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COLUMBIA, Mo.— Some of Norm Stewart‘s best teams played in the 90s. Well, he’s almost there, too.
But not yet.
On Saturday, Mizzou’s legendary men’s basketball coach turns 89, and to honor Stormin’ Norm, let’s use this space to celebrate his prolific career as a Mizzou student-athlete and history-making coach. Here’s Norm By the Numbers:
24.1: Norm’s points per game as a Mizzou senior in 1955-56. Only three players in team history have averaged more points per game in a single season: Willie Smith (25.3, 1975-76), Charles Henke (24.6, 1960-61) and Derrick Chievous (24.1, 1986-87).
7: Mizzou players in team history to average 9 rebounds per game for their college career. Norm’s 9.2 boards per game ranks seventh in team history.
36: Norm’s points scored against Colorado on Feb. 18, 1956, which stood as Mizzou’s single-game record for exactly one year to the day — until Lionel Smith scored 44 against Marquette on Feb. 18, 1957.
0: Hits allowed by Norm on April 13, 1956 in a victory over Arkansas, one of 10 no-hitters thrown by Mizzou pitchers in program history.
0.62: Norm’s ERA in 1955, still the fifth-best in program history. A year earlier, Norm won a game in the 1954 College World Series as the Tigers went on to beat Rollins College to claim the national championship.
5: Selections in the 1956 NBA Draft who have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Tom Heinsohn, Bill Russell, K. C. Jones, Elgin Baylor and Sam Jones. Taken at No. 33 by the St. Louis Hawks in the same draft? Norman Eugene Stewart.
11: Seasons Mizzou men’s basketball reached the top 10 of the AP poll during Norm’s 32 years as head coach.
6: Combined weeks Mizzou spent at No. 1 in the AP poll under Norm: two weeks in 1981-82 and four weeks in 1989-90. Those are the only six weeks in program history Mizzou has spent at No. 1 in the AP Top 25.
22: Years between Norm’s first and last Big Eight Coach of the Year awards. He won the award in 1972, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1987 and 1994.
12: Ounces of Stormin’ Norman Golden Ale in a can, as brewed and canned by Columbia’s Logboat Brewing Company. First released in 2021 and sold proudly around the state — notably on the tapper year-round at Booche’s, one of Norm’s favorite local joints — Norm’s signature beer is described as “a nice easy layup right into your mouth,” by the brewmasters at Logboat. Proceeds of all sales of Stormin’ Norman go to The Norm Stewart Foundation.
22: Norm’s jersey number, which hangs in the Mizzou Arena rafters as one of eight retired by the program. Before No. 22 was retired it was also worn by the likes of Nathan Buntin, Larry Drew, Lamont Frazier, Marvin McCrary and Bill Roundtree, among others. Mizzou retired Norm’s No. 22 on Jan. 30, 2001 — at halftime of a home victory over No. 4 Kansas.
30: Years since Coaches vs. Cancer first launched as Norm’s inspiration following his colon cancer diagnosis. The nationwide partnership between the American Cancer Society and the NABC has raised more than $155 million for cancer research. Norm initiated the charity when he first challenged Mizzou fans to donate $1 for every 3-pointer his team made.
7: Norm’s 25-win seasons at Mizzou. The Tigers have three other 25-win seasons, each led by a different coach: Mike Anderson (31 in 2008-09), Frank Haith (30 in 2011-12) and Dennis Gates (25 in 2022-23).
1: Players who served as season-long team captain for three years under Norm: guard Lynn Hardy (1985-86, 1986-87 and 1987-88).
52.4: Percentage of Mizzou’s games in program history that Norm participated in as a player, assistant and head coach at the time of his retirement in 1999.
14: Mizzou’s Big Eight championships won during Norm’s 32 seasons as head coach: Eight regular-season championships and six tournament championships.
7: Norm’s ranking for career victories — 731 in 38 combined years at Mizzou and Northern Iowa — among Division I head coaches at the time of his retirement 25 years ago. In 2007 he was inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, but he’s still been left out of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. There’s still time, Naismith folks. Among college men’s team coaches inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame who didn’t win a D-I NCAA championship, Norm has more career wins than many, including Gene Keady, Guy Lewis, Lou Carnesecca and Ralph Miller.
‘MIZZOU STORYTELLERS’ NOW AVAILABLE
You can now download the first episode of the “Mizzou Storytellers” podcast at the Inside Mizzou Athletics podcast feed. Co-host Nikki Barry and I kicked things off introducing what you can expect from us each week: long-form storytelling about the people who make Mizzou Athletics special.
You can find “Mizzou Storytellers” wherever you listen to podcasts, including the following: Apple, Spotify and Amazon.
If you prefer video format, you can watch the first episode on Facebook via the Mizzou Athletics account.
Our first guest is Mizzou Director of Athletics Desiree Reed-Francois, who sat down for a fantastic and lengthy interview that covers all the checkpoints along her life and career. Her episode will be available Friday.
SENIOR SENDOFF
Have you seen the list of the 2024 Senior Bowl’s accepted invites? National champion Michigan leads the way with eight players, followed by Georgia, Texas and … Mizzou, with six each. No other program in the country has more than four players invited to the most prestigious all-star game on the NFL audition circuit. Here are the six Tigers headed to Mobile, Alabama, for the Feb. 3 game: left tackle Javon Foster, running back Cody Schrader, defensive lineman Darius Robinson, linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper and cornerbacks Kris Abrams-Draine and Ennis Rakestraw Jr.
Division II walk-on becomes SEC rushing champ and gets @seniorbowl invite. Nobody ???????????? it this year more than Cody Schrader. He now joins five @MizzouFootball teammates in Mobile. ?? #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™? pic.twitter.com/Yv0uxLxqI2
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) December 31, 2023
The Senior Bowl kicks off at noon on Feb. 3 on NFL Network.
Mizzou’s six Senior Bowl invites is double the program record for participants in the annual game. Four times there have been three Mizzou players in the Senior Bowl: 1971, 1979, 1981 and 2016.
MIDSEASON SURGE?
Another solid SEC victory for Robin Pingeton and the women’s basketball team on Thursday, a wire-to-wire 69-57 win over Georgia at Mizzou Arena. With a rotation featuring three freshman among the top six players, the Tigers have recovered from a few early setbacks in SEC play and sit at 11-7 and 2-3 in the conference — just a half-game out of fifth place and up to No. 69 in the women’s NET rankings. With 24 points Thursday, Hayley Frank continues to climb the program’s career scoring list — she’s up to No. 5, just 46 points behind Julie Helm at No. 4 —and ranks sixth in the SEC this season with 16.9 per game. The Tigers feature three of the SEC’s top 10 3-point shooters and the league’s assist leader, senior point guard Mama Dembele.
One thing that became clear this summer and reverberates throughout the season: I’m not sure we’ve heard Coach Pingeton enjoy a team as much as she has this edition.
“I told them before this game: ‘Can’t think about last week. Don’t want to think about next week. Let’s just be in this game with each other,'” Pingeton said after Thursday’s win. “We’ve got a pretty special group in that locker room and that’s all we really want to focus on. Let’s see how good we can be today. It’s not even, ‘OK, two in a row or we lost two in a row.’ … This group is way too special. I don’t want to miss out on any moments with them. I want to be where my feet are. I just want to learn and grow and go to battle together with them. I can’t tell you enough how special of a group it is.”
GOLD & RED SATURDAY AT MIZZOU ARENA
Men’s basketball is bringing back the classic all gold jerseys with the white block M for Saturday’s home game against Florida. The Nike throwbacks also feature the Tiger paw on the shorts. One change from the originals made popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s: Under current NCAA uniform guidelines, the number on the front and back of the jersey must be centered horizontally and can’t be shifted to the right like the Mizzou originals.
If you are going to go gold, go classic ??#MIZ ?? pic.twitter.com/nOQUCyLLvU
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) January 18, 2024
You can also now shop from the newly updated Mizzou throwback section at Fanatics.
And don’t forget, after her performance at Mizzou Arena for Thursday’s women’s basketball game, Red Panda will be back Saturday catching bowls at halftime of the men’s game against Florida.
— Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouWBB) January 19, 2024
JONTAY HEADS NORTH
There’s another Porter making plays in the NBA. Jontay Porter, five years removed from what was supposed to be his sophomore season at Mizzou, joined the Toronto Raptors this season and has quickly become an impact player. The 24-year-old is averaging 16 minutes per game off the bench and showing glimpses of the all-around game he flashed as an 18-year-old freshman for the Tigers. He played a career-high 31 minutes last week at Utah, finished with nine points, six assists, six boards, two blocks and two steals. Jontay started each of Toronto’s last three games against Boston, Miami and Chicago.
Jontay appeared in 11 games for Memphis during the 2020-21 season but has since bounced around NBA G-League rosters for the clubs affiliated with Memphis, Milwaukee and Detroit. Don’t be surprised if his role expands with the Raptors’ recent trade of All-Star forward Pascal Siakam to Indiana.
“His IQ is very high and I think the more he knows his teammates, their spots on the floor and how they play, that’s going to be showcased even more,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic told TSN. “Unfortunately, he had a couple of injuries that kept him off the floor (early in his career,) but I do believe he’s a rotational big in the NBA and I think that there’s a lot of talent to work with.”
TIGER TRIVIA
1. After retiring from the NFL, this former Mizzou football All-American became an actor, musician, screenwriter and producer and appeared in more than 30 films, including “Anger Management,” “The Longest Yard” (2005 edition), “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” “Con Air,” “Me, Myself & Irene” and “Beverly Hills Ninja,” among many more.
2. The Mizzou record for the most players chosen in the same NFL draft is seven. What year and which players were drafted?
FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS
Here’s a new and overdue segment from the the desk of Mizzou historian Bob Brendel. Ninety-four years ago this Sunday, Feb. 21, 1930, Brewer Field House was dedicated prior to a victory over Kansas.
“Some 4,500 spectators attended the dedication of Brewer Field House, named for Athletic Director Chester Brewer, the man who made it possible. After the ceremonies, Missouri responded with a 29-18 basketball victory over the previously undefeated Kansas Jayhawks. The building was designed by Jamison and Spearle Architects of St. Louis, the same firm that had designed Memorial Stadium a few years earlier. After a tour, desirable features were taken from other collegiate facilities at Illinois, Iowa, Drake, Michigan and Nebraska. Originally it was intended to cost $250,000 for a space 235 x 270 feet, with 6,000 permanent seats and space for 1,500 temporary bleachers. Campus leaders, though, did not feel the need for that many seats so they cut the seating capacity in half, and reduced the total building size by 45 feet on the structure’s west end. Plans for a swimming pool were also scrapped. The shortening of the building caused the indoor track to be more square than elliptical, and 220 yards in length instead of 300 yards.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Friday, Jan. 19
Tennis vs. Michigan State, 11 a.m., Pac-12.com (Tucson, Arizona)
Tennis vs. BYU, 5 p.m., Pac-12.com (Tucson, Arizona)
Track & Field at Vanderbilt Invitational, SEC Network+ (Nashville, Tennessee)
Saturday, Jan. 20
Tennis at Arizona, 3 p.m., Pac-12.com (Tucson, Arizona)
Track & Field at Vanderbilt Invitational, SEC Network+ (Nashville, Tennessee)
Gymnastics at Georgia, 1 p.m., SEC Network+ (Athens, Georgia)
Men’s Basketball vs. Florida, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Sunday, Jan. 21
Women’s Basketball at Kentucky, 1 p.m., SEC Network+ (Lexington, Kentucky)
Tuesday, Jan. 23
Men’s Basketball at Texas A&M, 8 p.m., SEC Network (College Station, Texas)
Thursday, Jan. 25
Women’s Basketball vs. Texas A&M, 8 p.m., SEC Network
Friday, Jan. 26
Wrestling at West Virginia, 6 p.m., ESPN+ (Morgantown, West Virginia)
Gymnastics vs. LSU, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
TIGER TRIVIA
1. Conrad Goode was an All-American offensive tackle for the Tigers in 1983 before playing four years in the NFL with the Giants and Bucs. He got his acting start in a small role on “Saturday Night Live” in 1988 and has since appeared in four decades worth of movies and TV shows.
2. Seven Mizzou players were drafted in 1981: offensive lineman Howard Richards (Dallas, first round), running back James Wilder (Tampa Bay, second), defensive back Eric Wright (San Francisco, second), defensive lineman Wendell Ray (Minnesota, fifth), defensive back Johnnie Poe (New Orleans, fifth), defensive back Bill Whitaker (Green Bay, seventh), defensive back Ron Fellows (Dallas, seventh).
