In the mid-1980s, the formula was simple at Rogersville High School: Feed the basketball to 6-foot-9 center Chris Harville. In fact, he parlayed his success into a scholarship on coach Charlie Spoonhour’s NCAA Tournament teams at Missouri State.
His career hasn’t been forgotten as the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will recognize Harville during its upcoming Basketball Tipoff Luncheon presented by Mercy. Harville has been named to the Hall’s Filbert Five, a group of former high school, college and professional basketball players. The Filbert Five is named in honor of the late Gary Filbert, who coached high school and college basketball teams and, in 2011, was bestowed the Missouri Sports Legend award by the Hall of Fame.
The luncheon is at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10 at the University Plaza Convention Center in Springfield. For tickets, call 417-889-3100.
“I am honored with this award. I value the experiences and the lessons I learned while playing basketball,” Harville said. “Reliability, hard work, determination and responsibility are all coveted character traits necessary for success in life. I want to thank the coaches who invested their time in me and pushed me to better things. A quote, hard-earned but long remembered, from Gary McDaniel: ‘Practice only makes perfect if you practice perfect.’”
Harville is the all-time leading scorer at Rogersville High School, with 1,532 points in 120 games played. The 6-foot-9 center was All-State two years, All-Central Ozark Conference three years as well as all-district and All-Ozarks by the News-Leader. Harville went on to earn four letters for coach Charlie Spoonhour’s Missouri State Bears from 1987 to 1990. He was on the roster for all four of those Bears’ NCAA Tournament teams.
The Basketball Tipoff Luncheon includes the induction of Parkview High School’s Jolly Green Giants of 1964 to 1966; Missouri State’s 1952 and 1953 NAIA national championship men’s basketball teams; former Lady Bears standout Karen Rapier; and high school/college coach Gary Stanfield.
The Filbert Five men’s team features Chris Harville (Rogersville/Missouri State), Steven Hill (Branson/Arkansas), Sam Singh (Ozark/Bradley), Mark Sparks (Neosho/Mizzou/Drury) and Kevin Williams (Nevada/Mizzou).
The Filbert Five women’s team consists of Laura Granzow Buetow (Kickapoo/Denver/Canisius), Sara Bos Barnhart (Billings/Drury), Alyson Young Hooten (Rogersville/Avila), Anita Rank Oplotnik (Lincoln/Missouri Southern) and Terianne Wolford Brown (Nixa/Mizzou).
Tickets for the luncheon are $40. A table of eight is $400 and includes associate sponsorship recognition in the printed program. A head table ticket is $100. For tickets, call the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame at 417-889-3100.