Mizzou Links: Ray's childhood, Anderson's staff, and the weekend on the diamond(s)

SportsCenter's full Shane Ray profile is now available, Kim Anderson must decide what his coaching staff is lacking the most, Mizzou Swimming & Diving records its best ever NCAA finish, and both Mizzou Softball and Baseball lose two of three to a top 10 team.

By Bill Connelly@SBN_BillC Mar 30, 2015, 5:15am CDT

What's On

The Prospect.

Replacing Fuller

The Trib: Anderson must decide staff needs

Making the right hire can pay off quickly for a head coach, even one who’s been beleaguered in his current post.

That was the case with Texas A&M’s Billy Kennedy last spring. He had compiled a record of 50-49 through his first three seasons — the last one ending in the College Basketball Invitational — when he added former Mississippi State head Coach Rick Stansbury to his staff last May.

Stansbury was credited with helping sign Houston transfer Danuel House. House was given a waiver to play in his first season with the Aggies and emerged as the leading scorer for a team that was in position for an NCAA Tournament berth before a late-season swoon. A&M still enjoyed something of a breakthrough, finishing 21-12 after reaching the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Perhaps more important, since arriving in College Station, Texas, Stansbury has helped Kennedy assemble a 2015 recruiting class that 247Sports.com currently ranks as the nation’s third best. It features four four-star prospects, all from the state of Texas, headlined by big men Elijah Thomas and Kyle Davis.

Huge accomplishment for Greg Rodenbaugh and company.

Concluding their most successful season in program history, the Mizzou men's swimming and diving team placed a school record 11th at the 2015 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships after tallying a program high 132.5 points in the meet. Missouri's previous bests stood at 14th-place, set in 2013, and 95 points, set in 2014.

Over the course of the three-day meet, Head Coach Greg Rhodenbaugh's Tigers notched five top-seven finishes, earned six individual All-America honors and four All-America accolades in relays and set 11 school records. Sam Tierney ended his time in black and gold as the most decorated swimmer in program history, with six first team and six honorable mention All-America accolades. Additionally, senior Mack Darragh and sophomore Michael Chadwick became just the third and fourth Missouri men's swimmers to earn individual All-America first team honors, joining Tierney and former Tiger Kevin DeForrest (1979).

2015 Mizzou All-Americans
Christian Aragona (1) - 200 free relay
Michael Chadwick (2) - 100 free, 200 free relay
Mack Darragh (1) - 200 fly
Matthew Margritier (1) - 200 free relay
Sam Tierney (3) - 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 free relay