Kim Anderson to Step Down as Missouri Head Coach

A day after finishing his third straight losing regular season at Missouri, Kim Anderson announced he will step down as the Tigers' head basketball coach at the end of the season.

"Missouri is a special institution to my family and I, and I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve as the head coach at my alma mater," Anderson said in a news release. "While we have faced significant challenges over the last three years and been unable to achieve the on-court results everyone would have liked, I do believe we have been able to stabilize the program while watching our players become responsible young men on and off the court."

Anderson, 61, is 26-67 in his three seasons at Missouri. The Tigers are 7-23 in 2016-17, including a 2-16 mark in SEC play.

"This decision has been very difficult for me personally because of the tremendous respect I have for Kim," athletic director Jim Sterk said in the release. "I know how hard he and his staff have worked to turn the program around over the last three years, however, the lack of on-court success has resulted in a significant drop in interest surrounding our program, and we could not afford for that to continue another year."

Anderson previously coached Division II Central Missouri for 12 seasons, winning the national championship in 2013-14. He ventured to Columbia following Frank Haith's controversial tenure, which ended when Haith surprisingly left for Tulsa amid an NCAA scandal.

Missouri had put together eight consecutive non-losing seasons under Haith and Mike Anderson before Kim Anderson arrived, but it fell apart over the last three seasons. Barring a surprise run in the SEC tournament, this will be the Tigers' third straight campaign with 10 or fewer wins. Previously, they hadn't won 10 or fewer games in a season since 1967-68.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com reported Missouri began "gauging interest" of potential replacements a few weeks ago. Borzello said one of the candidates is Cal coach Cuonzo Martin, who as a head coach has never stayed with a program more than three seasons. This is his third year with the Golden Bears.