Join the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for a night of celebration as the Hall showcases the bronze bust honoring longtime University of Central Missouri athletic director Jerry Hughes as a Missouri Sports Legend.
The bronze will be on display Wednesday, February 17 ahead of the UCM men’s basketball game, set for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg. Fans can visit the bronze in the lobby during the first half, and then a celebration is planned for halftime.
Contributions will be accepted for the bust, which will soon line the Hall’s Legends Walkway in Springfield, home to bronze busts of Missouri sports greats such as Stan Musial, Len Dawson, Norm Stewart, Ozzie Smith and George Brett. Donors making a $500, tax-free donation will have their name permanently cast on a bronze plaque, which will be showcased on the stone structure supporting Hughes’ bust. Donors also will receive an autographed Jerry Hughes Legends print. To contribute, call Executive Vice President Marty Willadsen at the Hall of Fame at 417-889-3100.
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame formally honored Hughes during 2016 Enshrinement Ceremonies presented by Killian Construction on January 31.
Under Hughes’ leadership since January 1983, UCM has won eight NCAA Division II national titles: men’s basketball (1984, 2014), women’s basketball (1984), baseball (1994, 2003), women’s bowling (2003) and dual women’s Indoor & Outdoor track and field (2015). Entering the 2015 fall semester, UCM had won 151 MIAA championships, had 45 other top four NCAA finishes and made more than 260 NCAA postseason appearances.
Hughes, the first three-time winner of the Central Region Athletic Director of the Year award at any NCAA level, has been a Division II member of the NCAA Executive Committee and chairman of the D-II Championships Committee. He also served a term as NCAA Vice President for Division II and has been a member of the NCAA Council, making him the only person to twice hold the highest-ranking office available to athletic administrators in D-II. Hughes, a UCM alum, was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
