University of Missouri women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper has hired Michael Scruggs to her staff as an assistant coach, the program announced Tuesday.
Entering his 17th year on the sidelines, Scruggs comes to Missouri following two seasons as an assistant at Georgia Tech.
A graduate of Tennessee, Scruggs worked as a student manager under legendary coach Pat Summitt. Summit coached Harper during her collegiate career from 1995-98.
“We are excited to announce the addition of Michael to our staff,” Harper said. Michael has tremendous experience and will bring strong recruiting connections. In addition, he has helped develop and build relationships with numerous elite level performers and we are happy he will now be able to do that at Mizzou.”
This past season, he helped guide the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA Tournament following a 22-11 overall record. Scruggs was instrumental in the development of three Georgia Tech athletes who claimed All-ACC postseason honors.
Prior to his tenure with the Yellow Jackets, Scruggs spent four seasons at Purdue where he helped the Boilermakers to three winning campaigns and two postseason appearances. Working primarily with the guards, Scruggs helped tutor seven Boilermakers to postseason honors.
During the 2021-22 season with Scruggs, Purdue recorded a program record 239 three-pointers and was one of 14 teams in the nation to average 15.5 assists and 7.5 three-pointers per game.
Scruggs also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator, landing the No. 21 recruiting class in 2023 and the 22nd-ranked recruiting class in 2021 per ESPNW HoopGurlz. In his first season, Scruggs helped ink the 19th-ranked recruiting class, according to ESPNW.
Before Purdue, Scruggs held assistant coaching roles with Loyola Chicago, LSU, Cleveland State, Samford and Chattanooga.
Scruggs spent three seasons at Loyola Chicago, helping build the program to its best start in 17 years with a 13-win campaign in 2018-19. The Ramblers, who won six of their first eight games, also recorded their first postseason win since 2015 in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament that season. While at Loyola Chicago, Scruggs helped mentor three individuals to All-Missouri Valley Conference honors.
Scruggs spent the 2015-16 season at Cleveland State, helping a pair of Vikings to All-Horizon League honors.
From 2012-15, Scruggs worked at LSU under Nikki Fargas, serving as the program’s director of video operations from 2012-14 before transitioning to interim assistant coach for the 2014-15 season. LSU racked up 60 wins in his three seasons, making the NCAA Tournament all three years and advancing to the Sweet 16 twice.
At Samford University for the 2011-12 season, Scruggs helped the Bulldogs to their second straight Southern Conference Tournament title, clinching an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. He got his collegiate coaching start at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, serving as a graduate assistant for two seasons (2009-11). In 2010, the Mocs won the SoCon Tournament title, securing an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
A Knoxville, Tenn., native, Scruggs earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from Tennessee in 2008 and a master’s degree in special education in 2011 from Chattanooga.
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