The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame joins the family of Willie Bowie in mourning the passing of the former great Paseo Academy boys basketball coach.
Bowie, who won more than 400 games as Paseo Academy’s boys basketball coach in Kansas City and was a 2017 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, passed away on December 22. He was 71.
He coached Paseo for 23 seasons through 1991, and four of his teams reached the Final Four: 1971 (second in Class L), 1973 (fourth in Class L), 1986 (third in Class 3) and the Anthony Peeler-led 1988 team (second in Class 3). Bowie’s 1988 squad was the first from Kansas City to win the prospect-rich Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, and he enjoyed three consecutive unbeaten years in the Scholastic League. He later earned Athletic Director of the Year Awards after retiring from coaching.