OSU basketball: New Missouri coach Frank Haith surprised at team's high level of play

The reception turned even chillier when his old school, Miami, was linked to a booster alleged to have provided thousands of impermissible benefits to athletes – including a basketball player, with the booster claiming Haith's involvement – setting off NCAA alarms.

Look who's hot now.

Haith brings the nation's No. 2 team into Stillwater on Wednesday night, with the 18-1 Tigers taking on Oklahoma State. Tip time is 6:30 inside Gallagher-Iba Arena, where the Tigers trot out their highest ranking since 2001-02.

Meanwhile, Anderson and Arkansas are hardly setting the SEC on fire. The Miami mess hasn't yet attached itself to Haith. And there's a warming effect in Columbia, where Haith's first Mizzou team is winning over the locals, not to mention national analysts who are now propping him up for National Coach of the Year honors.

“I'm surprised,” Haith said in a USA Today story this week. “There is usually an adjustment period. For us to play at the level we have so early is a big surprise.”

Clearly, Haith has won over his team, too.

And let's be clear, Anderson left him with something to work with, which is rarely the case when a coach ventures into a new job.

The Tigers start four seniors, all veterans of the program who have enjoyed varying levels of success, led by Kim English and Marcus Denmon, the latter a legitimate All-American candidate averaging 17.7 points a game.

Ricardo Ratliffe, another senior, leads the nation in field goal percentage while averaging 14.6 points and leading the Tigers in rebounding at 6.4 per game.

And then there's the Pressey brothers, Matt and Phil, sons of former Tulsa and NBA standout Paul Pressey. Matt's a senior, while Phil is the playmaking point guard that makes everything go, on pace to break Anthony Peeler's school record for assists in a season.