‘It’s like going home’

Southwestern’s women’s basketball coach Addae Houston felt plenty of conflicting emotions when confronted with an opportunity that was recently put before him.

But given the chance to return to a place that truly feels like home, Houston felt he had to pull the trigger to be the new assistant women’s basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State.

A familiar face to Houston helped bring about the move, as former Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball associate head coach, and now recently anointed women’s basketball head coach at Northwest, Austin Meyer, reached out to his former friend to extend the opportunity.

A solid basketball player in his own right just over a decade ago, Meyer was the host person doing the tours of campus at Northwest when Houston, a Dallas, Texas native, was considering transferring from Eastfield Community College in Mesquite, Texas to be a Bearcat, which he eventually did.

“We had a great relationship on the court. He used to make plays when I knew what he was doing and likewise, he knew what I was doing,” Houston said.

Houston has had stints as a women’s assistant coach at Northwest several times, having lived with Meyer while a student assistant coach and graduate assistant coach. He even made a return trip to Maryville to rejoin the women’s program for the 2010-2011 season.

The timing to join one of his best friends in Maryville was something that filled Houston with immense excitement.

“He did reach out to me to see if I would have an interest in the position. Of course being my alma mater and being where I started, finishing my playing career, where I started my coaching career, it was an honor for him to even consider me for that position,” Houston said.

But given what Houston has steadily built in his five years at SWCC — going from zero wins in the year before his arrival to 17-15 and the first winning season in nearly 15 years in his fourth season, the decision didn’t come easy.

“Every part of that was difficult. It (SWCC) is a place that I feel very attached to because it was my first head coaching opportunity and to take over a program that had in a sense hit rock bottom and work to bring that program back up to some relevance in the ICCAC was a challenge in itself,” Houston said. “I put all of that energy and effort into it. It was something you had to as an individual to be dedicated to.”

Now, as a a returnee to Maryville, Houston will have few administrative duties like those he has at SWCC, where he has been the TRIO advising coach, where he helped low income students and students in need to help find funding for college, assistance with housing, educational support and more.

Other duties like strength and conditioning planning are now off his shoulders. He’ll be able to focus intensely on building the program back up to the heights he had seen it each when he lived in Maryville.

“In the end, going back there is very exciting. Very enthusiastic to go back there and start again to take that program to the next level,” Houston said.

Houston’s assistant and a former Spartan women’s basketball player in her own right, Morgan Knorr, will look for other opportunities outside of SWCC as well.

With that being said, with SWCC looking for a new Athletic Director, both men’s and women’s basketball coaches and a softball coach all at once, Houston knows that there will be challenges to be confronted in the coming months by the Southwestern administration.

“I really hope that the individual (for women’s basketball) that they bring in is going to be on the same page with them and the administration’s expectations and taking the program to new heights,” Houston said.

Meyer, in a press release issued by Bearcat athletics, communicated the points of emphasis that made him want to bring a friend and old colleague on board.

“He understands the culture, what it takes to win at a high level and how to treat people,” Meyer said. “We are very excited he will be joining our basketball family.”

“Addae has been a guiding force for the Southwestern women’s basketball program,” SWCC Dean of Student Services Beth Kulow stated in a press release posted to Southwesternspartans.com. “His direction and continuity have helped the program reestablish itself. We sincerely appreciate his efforts and wish him nothing but the best.”