By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The last time Jeff Mittie was the head coach in a college basketball game played in St. Joseph, Missouri, it was March 4, 1995. Some 10,506 days ago.
The Missouri Western women’s basketball team hosted Washburn for the MIAA tournament championship. The Griffons beat the Ichabods, 76-62.
After leading MWSU to a third place finish in the NCAA tournament that year, Mittie was the head coach at Division I Arkansas State by the following season.
He went to TCU in 1999 and since 2014, Mittie has been the head coach of Kansas State women's basketball.
Nearly 29 years after that MIAA championship run with the Griffons, Mittie returns to the sideline in St. Joseph - to Civic Arena, where his 13th-ranked and 8-1 Wildcats will play 7-3 Mizzou in a regular season, non-conference matchup on Saturday.
Mittie, a Blue Springs native, looks forward to this homecoming of sorts.
"It's definitely unique," Mittie told KFEQ Radio. "Yeah, excited to be a part of it. Been a long time since I coached a game in St. Joe. That'll be fun. We'll get to see some friends, family, ex-players, all of the above."
Mittie was Missouri Western’s head women’s basketball coach from 1992-95. He amassed 76 wins, two MIAA regular season titles, an MIAA tournament title and two NCAA Elite Eight appearances.
Mittie was inducted into the Missouri Western Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011 and he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University in 2016. Mittie got his undergrad degree from MWSU in 1989.
"It's always kind of cool to go back to where you went to school," Mittie remarked. "I think my players will probably be tired of me telling them, 'Hey, I used to do this. Hey, over here is this.' They may not even know. Shoot, they're so young, they may not be paying attention."
"But, I'll be excited to get back and see some familiar faces I haven't seen in awhile."
This game between K-State and Mizzou was announced back in May, and was dubbed as the inaugural “Bill Snyder Classic.”
It’s the brainchild of Brett Esely - director of the St. Joseph Sports Commission and former MWSU associate A.D. from 2007-2021.
Mittie says the connection with Esely made scheduling this game that much better.
"We've known Brett for a long time through the Missouri Western connection," he said. "Having said that, it still has to be the right fit, the right game, the right time. Everything kind of came together and it was."
The game is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. There’s a lot Mittie is looking forward to this weekend.
A chance for his Wildcats to play Mizzou for the first time in six years. A chance to see old friends and former players. A trip down memory lane.
Also, the chance to see a revamped Civic Arena, which got a much needed facelift over the last year or so - specifically to draw events like this.
"I have not been in the revamped convention center, so I'm kind of excited to see what they did with that and how that looks as well."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.