The Missouri Tigers will open their regular season tonight against visiting Tennessee-Martin tonight at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Naturally, most the fans in the house will be on hand to cheer on the Tigers as they embark on what is expected to be another stellar season.
However, there will be a small group of fans dressed in Tennesee-Martin swag from the St. Louis area. Those loyal UTM fans will be the family and friends of first-year head coach Jason James, a graduate of Parkway West High.
An assistant coach at UTM for the past seven years, James was elevated to the top spot in the program when former coach Brett Campbell suddenly at the end of the season.
At 31, James is now the second-youngest coach in NCAA Division I basketball and the youngest African-American coach in the country in Division I.
I am very proud of this young man and I am so glad to see Jason get this opportunity. I've known Jason since he was in grade school and he has always wanted to be a head coach.
He is a very nice young man with a passion for coaching and a great knowledge of the game. He has a tremendous work ethic, so it was not surprising to see him get the opportunity to run his own program at such a young age.
He got his first opportunity to be a Division I assistant coach when he was only 23 years old. At the time, he was an assistant at Forest Park Community College, working for my buddy Preston Thomas, when UTM called.
In the years since the move, James has been instrumental in UTM building its program to the point where they won the Ohio Valley Conference regular title and a berth in the National Invitational Tournament.
I know Jason's parents, Ivan and Grace, will be two proud people tonight when they see their son bring his team on to the Mizzou Arena floor tonight.
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