Makenzie Mudd has devoted much of her life to Mexico girls basketball.

The former Lady Bulldog player and assistant coach rose up the ranks to be the high school head coach, as announced on June 21, to take the baton from longtime head coach Ed Costley, who stepped down after 20 years to focus on family and being solely a physical education teacher in the district.

Mudd was in a Lady Bulldog uniform from 2005-09, coached middle school for the district for four years and then spent five years as a high school assistant, so she said she has logged 13 years in Costley’s program. Now she is the one leading the program, Mudd said there are some aspects that will be similar and some differences as Mexico looks to bounce back from a 9-18 season — its first losing season since 2017.

“A lot my background now comes from playing for coach Costley and then seeing it on the other side from coaching with him,” Mudd said. “I’ve got an idea how it comes across to a player and how it translates to the coaching side. I think we’re going to carry a lot of similar things over from when he was here, but we’re also going to throw in some things based on our clientele and what I feel like I want this program to turn into.”

Athletic director Brandon Schafer said Mudd coaching many of the same high school girls in middle school helps a lot and leaves a better chance for a smooth transition. She also just identifies strongly with the school and community.

“She knows the girls, and the girls know her expectations for the program,” Mudd said. “She’s a Mexico graduate so she really wants the girls program to continue to be successful. She has good connections within the community to help with our feeder programs and help with our younger kids to get developed.”

Mudd is a language arts teacher at the middle school after earning bachelor’s and master’s education degrees from the University of Missouri and William Woods University, respectively. Even in this break from the basketball, Mudd said she has always taken an interest in defense and is an area Mexico can emphasize in the future.

“Defense is my favorite thing to watch in a game,” Mudd said. “That’s what sets our tempo so I feel like that’s what I want to focus on first. That’s where our energy comes from. You get a good stop on defense or you get a lot of action going on in the form of turnovers. That’s where you get that buy-in from the girls and that’s where they get their energy and excitement to want to keep going.”

Mudd said the defensive side is a good place to start as the Lady Bulldogs are still adjusting after losing its core group that helped win two North Central Missouri Conference titles and is also looking to replace three senior starters from a season ago. So she said there will be three starting spots and bench roles up for grabs.

This summer, Mudd said she has been figuring out how the “puzzle pieces” fit as the Lady Bulldogs practice and play in shootouts. 

“We definitely need to figure out what our defensive identity needs to be,” Mudd said. “We’ve changed a lot over the last few seasons — from season to season. We haven’t found one that I really think has been our strongsuit so that is something I want to work on early in the season.”

The career Lady Bulldog wants to see the same success she has experienced for present and future Lady Bulldogs.

“I’m excited to continue where it started for me in 2005,” Mudd said. “I want to build on the stuff I’ve been learning being an assistant and see how I can make it my own.”