Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden made his second visit to Worth County Wednesday morning and met with Mizzou Tiger fans and spoke his mind on issues from the SEC, the basketball teams, and the athletic department's partnership with University Extension. He first visited Worth County in 2006, when he spoke to a Worth County student assembly. On Wednesday, he came to the Courthouse as part of a swing through Northwest Missouri. He also stopped at Gallatin and a student assembly in Tarkio before meeting with NWMSU coaches for a talk with them.
Alden showed himself to be a long-term thinker, saying that the university's membership in the SEC doubled the school's visibility from 45 million TV sets to almost 90 million. "We're getting applications from students from all over the south, something we've never had before," he said. He said that it was a good challenge for Missouri to compete in the SEC. "We can't stay stagnant," he said. "People who never would have known about us before now look at us and our logo quizzically, and then they come and check us out and see what we're all about." For Alden, it all starts with branding, saying that it was a challenge when Columbia was farther away than, say, Ames or Lincoln. But Mizzou sports is now a regular topic of conversation in the area; about 15-20 years ago, that was not necessarily the case. The next step is to put the university's best foot forward; under his leadership, the university has invested over $150 million in its athletic facilities since he took over. The result is a recruiting tool that draws top athletes and students from all over the country.
Regarding the basketball teams, he said that everyone was excited about this year's men's team following their 30-win season; over 7,000 people showed up for an exhibition game with Northwest Missouri State. The women, including Kyley Simmons, niece of Worth County's own Todd Simmons, are in a rebuilding year, but Alden said that they would be ahead of where they were last year. Alden had nothing but good things to say about Simmons, who started as a point guard last year as a freshman. "She's got the best work ethic of anyone on the team," said Alden. He said that the success of both the teams would depend on how well they played as a team and shared the ball.
Touring the small towns of Missouri is nothing new for Alden; he has visited every county of the state in his 14 year tenure at one time or another. Reaching out to Tiger fans around the state is one of his core philosophies, one that he started doing when he became athletic director in 1998. He talked about other small towns during his visit, such as Bethany, which produced the Madison brothers, Ty Luellen, and Larry Linthacum, or Brookfield, which has also produced a pipeline of Missouri athletes. He himself was born and raised in small town Missouri; he grew up in Williamsburg, MO, a small town 35 miles east of Columbia.
When he first became athletic director, Alden said part of his goal was to change the culture; in the past, "we never got out and about," he said. "This is a matter of us reaching out and thanking loyal Tiger fans across the state for their support of Mizzou athletics." Along the way, he has formed many partnerships, such as with the University of Missouri Extension, which serves all 114 counties in the state. The Extension is part of the University of Missouri system and both Alden and the Extension share the goal of academic excellence.
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