BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Kellie Harper, back in her element.

Missouri’s first-year women’s basketball coach spent Wednesday afternoon in familiar territory, doing the rounds at Southeastern Conference media days.

Harper’s reunion began just a few minutes after landing on the Birmingham tarmac — she knew the shuttle driver from her days coaching at Tennessee — and continued as she took questions from former SEC Network colleagues on the event’s main stage.

Asked what attracted her to Mizzou, Harper pointed to the university’s administration, her pre-existing knowledge of the state from her tenure at Missouri State and her ability to bring in the coaching staff she wanted.

“Then, the last thing,” Harper said, “I’ll be honest with you. This. The SEC.”

She gestured around the Grand Bohemian Hot

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