Inductees

Larry Atwood spent 26 years teaching and coaching at Greenwood High School in Springfield and also directed the Blue and Gold Tournament until 1990,.

“Larry Atwood was the Blue and Gold, and the Blue and Gold was Larry Atwood,” longtime assistant coach Paul Mullins said. “He loved this town and he probably loved running (the Blue and Gold Tournament) more than he loved coaching in it.”

Chuck Williams played for Atwood at Buffalo and took part in the 19th Blue and Gold.

“He pushed us, without a doubt,” Williams said of Atwood. “He believed in defense and he didn’t wait until midway through the season to be defensive-minded. It was the first day, it was hard-nosed.”

David Oatman played for Atwood at Greenwood and later became Atwood’s co-worker at Greenwood for a span of six years.

“He was very, very strong-willed and wanted things done his way, but he cared a lot about you and you knew that when you were working with him,” Oatman said.

Over the years, Oatman saw firsthand how much Atwood cared for his players beyond their basketball skills.

“He was very concerned about teaching the game of basketball or teaching the game of football and other things that he coached and taught, but he was also concerned about the individual,” Oatman said.

In 21 years, Atwood’s Greenwood teams went 545-242 and finished as the state runners-up in Class 1 in 1980 and 1982.

Atwood’s career began with one season at Weaubleau, three years at Clever and four seasons at Buffalo that included a 1965 state championship.

Atwood retired in 1990 but spent 12 years as an instructor at Missouri State, where he remained visible on the local sports scene as a member of the game-day table crew at Bears basketball games until early in the 2013-14 season.

Atwood also a worked as a college basketball referee, was a member of the Willard High School Athletics Hall of Fame and the Springfield Area Softball Hall of Fame. He was a well-known fast-pitch softball pitcher and coach during the sport’s Ozarks heyday of the 1960s.

The legendary coach’s influence on the Blue and Gold tournament will echo through the arenas at Missouri State as games begin the day after Christmas.