Fuller ready to ‘take the bull by the horns’ as Mizzou’s first-ever GM |

In Tim Fuller’s last stop at Missouri, he served as an associate head men’s basketball coach under Frank Haith and Kim Anderson from 2011-15.

This time, he’s the program’s first-ever general manager.

Fuller welcomed local media members into Mizzou Arena for a news conference Saturday to expand on his plans for the role and what early conversations have looked like during his transition. It’s an ever-changing and expanding job in college athletics — but one that could be productive for both sides.

For Fuller, the opportunity feels like being back in his “own skin.”

“I tell recruits all the time when I’m in a position to talk to them that you don’t make decisions off the names on the buildings. You make decisions based off the heartbeats inside those walls in that building,” Fuller said. “The people at Missouri … have embraced me throughout me not even being here.”

The connection between Fuller and Mizzou coach Dennis Gates goes back a long way. The two built a “quasi-relationship” while Gates was an assistant coach under Leonard Hamilton at Florida State, before Fuller watched Gates take over as the head coach at Cleveland State.

Within the first week Gates accepted his position at Mizzou, Fuller called to congratulate him and offer anything he needed — just like he did with previous Tigers coaches.

“We just kept the relationship going from that very first call here, and we would talk periodically once a month, just about Missouri,” Fuller said. “At one point, I took over the program at Overtime Elite. We had several recruits there that had interest in Missouri. … So, Coach and I would talk periodically about them.”

Fuller’s experience spans all levels of basketball, taking roles on and off the court and at the collegiate, high school and administrative levels. The business side includes stints at Nike and Overtime Elite, helping build player brands and growth through social media.

On top of that, the introduction of revenue sharing in college athletics July 1 due to the near-$2.8 billion House settlement will be another area Fuller helps develop at Missouri. His responsibilities could change as policy does, but the work has already begun.

“I think that initially, Coach (Gates) has me on certain tasks to understand the landscape, first and foremost, of where we’re heading as college basketball,” Fuller said. “There’s transitions from collectives and the opportunities that our players have to be in a position of understanding their own name, image and likeness and owning their brand.

“So, really, wearing different hats is what we discussed.”

When Fuller got the GM job, he laid out an initial 100-day plan to Gates. That consisted of four things: Develop relationships with the current players on the roster, develop relationships with agents, recruit high school talent and recruit internationally.

Fuller has already scheduled several members of Mizzou’s staff to attend FIBA events over the summer, while he and Gates will travel to Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League. There, the groundwork of the plan can start to be built.

“I’m setting up meetings now so that I can get certain agents on his calendar as well, just so we can start to understand what their expectations are moving forward in this new day of college basketball,” Fuller said. “(We can) also share our expectations in terms of quality and types of athletes and people that we want to be part of the program.”

The NBA talent Fuller has worked with in the past is expansive. He was a key part of bringing Amen and Ausar Thompson to the Overtime Elite program when it was first being established. The Thompson twins ended up being lottery picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, with the former getting drafted by the Houston Rockets at No. 4 overall and the latter being selected by the Detroit Pistons with the fifth pick.

Fuller has the ability to connect Missouri talent to the NBA rather quickly. He’s seen it done in the past with Jordan Clarkson, and he plans to commit to giving the roster the best opportunities possible.

“I’ll be sending analytics and reports to a lot of the scouts that I know as well as some of the representatives of shoe companies that I know alongside player agents,” Fuller said. “I’ll be making sure that they are known significantly for their accomplishments throughout the season with key NBA personnel and people of that magnitude.”

After so many stops and paths Fuller has taken during his 25-year professional career, he was ready to “take the bull by the horns” and hold the responsibility a general manager carries. An assistant coaching job wouldn’t have sufficed.

Navigating the transfer portal and fallout of the House settlement is a tall order, but it’s the only position he could imagine holding at this point. After all, one of his top mentors from Nike, Nico Harrison, went on to become the president of basketball operations and the GM of the Dallas Mavericks — though he’s been scrutinized heavily in light of trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 2.

“General manager is what I wanted to be and the seat I want to sit in,” Fuller said.