COLUMBIA, Mo. — On the September day I went to meet the University of Missouri’s new athletic director, Desiree Reed-Francois, a fire alarm went off about when I approached Mizzou Arena. The false alarm didn’t distract her from a gracious greeting outside and basically carrying forth. On the way back to her office after the all-clear, she stopped to engage a female student-athlete for several minutes. This was just a snapshot, of course. But it suggested a woman immersed in the moment and undeterred by mere noise. That scene came to mind after the Mizzou men’s basketball team recently was humb…

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