Missouri's match-up with Memphis pitted two coaching friends against each other
Memphis’s win over the Tigers on Wednesday night had meant a lot for both teams, and especially for the head coaches -- Memphis's Melissa McFerrin and MU's Cindy Stein. The two first met when they were assistant coaches at Central Michigan from 1984-1986 and have remained close ever since.
“Melissa is one of my best friends,” Stein said. “I feel like I have a lot of coaching friends, but Melissa is one of my dearest and truest friends. She is one of the most trusted people of my circle. I think she’s a terrific coach. We challenge each other basketball wise and every aspect. It’s hard going up against her.”
McFerrin echoed those statements when she said she had been looking forward to the trip Memphis made to Missouri.
“I told the players before the game it didn’t matter, and I lied,” McFerrin said. “This place is special to me. I got joy in my heart for my players but sadness in my heart because this is a program I care about a lot. Cindy is one of my dearest friends. She came to Missouri and really put Missouri back on the map in terms of women’s basketball. Cindy truly loves this place and the people that she works with, and she’s a great representative of the University of Missouri.”
McFerrin was asked who would win in a game of one-on-one between the two coaches.
“Cindy would beat me,” McFerrin said. “Cindy will tell you that she will beat me too. She might be lying but I’m going to say that she would beat me. She’s tough.”
