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Hall of Fame announces Basketball Luncheon presented by Mercy

Basketball luncheon-flyer cover 2017

Former University of Missouri standout Doug Smith, longtime high school basketball coaches Terry Writer and Lynn Long, and the Kickapoo High School Girls Basketball Program soon will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. The honorees headline the Hall of Fame’s annual Basketball Tipoff Luncheon presented by Mercy, set for 11 a.m. on Wednesday, December 13 at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield. (Check out the flyer!)

President & Executive Director Jerald Andrews announced the luncheon on Wednesday and also revealed the names of this year’s Filbert Five award recipients, a group of former high school, college and pro standouts who made positive impacts in the sport. The awards are named after the late Gary Filbert, a successful high school basketball coach who was the founder of the Show-Me State Games as well as the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Filbert is a Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee and in 2011 was honored as a Missouri Sports Legend by the Hall of Fame.

The Filbert Five men’s team features Wesley Culver (Hartville High School/College of the Ozarks), David Coutchie (Seymour High School/Southwest Baptist University), Brad Gregory (Montgomery County High School/Drury University), Gary “Cat” Johnson (Joplin Memorial High School/Oral Roberts/New Jersey Nets) and J.J. Tauai (Verona High School/Bradley University/Lithuania Basketball League/Baltic League). The women’s Filbert Five features Katie Howard Clopton (Reeds Spring High School/College of the Ozarks), Marsha Burton High (Marionville High School/Missouri State University/Evangel University), Trish Van Diggelen Marsh (Marshfield High School/Missouri S&T), Kiana Bock Miller (Stockton High School/Drury University) and Jamesia Price (Blue Springs High School/St. Louis University).

Sponsorship tables of eight are $400, and include an autographed print of inductees as well as special recognition in the printed program. Individual tickets are $40, and a head table ticket is $100. Numerous sponsorships, including congratulatory ads, are available. Call the Hall of Fame at 417-889-3100.

Doug Smith, University of Missouri/Dallas Mavericks/Boston Celtics: A Detroit native, Smith was one of the best in coach Norm Stewart’s era, as he is the only University of Missouri standout to score more than 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in a career. In fact, he was only the third player in Big Eight Conference history to pull that dual feat, joining Danny Manning and Wayman Tisdale. Smith ranks second in school history in both points scored (2,184) and rebounds (1,305). He was the Big Eight Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991 and an All-American and Big Eight Male Athlete of the Year in 1991. He also was a two-time MVP of the Big Eight Tournament when he led Mizzou to the 1989 and 1991 conference tournament titles. Smith, whose jersey (No. 34) has since been retired, was the sixth overall draft pick of the 1991 NBA Draft. He played five seasons in the NBA, four for the Dallas Mavericks and one for the Boston Celtics. He is now living in Arizona and has worked for Premier Basketball Academy.

Terry Writer, Basketball Coach: Writer is in the midst of his 38th season coaching high school basketball and owns an overall record of 751-316. That includes a 248-129 record in the past 14 seasons at Mansfield High School. A 1966 graduate of Blue Eye High School who played baseball at Crowder College before finishing his degree at Missouri State University, Writer began coaching in the fall of 1971. He had stops at Norwood, Wheaton and Clever in his first 11 seasons before spending 10 seasons at Ozark High School, where he also was the athletic director for nine years. After one season at New Covenant Academy, Writer then took over at Mansfield in the fall of 2003. Three of his teams – 1978 Wheaton girls, 1984 Ozark boys and 2007 Mansfield boys – were state runners-up. Ten of his teams won district titles, while 36 won conference tournaments and 15 won regular-season conference titles.

Lynn Long, Basketball Coach: Lynn, who coached his 1,000th game last winter, needs only seven wins this season with Fair Play High School to reach No. 700. Overall, he owns a record of 693-326 in 38 varsity seasons, which includes a combination of boys and girls high school teams at Bakersfield, Crystal City, Norwood, Skyline, Lebanon, Stoutland and Fair Play. Long guided back-to-back state championship girls teams at Skyline (1996, 1997) and had a state runner-up finish there in 1998. His 2008 Fair Play team reached the Final Four, and two other teams reached the state quarterfinals – 2010 Stoutland and 2013 Fair Play. Long, who has guided 18 teams to district titles, played three seasons at Lilbourn High School in southeast Missouri before graduating in 1967 from Crystal City High School. He later played two seasons and graduated from then-Southwest Missouri State.

Kickapoo High School Girls Basketball Program: The Lady Chiefs are one of the state’s best girls basketball programs, having won six state championships (1985, 1987, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2016) and reached six other state tournament semifinals. Entering the 2017-2018 season, Kickapoo had compiled an overall record of 921-289 (.761 winning percentage), which included two state runner-up finishes (1993, 1994), a third place in 2010 as well as fourth-place hardware in 1975, 1976 and 1999. The program began in the fall of 1973 and has known only three head coaches – Sue Schuble (1973-2001, the late Stephanie Phillips (2001-2010) and Jim Pendergrass (2010 to current). Along the way, 24 Lady Chiefs have been voted All-State and have seen their jerseys retired.

Filbert Five Men’s Team ………………………………………………

Wesley Culver, Hartville High School/College of the Ozarks: A shooting guard, Culver was a Class 2 All-State selection in 1997 and 1998 for Hartville High School, helping the teams to state semifinals and third-place finishes at the state tournament as the teams were a combined 59-6. Culver, who averaged 17 points a game both seasons, also helped Hartville win the Blue & Gold Tournament in 1997 and played in the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in 1998. He was a 1,000-point scorer at Hartville as well as at College of the Ozarks, where the team finished as the NAIA Division II Tournament runner-up in 1998.

David Coutchie, Seymour High School/Southwest Baptist University: Coutchie was a two-time All-State selection (1999, 2000) in Class 2 for Seymour High School, which has since retired his jersey number (22). There he scored more than 2,200 career points, averaging 30.4 points his senior season, and was a four-year varsity starter on teams that were a combined 75-36. When he graduated, Coutchie was the state’s all-time leader in career (.887) and single-season (.935) free-throw percentage. He played at Southwest Baptist University from 2000 to 2004 and still ranks sixth in program history in 3-point field goal percentage (.389). As a senior, he was the team’s second-leading scorer (13.4 ppg).

 

Brad Gregory, Montgomery County High School/Drury University: Gregory was a First Team All-State selection as a senior in 1974 for Montgomery County High School after he averaged a team-best 19.4 points a game and led the Wildcats to a Class 2 state semifinal and a third-place finish. He continued on at Drury University, later helping the 1978 team end the regular season with a No. 1 national ranking in NAIA, reach the NAIA Tournament quarterfinals and finish 29-4. A successful banker, Gregory is the President and CEO of the Bank of Bolivar, which supports Drury University and Southwest Baptist University as well as the Bolivar, Fair Grove and numerous other school districts.

Gary “Cat” Johnson, Joplin Memorial High School/Oral Roberts University/New Jersey Nets: Johnson was a First Team All-State selection in 1977 and 1978 when he led Joplin Memorial to back-to-back Class 3 state titles. At Oral Roberts, he is among 28 ORU players to score more than 1,000 points, and his 481 assists were second-best in program history. Johnson helped ORU to 18-win seasons his final two years, including wins against Kansas, Marquette and Georgetown, and guided the team to the NIT as a senior. Johnson was drafted by the New Jersey Nets of the then-American Basketball Association (ABA) and played eight seasons in Europe. He lives in Joplin.

J.J. Tauai, Verona/Bradley University/Baltic League: Now a Springfield Police officer, Tauai was All-State in 2003 when he led Verona High School to the Class 1 state championship and finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,036 points. Tauai then played at Bradley University from 2003 to 2007, helping the Braves reach the Sweet 16 after a first-round upset of the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. A four-year letterman and team co-captain his final two years, he also helped Bradley reach the NIT in 2007, and then played in the Lithuania Basketball League and the Baltic League.

Filbert Five Women’s Team ………………………………

Katie Howard Clopton, Reeds Spring High School/College of the Ozarks: Howard was an All-State selection in 2001 at Reeds Spring High School, as she led the Lady Wolves to the state tournament quarterfinals her senior year. Howard then went on to play at College of the Ozarks from 2002 to 2005, becoming a three-time NAIA All-American and helping the Lady Bobcats reach the NAIA Division II Tournament all four years. Howard is in Halls of Fame at Reeds Spring and C of O.

Marsha Burton High, Marionville High School/Missouri State/Evangel University: High was a four-time All-State selection for Marionville High School. In 1993, she was Miss Show-Me Basketball, two years after helping the team win the Class 2 state title with a 30-3 record under then-coach Steve Shepherd. High signed with Missouri State and played her final two seasons at Evangel University, where she earned NAIA All-American honors in 1997 and scored 1,249 points in only two seasons – a mark that ranked seventh all-time in program history. She later coached four years each at Pierce City High School and Hurley High School.

Trish Van Diggelen Marsh, Marshfield High School/Missouri S&T: Marsh was a two-time All-State selection for Marshfield, and led the 1988 Lady Jays to the Class 3 state title and a 32-0 record. She then played at Missouri Science & Technology, breaking almost every 3-point shooting record and graduating as the all-time leading scorer (1,125 points). Marsh was an assistant at Drury University (1999-2007), which reached five consecutive NCAA Division II Tournaments, and was associate head coach at Missouri State University (2007-2013) as the Lady Bears won 105 games, made three WNIT appearances and won the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference regular season. A breast cancer survivor and 2011 recipient of the Valley’s Most Courageous Award, she now coaches the Glendale High School girls basketball program.

Kiana Bock Miller, Stockton High School/Drury University: Miller was a four-time All-State selection at Stockton High School from 2001 to 2004. Along the way, she helped the program win three state championships (2001, 2003, 2004) and was part of the 2002 team that reached the state semifinals and placed third. Miller finished her career as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,142 points. She then went on to play at Drury University before injuries cut short her career after two seasons.

Jamesia Price, Blue Springs High School/Saint Louis University: Price was an All-State selection in 2011 for Blue Springs High School after leading the team to three consecutive Class 5 state championship game appearances. At Saint Louis University from 2011 to 2016, she set a school career record for steals (202) and became the first player in school history to amass more than 200 career steals and finished third in career assists (407). Along the way, Price finished ninth in program history in 3-point field goals (101) and was the first Billiken women’s basketball player in program history to earn Atlantic 10 Conference All-Defensive Team honors (2015, 2016). Price was named the All-American Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year by the National Strength Coaches Association in 2014 and 2015. In the 2015-2016 season, Price led Saint Louis University to its first Atlantic 10 Conference championship and is a part of the winningest team in school’s history (26-8). Price accomplished all this after recovering from three ACL tears and two additional knee surgeries. Price is now with the Kansas City Sports Commission and Women’s Intersport Network for KC, coaching the freshmen team at Staley High School and is now a collegiate official after one year as an assistant basketball coach at Missouri Southern State University.