Mizzou's "Come Home Tour" comes to Sikeston

Desiree Reed-Francois last August came from UNLV as the new athletic director of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Many ADs have talked about connecting with every corner of Missouri but for most it was only talk. In the spirit of the Show Me State and after not even a full year on the job this AD has embarked on a multi-town and city tour of the entire state of Missouri called the “Come Home Tour 2022.”

On Tuesday, the tour rolled into Sikeston with multiple athletic staff, the new AD, the gymnastics coach Shannon Welker, and the new assistant basketball coach Dickey Nutt, former head coach at Southeast Missouri State University.

“It was great to see all the support for the University Missouri athletic program,” said Aaron Boyce, who attended the event. “The leadership that we have at our university is second to none.”

The coaches shared the excitement of all Mizzou is accomplishing and their goal to connect and earn the support of all the state. Most of those present especially loved hearing from Nutt. He joyfully proclaimed his love for Sikeston and excitement about the new basketball coach Dennis Gates.

“I think the biggest thing is that Coach Gates wants to put a fence around the state of Missouri,” Nutt said. “He wants to lock down Missouri and make sure that every student athlete that potentially can play on a Power 5 level knows who we are and we and we need to be very visible. The Bootheel has such tremendous tradition over the years with basketball players and we want to make sure that we have a big presence.”

Alumni and die-hard Mizzou fan Mathew Vroman shared, “It’s time for Mizzou to own the state and them being here is proof of their commitment. Let’s support our state team!”

Vroman added it was a truly exciting, motivating evening.