Bon voyage, Wayne and Susan Kreklow

Wayne, Missouri’s head volleyball coach, and Susan, the director of volleyball, announced their retirement after 19 years at the helm of one of the best, most-consistent programs in Missouri’s athletic history.

As Chris Gervino noted on Twitter, two years prior to the Kreklow’s arrival, Missouri volleyball went 0-28. In the two decades since, the program reached the NCAA Tournament 15 times, never lost more than 17 matches in a year and averaged 21 wins a year.

This pair is leaving four ENORMOUS shoes to fill — but that coaching position is staying in the family. Joshua Taylor was announced as the interim head coach for the 2019 season. Taylor is the husband of Wayne and Susan’s niece, Molly, who is also an assistant coach for the program.

But Thursday was more about what the Kreklows have meant to Missouri athletics, and not necessarily the future of the volleyball program.

Thank you, Wayne and Susan.

Rex Sharp steps away from day-to-day training duties with Mizzou football

Another departure! Man, what a Thursday!

Gabe DeArmond was the first to report that long-time athletic trainer Rex Sharp will step away from his day-to-day training duties with the football program.

Later on, DeArmond added that sharp will still play a big role — he just won’t be the head trainer.

I’ll never forget Rex Sharp’s reaction to the Henry Josey knee injury against Texas in 2011; Sharp would go on to say that it was the worst injury he’d seen in his career. Of course, Sharp then played an instrumental role in getting Josey back to 100-percent, setting the stage for his 16-touchdown 2013 season.

Glad to know Sharp will still be a big part of the athletic training staff at Missouri; the program is going to really miss him when he decides to step away completely down the road.

Missouri officially pleads its case to the NCAA

Missouri had its hearing with the NCAA Committee on Appeals on Thursday, Jim Sterk confirmed to reporters.

It still could be a long process from here, as Dave Matter said a final ruling could take “weeks, if not months.” Matter also pointed out on Twitter that Missouri’s hearing came a year to the day of Ole Miss’ hearing.

The NCAA announced its final ruling on Ole Miss on Nov. 1 of last year. If that timeline is any indicator, we might not get finality on Missouri’s sanctions until close to the end of the 2019 season.

More Links:

• Drew Lock’s rookie contract is officially official. He’ll make just over $7 million over the four-year contract. Lock also said that the most important part of negotiations he told to his agency was that he would not hold out and miss practice time. In the end, he didn’t — signing the deal 24 hours before the start of camp.
• Former Mizzou outfielder Trey Harris was promoted from the Braves’ High-A affiliate to Mississippi, the Atlanta Braves’ AA affiliate, on Thursday.
• Big Time Bill C. appeared on the PowerMizzou Podcast on Thursday, proving he’s not forgetting about the little guys even while polishing his monocle at the mothership.
• You just hate — HATE — to read things like this.