Matthew Mitchell returns to coaching, takes over Houston women's program in wide open Big 12

“It spoke to me,” Abdur-Rahim said. “You want to have someone who has values and who stands on them.”

Abdur-Rahim eventually committed to the Cougars. TK Pitts did, too, after three standout seasons at SMU, and after Mitchell had courted her with the same principles he planned to use as the foundation for another vast rebuild.

“One thing that struck me,” Pitts said, “is that everything he said 12 years ago, eight years ago, 10 years ago, is what he says now. That's how I know the culture and standard will never change. He holds everyone he interacts with to a higher standard.”

Mitchell is perhaps the most intriguing newcomer to the Big 12 this season. He was just 49 years old when he walked away from Kentucky five years ago as its winningest coach. He had been on vacation in March 2020 when he slipped and hit his head while out for a run, leaving him with a concussion and, more distressingly, a subdural hematoma that required surgery.

When the start of the season approached that fall, Mitchell still didn't feel quite right. So, he announced his retirement, walking away from a game that had dominated his life for the past 25 years, choosing to focus on his friends and his family.

He wrote a couple of books on leadership. Coached his daughters' basketball teams. Eventually, he founded The Winning Tools, a firm headquartered in Kentucky that provides companies with leadership education and workshops.

It wasn't until Ronald Hughey resigned after a 5-25 season at Houston, and the school's leadership reached out to gauge his interest in a return, that Mitchell seriously thought about it. He saw how the city had embraced its WNBA team, and how much the school had supported the men's program, which Kelvin Sampson has turned into a powerhouse again.

“I just sensed a real commitment,” Mitchell said. “You can draft off that energy a little bit.”

Mitchell accepted the job in March and went to work. He built out his coaching staff, landed Abdur-Rahim and Pitts to form the nucleus of his transfer class, then filled out a roster with a series of high-profile transfers that portend instant success.

Now, he is ready to embark on his first season in the Big 12, a competitive league but one without a clear dominant program.

Why can't it be the Cougars?

Ranked favorites

Iowa State was No. 14 in the AP Top 25, leading four Big 12 schools in the preseason poll. Baylor checked in at No. 16, defending regular- and postseason tournament champion TCU was No. 17 and Oklahoma State was No. 22.

“We've built a program worthy of that,” Horned Frogs coach Mark Campbell said. “Our mantra this summer was, ‘blue-collar summer.’ We have 10 new players. We have a whole new group. You have to start over from scratch.”

Speaking of TCU

The Horned Frogs lost standouts Hailey Van Lith, Sedona Prince and Madison Conner from a team that finished 34-4 last year, but Campbell reloaded with perhaps the nation's top transfer, guard Olivia Miles from Notre Dame. She was drawn by a system that prioritizes scoring from its perimeter players.

“I'm excited to get into this system and show it off in games,” Miles said.

New home

After her mother, Amber Whiting, was fired by BYU near the end of a third consecutive losing season, Amari Whiting weighed her options. She could have stayed with the Cougars, who promoted assistant coach Lee Cummard, but decided instead to take a visit to Oklahoma State, where she instantly felt at home.

Now, she is one of the key backcourt players for Jacie Hoyt and a team with high NCAA Tournament hopes.

“It was a quick turnaround. I was in the portal for like, four days,” Whiting said. “(Hoyt) believed in me. Playing for your mom, now you don't have that familiar face anymore. She's going to make me a better person and a better player.”

Familiar faces

In the transfer portal-era of college hoops, Kansas is something of a unicorn: The Jayhawks return seven players, including their top six scorers, a group headlined by S'Mya Nichols and Elle Evans. Even the newcomers are familiar. Jaliya Davis, one the top prospects in the nation, grew up in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park and has followed KU for years.

“We talked about having that kind of connection, the family aspect,” she said. “That helped me make the decision to come here.”

AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll

An earlier version of this story misspelled Amirah's first name.