MU basketball staff finalized by Kim Anderson
University of Missouri Men’s Basketball Coach Kim Anderson finalized his coaching staff Monday with the hiring of former Huntington Prep basketball coach Rob Fulford.
Fulford joins the MU staff after five seasons in Huntington, West Virginia where he helped build the high school team, going 138-17 over his time there.
Last season, Huntington Prep finished number 3 in the entire nation going 28-4. His last 5 teams finished among the top 35 teams nationally, and his 2012-13 team opened the year as number one in the country by USA Today.
“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Rob to the Mizzou family,” Head Coach Kim Anderson said in a news release. “Rob is obviously an outstanding coach and he won at an incredible level at Huntington Prep. He is well-respected by his peers and will be a great asset to our program.
Fulford coached former Missouri players Negus Webster-Chan and Stefan Jankovic while at Huntington Prep. Perhaps the most high-profile name he’s coached in West Virginia was Andrew Wiggins, who could be the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He has also coached Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes and former Louisville star Gorgui Dieng.
“One of Rob’s biggest strengths is his ability to build relationships with his young men,” Anderson continued. “He gets the most out of his players because of those strong relationships and that’s exactly what we were looking for as we went about completing our staff.”
Fulford is a 1997 graduate of Marshall University, and started his coaching career at Mountain State University in Beckley, WV.
“I want to thank Coach Anderson, Mike Alden and University administration for this incredible opportunity,” Fulford said. “I wasn’t looking to leave Huntington Prep but after speaking with Coach Anderson and seeing his vision for the program, this opportunity was too good to pass up and I’m excited to be a Missouri Tiger,” said Fulford in the release.
