou has recorded program-high team GPA’s in back-to-back semesters with marks of 3.34 in the 2017 fall semester and 3.4 in the 2018 spring semester. Pingeton has mentored 57 student-athletes to conference academic recognition, including 34 who have been named to the Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll. In 2014, Lianna Doty was named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year.
In 2017-18, Pingeton led Mizzou to its third straight NCAA Tournament and a 24-8 record, the Tigers’ most wins since the 1983-84 campaign. The 24 victories marked Mizzou’s third consecutive season with at least 22 wins, a feat which had not been accomplished in Columbia since 1982-85. In SEC play, Mizzou won 11 games for the second straight season and finished tied-for-fourth in the SEC. Mizzou’s 22 wins in conference play in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons are the most in a two year span since Mizzou won 24 over the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons. Mizzou reached as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press Top-25 during the 2017-18 season, its highest ranking since 1984, and No. 9 in the Coaches Poll, its highest ranking in program history. A program-record 11,092 fans were in attendance at Mizzou Arena on Feb. 18, 2018, as the Tigers downed No. 11 Tennessee, 77-73.
Pingeton was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year in 2016-17 after being selected by both the Associated Press and the league’s coaches for the honor. She steered Mizzou to its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and a third-place finish in the SEC. It marked the Tigers’ highest finish in league play since joining the SEC and the highest since 1990. Mizzou capped off the special 2016-17 season with a trip to the Big Dance, advancing to the second round with a win over South Florida in the tournament opener.
In 2015-16, Pingeton’s squad capped the season with the program’s 10th NCAA Tournament appearance. Mizzou entered the Big Dance as a No. 10 seed and knocked off seventh-seeded BYU, 78-69, in the opening round to seal its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2001.
