Missouri men’s basketball head coach Kim Anderson used to be a big sports-talk radio guy. But as recently as this past winter, this all changed.

Early in the season, while driving to Kansas City, Anderson was tuned in, listening to radio hosts speak about fellow coaches Bill Self, Bruce Weber and Fred Hoiberg –– the usual victims of criticism and appraisal. All of a sudden, they were talking about the man behind the wheel.

It was at that point when Anderson quit listening to sports-talk radio.

Anderson doesn’t read the newspaper much, either. His wife, Melissa, reads it and tells him if he should.

But he doesn’t need to see the headlines to know the significance of the Tigers’ past season.

On March 11, Anderson’s Tigers fell in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament to South Carolina by the score of 63-54. This resulted in the 23rd loss for the team, the most season losses in Mizzou men’s basketball’s 109-year history.

“Anytime you have a season like this, you evaluate everything,” Anderson said. “You evaluate your entire program.”

Just over one year ago, the Missouri basketball commander-in-chief was in the polar opposite situation. Anderson had just won a Division II national championship with Central Missouri in a season when the Mules went 30-5.

But after a month of cycling the Katy Trail, on April 28, Anderson landed his “dream job” at his alma mater, the University of Missouri, where he tallied 1,289 points playing center for the Tigers from 1973-77.

“We really had to hurry recruiting,” Anderson said of last April. “We really had to sign some guys quick, and everything went pretty fast.”

Amid the excitement, Anderson recognized the condition of his inherited team. It was a team with seven newcomers, five of whom were freshmen. His team’s inexperience became Anderson’s favorite explanation for his team’s unsuccessfulness.

“It’s hard when you’re young and you lose,” Anderson said. “It’s really hard when you go out there every day and we say, ‘If you do this, you’re going to win,’ then you don’t win.”

Anderson said he recently received a letter from a fan telling him to quit making excuses because of his team’s youth.

“Well, I’m sorry, whoever that guy was. We are young, so we do need to continue to develop our guys,” Anderson said. “We’ve done that. We’re doing that. Individual skill development is important.”

Although Anderson said the criticism by fans, sports-radio hosts and journalists is justified, it’s hard on him.

In Anderson’s 12 seasons as head coach at Central Missouri, he only had one losing season. That was his first year, when the Mules went 12-16. In the 1988-89 season, as an assistant coach at Baylor, the Bears went 5-22. But unlike the 2014-15 Tigers, Anderson was not the head man in charge.

“I’ve never had a year like this,” Anderson said. “It’s hard, but it’s hard because this is my school. You don’t ever want to let anyone down. But while it’s hard, it makes you more determined.”

Anderson met with local media April 7 and outlined six aspects for his team to improve on for next season: strength and conditioning, individual skill development, team chemistry, staff organization and efficiency, academic achievement and recruiting.

“This year has taught me a lot,” Anderson said. “It has brought some clarity to me as to what we need to do with this program moving forward.”

Anderson and his staff have already began the forward movement. Following Mizzou’s elimination from the SEC Tournament, the team received two and a half weeks off, with spring break falling during that. Since then, the team has focused on individual skills, and has been lifting weights 3 to 4 times per week.

Not all of last season’s Tigers can be found in the weight room, however. Sophomore forward Johnathan Williams III, Mizzou’s leading scorer and rebounder, along with junior guard Deuce Bello, were announced as transfers in an April 7 news release.

“I’m smart enough to know that any time you have a season like we had, it’s tough,” Anderson said. “I don’t think that anyone else’s going to leave. But I know that they’re young guys, and people get into their ears.”

Barring any more departures, Mizzou will enter the 2015-16 season with five sophomores, one junior and one senior, to go along with Class of 2015 recruits Terrence Phillips, Kevin Puryear and Cullen Vanleer.

Anderson said he would like to add a transfer or graduate transfer into the mix, preferably a scoring wing, combo guard or big man.

“We need some experience,” he said. “We’re still pretty young. I’m sorry to the guy (who wrote the letter), but I’m going to ride that pony as long as I can.”

In addition to recruiting, Anderson will spend the upcoming weeks trying to find a replacement for recently departed former assistant coach Tim Fuller and continuing to train his current team.

“You don’t sleep a lot,” Anderson said of his work load this spring.

As the spring transitions to summer, Anderson’s load doesn’t lessen. He knows what his team needs to work on this offseason: offense.

“I rode in here last year on that white horse saying, ‘We’re going to play defense.’ Then, we couldn’t score,” Anderson joked. “I think we’re going to work more on offense this summer.”

Mizzou averaged 60.5 points per game this past season, ranking the team 321st in the nation. And as much as Anderson focused on defense, the Tigers ended up 212th in the country, averaging 67.9 points allowed per game.

“It’s hard on coaches, it’s hard on fans, but it is what it is,” Anderson said. “I’m not ashamed of anything.”