By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The new coach of Missouri Western men's basketball hopes to restore some of the glory days back to the program.
Brooks McKowen brings a winning way to Missouri Western. The seventh coach in program history has won at least 21 games in three of the past four seasons, coming from Upper Iowa University.
McKowen says he's been in this region before and knows the MIAA is a great conference, and knows they won't walk in and win championships, but says that's the goal
"We want to compete for championships and at the end of the year we want to be in the running for the tournament, we want to make constant attempts at getting into that NCAA tournament," McKowen tells a crowd during his introductory press conference. "Because as we've all seen, if you can get into the tournament and get through our region, you've got a chance, this is one of the best regions in the country so if you can get in there and you can have teams that can compete in it, you've got a chance for a title."
Now with the Griffons, McKowen says the goal, even in a tough MIAA conference, is to win those championships
"On a year in, year out basis it's to have a team that you believe can get there," McKowen says. "Now a lot of things have to go your way, you have to stay healthy, you have to mesh the right way, but it's to put a product out there that you can compete for championships."
McKowen says he wants his team to be tough and hardnosed, but most of all he wants them to have fun
"Basketball is fun, that's why I coach, I love being around the game I think it's a great game, it's a difficult game, but I want them to have some fun while they're doing it, and I want them to compete and I want them to play hard," McKowen explains. "Some of the best compliments I've gotten after games, win or lose, is when people come up to me and say. wow coach, your guys compete, how do you get them to play that hard?"
McKowen says while he has respect for what the past coaches of the program have done, this team is going to be different
"Our style is going to be different; our play is going to be different; I'm probably going to run the program different, there are going to be a lot of similarities but there's going to be differences in it," McKowen says. "So, I feel like the way we play and the style we have offensively, defensively, wins games and that's what we're hoping to continue here."
McKowen spent 12 seasons with the Upper Iowa Peacocks and compiled over 200 wins. He replaces Will Martin who resigned in March.
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