1 month ago
Todd Schaefer is 1 of nan apical violative minds successful NCAA women’s basketball. Schaefer has worked pinch immoderate of nan champion axenic scorers successful nan crippled including WNBA prima Kelsey Plum, Minnesota Lynx rookie Saylor Poffenbarger and now Grace Slaughter astatine Mizzou.
Both his agency and his Columbia flat are stocked pinch play designs and concepts, ones that person been utilized successful nan past, coming and apt nan future. His inspirations travel from some assemblage and nan pros astatine some nan men’s and women’s level. Schaefer is ever looking for caller concepts, coming location from a agelong time astatine nan Arena and instantly turning connected immoderate hoops whitethorn beryllium connected that day.
“We tin watch thing that possibly a squad does successful Europe aliases an NBA squad does … but past you person to morph it to fresh what you have,” Schaefer said. “Making judge that, hey, that’s a awesome point I saw connected past night, aliases that’s great, but we can’t usage that. But I mightiness put that successful my machine of things that, hey [for example], if we person a different type of constituent guard, we tin spell backmost to moving that.”
In summation to his emotion for basketball, Schaefer spent his days connected nan shot section erstwhile he was younger. He played shot each nan measurement done assemblage arsenic a personnel astatine Thomas More College while besides serving arsenic a student adjunct connected nan hoops team. While ne'er really coaching connected nan gridiron, Schaefer uses galore shot concepts done his actions and designs, oftentimes giving players much to do successful each individual set. Plus, he’s not acrophobic to moreover connection play calls for illustration an violative coordinator, pinch each connection meaning a circumstantial action aliases moreover utilizing thing arsenic elemental arsenic connection relation to correspond different ideas.
“This is my shot successful me, we whitethorn tally 1 action retired of 4 different formations, aliases we whitethorn person immoderate mendacious motion,” Schaefer said. “They whitethorn displacement successful mobility into nan aforesaid play, but nan defense doesn’t admit it arsenic nan aforesaid play because it’s retired of a different alignment … [our players] recognize it’s not really a caller play, it’s not a caller action, it’s not a caller design, it’s conscionable a caller measurement of doing it.”
Schaefer’s occupation arsenic a coach has led him to galore different positions and different areas of nan state crossed nan past 30 years. One peculiarly important spot was his six-year stint astatine Christian Brothers University successful Memphis. On nan tribunal Schaefer was a hit, reaching nan first ever Division II tourney successful programme history successful nan 2003-2004 season. But much importantly for Todd, he met nan emotion of his life. Schaefer first coached his wife, Lisa, successful nan 1999-2000 season. Lisa stayed successful Memphis for PT school, arsenic nan narration betwixt nan 2 grew stronger.
“Just nan support that she’s fixed me, but past besides to watch her beryllium amended astatine her occupation than I americium successful mine,” Schaefer said. “What she does for our family, pinch our kids, it’s been a existent blessing to unrecorded life pinch her.”
While Schaefer has had respective stints arsenic a caput coach, nan immense mostly of his clip has been spent arsenic an assistant. Only 4 of nan 13 jobs he’s held since his assemblage graduation person been astatine nan helm of a program. In fact, his past caput coaching position came astatine nan precocious schoolhouse level, ending successful 2011. While nan caput coaches get nan immense mostly of attention, nan existent explanation and workload betwixt nan 2 positions are near-identical.
“I get to springiness advice, not make decisions,” Schaefer said connected being an adjunct coach. “I deliberation my acquisition arsenic a caput coach does thief maine beryllium a bully adjunct coach. I really effort to bring them solutions. It’s easy to constituent retired nan problems. We each cognize what our problems are, but really trying to person solutions and options.”
Perhaps his astir celebrated adjunct domiciled came moving pinch Plum during her elder play astatine Washington. In Schaefer’s lone play astatine UW, he helped nan Huskies scope nan Sweet 16 while Plum collapsed nan all-time NCAA women’s scoring grounds (later beryllium surgery by Caitlin Clark). Plum was drafted first wide successful 2017 by San Antonio, later winning back-to-back WNBA titles aft nan franchise relocated to Las Vegas. She presently plays for nan Los Angeles Sparks, averaging 19.5 points successful her first season.
After 1 twelvemonth astatine Washington, Schaefer followed caput coach Mike Neighbors to Arkansas. The duo, pinch constricted clip coaching together astatine that point, had met good earlier that, arsenic some spent extended clip successful Arkansas, first gathering successful nan precocious 1990s erstwhile Neighbors was coaching Bentonville High School and Schaefer was astatine Allen County Community College.
“We became accelerated friends, conscionable sharing telephone calls aft that first meeting, became personification I called erstwhile a period for a while,” Neighbors said. “When I was successful Washington, he was still coaching astatine Ole Miss. I was his precocious nighttime call, and he was connected his measurement location from work. I stake we talked each time for astir apt a 3 aliases 4 twelvemonth agelong there.”
While nan 2 wouldn’t activity together until 2016, nan scheme was put into spot good beforehand.
“I almost worked for Todd erstwhile he was nan caput coach astatine Arkansas Tech,” Neighbors said. “I was going done a coaching transition, and if we could’ve worked it out, I was trying to beryllium his assistant. When I sewage nan caput coaching occupation astatine Washington, aft we went to nan Final Four successful 2016 I mislaid my full staff…that’s erstwhile nan clip was correct to get Coach Schaefer to travel to Seattle pinch us.”
The 2 were a cleanable fresh first astatine Washington past heading backmost to Arkansas arsenic a pair. While Neighbors gathered each nan attention, Schaefer was a important portion of a unit that reached back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
“He told my communicative amended than anybody. He knew maine good capable he could talk to recruits. He was a family man arsenic well,” Neighbors said. “I was capable to delegate him duties that astir caput coaches person to return connected themselves. He took complete scheduling. He would ever coach a broadside of nan ball.”
Neighbors resigned pursuing nan 2025-26 season, ending a nine-year agelong of nan 2 coaches moving together. Neighbors has since reunited pinch Plum, joining nan Sparks arsenic an adjunct coach while besides appearing connected SEC Network arsenic a women’s hoops analyst. But while nan 2 do not coach together anymore (or moreover unrecorded successful nan clip zone), their relationship has persisted done these caller positions.
Schaefer’s 8 years astatine Arkansas marked nan longest he had spent astatine immoderate occupation successful nan coaching world, wherever results mean everything and turnover is simply expected for candidates and their families.
It’s for this logic that Schaefer chose his adjacent move carefully. Instead of taking a break aliases possibly retiring, he jumped correct backmost into nan market. This benignant of carefulness makes it each nan impactful that Schaefer joined Kellie Harper’s unit successful her first twelvemonth astatine Mizzou.
“It was appealing to maine (to work) for a family person, a personification that really does it for nan correct reasons,” Schaefer said. “Top to bottom, this is nan champion unit that I’ve ever been a portion of successful position of people, expertise, talent.”
But what really keeps Schaefer astir is thing that players usually dread: Practice.
“Outside of my java aliases my workout, believe is nan champion portion of nan day,” Schaefer said. “It’s arsenic challenging arsenic ever, but it’s arsenic nosy arsenic ever to effort to fig it retired and get nan champion retired of nan players…I’m trying to make each 1 of those players nan very champion they tin be.”
But this determination has nary travel without tradeoffs. While Schaefer moved to Columbia up of nan season, his woman and 3 kids (Landon, Will and Jake) stayed successful Fayetteville for Lisa’s occupation arsenic a beingness therapist and nan kids’ schooling. In fact, his oldest, Landon, is successful nan mediate of his freshman twelvemonth arsenic a personnel of nan Arkansas shot team.
When he’s not reasoning astir basketball, Schaefer is reasoning astir his family. This two-track mind makes his life steadfast, but this twelvemonth has thrown a wrench into nan life he’s go accustomed to.
“It’s been tough,” Schaefer said. “I cognize it’s been challenging for (my kids) to not to person dada around, and for my woman not to person maine astir to do nan dishes, thief her pinch lunches and conscionable to beryllium location for our relationship. But erstwhile we discussed it and made nan decision, our family and our narration was built connected a sturdy capable instauration that we could make it work.”
Schaefer still does everything successful his powerfulness to spot his family arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, making nan four-hour thrust each measurement to Fayetteville galore times during nan season. In fact, location were respective times wherever he near Columbia early successful nan greeting and spent nan time successful Arkansas, earlier returning precocious that night. He erstwhile amazed his family by taking a detour location from nan kU crippled successful KC (even if Lisa figured it retired beforehand).
The biggest crippled of nan play for Schaefer, of course, was nan return to Arkansas successful February. The Tigers won 87-82 and he sewage yet different chance to spot his family connected nan institution dime.
“Even astatine 53 years old, (it’s like) nan anticipation of thing erstwhile you’re a kid,” Schaefer said. “It ne'er gets aged erstwhile I locomotion successful nan location and I get to spot those guys.”
But this clip isolated won’t past forever, arsenic it appears Schaefer is fresh to thief build thing successful Columbia. With twelvemonth 1 successful nan books astatine Mizzou, Schaefer and nan remainder of Kellie Harper’s programme is fresh to return nan adjacent measurement and bring nan Tigers backmost to nan NCAA Tournament for nan first clip successful astir a decade.
