Three coaches – one a longtime high school basketball coach in the Ozarks, another who made an impact in women’s basketball, as well as a wrestling coach – will soon be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
They’ll be honored with a former Missouri State University standout and four high school eras at the annual Winter Sports Luncheon presented by the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company. It’s set for 11 AM on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield.
“We’re excited to be honoring these outstanding coaches, individuals and high school teams. They’ve done so much for their sports, not only in putting winning teams in their gyms but also inspiring younger generations,” President & CEO Rob Marsh said Tuesday in announcing the Class of 2025.
The Class of 2025 features basketball coach Mike Wilson, the 1973 Forsyth High School State Championship Boys Basketball Team, Missouri State’s Johnny Murdock, the 1980-1982 Era of Purdy High School Girls Basketball, Cassville High School & University of Missouri standout Melissa McFerrin, Lebanon High School wrestling coach Randy Roark, the Marionville High School Boys Basketball State Tournament Teams, and the Clinton High School Boys Wrestling Era of 1990-1994.
The Hall of Fame also will bestow the Filbert Five Awards on 10 individuals who made significant contributions in the sport of basketball at the high school, collegiate and/or professional level. The award is named for the late Gary Filbert, a longtime basketball coach who at one time was an assistant to University of Missouri coach Norm Stewart (MSHOF Legend 2000), and was in instrumental in the start of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
This year’s Filbert Five women’s team features: Karissa McCarter Corpeny (Kickapoo High School/Arkansas State/Missouri S&T), Michelle Holman (Dadeville High School/Southwest Baptist University), Shannon Bigelow Pulsipher (Crocker High School/Mineral Area College), Shelly Garrison Rozean (Clever High School/College of the Ozarks) and Stephanie Lansdown Shelton (Seymour High School/Evangel University). The men’s team features Curtis Hargus (Hillcrest High School/Drury University), Collins Harris (Jefferson City High School/Drury University), Barry Kemp (Evangel University), Anthony Welcome (Nixa High School/Johnson County (Kan.) Community College/Drury University/William Jewell College) and Scott Welsh (Willard High School).
Sponsorship tables of eight are $450 and include recognition in the printed program and at the table. An individual ticket is $60 in advance, or $70 inside of one week prior to the event. A head table ticket is $100, and that’s right up front, with recognition also in the printed program and at the table. Numerous sponsorships are available, including associate sponsorships and congratulatory ads – as well as video and digital ads. Please call 417-889-3100.
All members of the teams and eras will receive a personalized plaque and invited up on stage during the ceremony, where the Hall of Fame will announce each athlete’s name.
Mike Wilson – Basketball Coach
Wilson coached high school boys basketball in Missouri for 32 seasons, compiling a record of 588-262. He coached Sparta (1991 & 1992 seasons), Forsyth (1993 to 1999), Hartville (2000 to 2003, 2005 to 2006), Strafford (2007 to 2018) and Willow Springs (2019 to 2022). Four of his teams reached the Final Four — 1993 Forsyth placed fourth, and Strafford’s 2011 and 2015 teams were state runner-up finishers, while Strafford’s 2014 team placed third. Overall, his teams won 10 district championships and produced more than 120 all-conference players and 14 All-State selections. Wilson is a 1983 graduate of Holcomb High School, having earned All-State honors in basketball (1982 and 1983) and baseball in 1983. He helped both teams win conference championships those seasons, with the 1982 baseball team placing third in Class 1. He then attended College of the Ozarks, graduating in 1987 and served as an assistant coach under Darren Taylor at Hartville in the 1988 through 1990 seasons. Wilson was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2018.
Forsyth High School 1973 State Championship Basketball Team
Coached by Charlie Campbell (MSHOF 2003), the Forsyth boys basketball team of 1973 became the first – and, to this day, the only – state champion in school history. The Panthers beat Advance 63-60 in the Class S state championship team, finishing 26-8 and ending Advance’s season at 32-2. Steve Holland was the assistant coach, and the varsity featured Stephen Dunn, John Stecz III, Gene Harmon, David Strang and Rick Turner. Other team members were John Dees, James Steele, Randy Stuart, Alan Sulgrove, Dale Webie, Don Reynolds, Dean Harmon and Al Raetz. Team managers were Rex Boone and Roy Boone. Forsyth won its final 13 games, including eight wins in 12 days. Against Advance, the Panthers raced to a 29-15 lead late in the first half, closing out the first half with a 31-20 advantage. Advance’s John Rhodes started the second half on a scoring tear, scoring 12 points in the quarter and trimming the Forsyth lead to 46-41 before Advance tied the game at 48-48 in the fourth. With 4:07 left and Forsyth leadng 50-48, center Gene Harmon fouled out of the game. Down the stretch, big buckets from Dunn and Stecz helped maintain the lead. Rick Turner hit two free throws in the final minutes to preserve the lead. And with 13 seconds remaining, Dan Reynolds iced the game by hitting two free throws. All told, Forsyth made 25 of 34 free throws and out-rebounded Advance 37-32. Harmon led all scorers with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Steve Dunn was the only other Panther in double digits, scoring 12.
Johnny Murdock – Missouri State University Basketball Player
One of the last recruits in the era of Charlie Spoonhour (MSHOF Legend 2019) was Murdock, a four-year starter for Missouri State from 1991 to 1995. He played one season before Spoonhour headed to Saint Louis University, but Murdock stayed in Springfield. The Bears won what is still their only Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship in 1991-1992 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, suffering a first-round loss to Michigan State to finish 23-8. The 1992-1993 Bears were also 20-game winners and beat St. Joseph’s and Jackson State to reach the NIT quarterfinals. Murdock, from Wichita, Kan., led MSU in scoring each of his last three seasons and paced the Bears in steals and assists two years each. He earned First Team All-Valley honors his final two years and is the only basketball player to gain Missouri State Coors Player of the Year honors three times in the history of the award. Murdock set a Missouri State career record with his 266 3-point field goals, and his 1,834 career points are fourth all-time. These days, Murdock works for the Wichita school district, referees basketball games and coaches youth teams.
Purdy High School 1980-1982 Girls Basketball Era
Less than a decade after passage of federal Title IX legislation that led to public schools offering girls sports, Purdy High School’s girls basketball teams of 1980, 1981 and 1982 made history. The 1980 team reached Class 2 Final Four, with a fourth-place finish, followed by a Class 1 state championship and then a Class 1 state runner-up all while guided by coach Bill Reece. The 1980 team won the Ozark 8 Conference and then upset No. 1 seed Diamond 59-58 in overtime of districts, beat Skyline in the quarterfinals and fell to South Harrison of Bethany in the semifinals before suffering a 67-57 loss to tradition-rich Scott County Central. The state championship was a 74-65 victory against Northeast Cairo, with Purdy finishing 24-3. The Lady Eagles trailed at halftime but sped up the pace in the second half enabled Purdy to surge to the title. The team finished 25-3 in a season in which it won the Ozark 6 Conference and set a team state records for points in a playoff game and total playoff points (261). The state runner-up came in a 44-28 loss to Northeast Nodaway, which finished 30-1. Purdy (23-6) was without leading scorer and point guard Becky Fly, who had suffered an ankle injury in the 67-59 win against North Shelby in the state semifinals. The Lady Eagles were ranked No. 1 most of the season and beat No. 2 Wheaton twice in four tries, including a 34-33 win in the district championship. The era saw Brenda Keeling and Fly earn All-State twice, and Janice Seville earn All-State, too.
Melissa McFerrin – Basketball Coach
McFerrin was an important part of women’s basketball from the 1970s and into 2021. In Missouri, she was a two-time All-State selection for Cassville High School in 1978 and 1979 before going to help build a winner at the University of Missouri. Playing for Joann Rutherford (MSHOF 2017), McFerrin was a four-year letterwinner and starting point guard from the fall of 1979 to March 1983. She helped Mizzou to the 1983 Big Eight Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth just one year after the Tigers advanced all the way to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. She earned All-Big Eight honorable mention honors and scholar-athlete awards. McFerrin was a longtime college coach. She spent six seasons at Central Michigan (1985-1990). She was Ohio State’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in the 1990s, helping the Buckeyes to an 118-90 record, 1993 Big Ten Championship and NCAA Tournament runner-up finish. The 1993 team benefitted from McFerrin’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class that included WNBA player and three-time Olympian Katie Smith. Ohio State reached the NCAA Tournament the next season, and McFerrin spent five seasons coaching in the WNBA. She then was an assistant at the University of Minnesota, and was head coach at American University (2005-2008) and the University of Memphis (2008-2021). Her 2008 American team won the Patriot League. McFerrin won the third-most games in Memphis history (193), part of 243 wins in her 17-year career as a head coach. McFerrin now lives in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Randy Roark – Wrestling Coach
Roark coached Lebanon High School’s wrestling program from 1998 to 2022, with three girls teams (2019, 2021, 2022) winning state championships and two boys teams earning top four finishes (2020 state runner-up, 2021 fourth place). Overall, his teams had a 333-102 dual record, produced 126 state qualifiers and 53 state medalists – including five state champions. Lebanon won 11 conference championships in his tenure, along with six district titles and 47 tournament titles. Twice he was named Coach of the Year, with the wrestling room producing 19 100-match winners, 94 individual conference champions, 47 district champions, five sectional champions, 10 national medalists and one national champion. Additionally, he enhanced the Lebanon youth wrestling program, securing the old junior high gymnasium as the program’s primary facility, and growing the youth program to about 180 wrestlers annually. Roark has been in wrestling going back to his youth. A 1992 graduate of Columbus (Kan.) High School, he was a three-sport athlete (football, wrestling, baseball) who was a four-time state wrestling medalist – including three state championships – and helped Columbus win two state titles. He was a four-time college All-American, having wrestled at Labette Community College in Kansas before transferring to Missouri Valley College.
Marionville High School Boys Basketball State Tournament Teams
Marionville has enjoyed a strong tradition of high school boys basketball, with 17 state tournament teams. They cover six Final Four teams (1978, 1982, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006), as well as six that reached the state quarterfinals (1970, 1981, 1998, 2007, 2019, 2023). The 1996, 1997, 2003, 2010 and 2016 teams also won districts and played in the state tournament. The 1982 and 2005 teams won it all. Coached by Tony Armstrong (MSHOF 2018), the Comets beat Monroe City 70-61 in the finals, finishing 70-61. Coached by Ted Young (MSHOF 2020), the 2005 team beat St. Vincent 35-30 to win Class 2 and finished 27-3. The 1978, 2004 and 2006 teams all were state runners-up. The 1978 team, coached by Randy Rader, the Comets suffered a narrow 52-47 loss to Glasgow in the championship game and finished 26-4. The 2004 team fell just shy, as Van Far won the title game 46-40. The 2006 team also came close, as Harrisburg won the championship game 41-38. The 2002 team placed third.
Clinton High School Wrestling Era of 1990-1994
Just north and west of Truman Lake and where Missouri Highways 13 and 7 intersect, there’s a community that loves its wrestling. And in the early 1990s – specifically 1990 to 1994, the Clinton High School Boys Wrestling Program was among the toughest in the state. Coached by Ray Niles, the Cardinals finished in the top four of Class 1-2 in four of the five seasons. They won it all in 1991 while the 1990 and 1992 teams placed third, and the 1994 placed fourth. State champions were Kendal Koch (130 pounds in 1990), Shane Green (125 in 1991), Brandon Peck (171 in 1991), Jon Koch (112 in 1992), Doug Walrath (189 in 1992), Matt Morrison (112 in 1994) and John Pickens (160 in 1994). Kendal Koch had won it in 1989, planting the seeds to what would come. Even better, a youth program built in the early 1980s had fed talent into the high school, and Clinton rode the wave to four podium finishes at the state tournament.
FILBERT FIVE – WOMEN’S TEAM
Karissa McCarter Corpeny – Kickapoo High School/Arkansas State/Missouri Science & Technology
Corpeny helped build the Kickapoo Girls Basketball Program (MSHOF 2017) into one of the state’s best, playing in the mid-1980s. She earned All-State in 1986 and 1987, when the Lady Chiefs won the Class 5 state championship. She was a sophomore on Kickapoo’s 1985 state championship team. Career-wise, she is fourth in scoring in Lady Chiefs history with 1,552 points (14.1 ppg) and ranks third all-time in field goals made (673). In a single season, her 224 field goals are second, and she is third in both points (673) and highest scoring average (17.97). She also is tied for second for field goals in a game (15). Corpeny also played volleyball and ran track, advancing to state in the two-mile relay, and set the school record in the mile in 1987 in 5:31. Corpeny later played at Arkansas State for two years and finished her career at Missouri Science & Technology. At S&T, she led the 1992 team with 5.8 rebounds a game. She has continued to be a success story, owning Kansas City-based Redwoods Leadership Consulting for nearly 11 years. She has long had the support of her husband, Pete, as well as parents Larry and Connie, brothers Brad and Landon and their wives, Tammy and Lindze.
Michelle Holman – Dadeville High School / Southwest Baptist University
In the mid-1990s, Dadeville fielded several talented girls basketball teams under coach Brett Soden, highlighted by the 1997 squad that advanced to the Class 1 Final Four and finished fourth in the state tournament. Known for her deep 3-pointers, Holman scored 2,820 career points and led the Ozarks in scoring for three consecutive seasons. Her total included a then-state record 285 3-pointers and 1,189 career rebounds (10.8 rpg). A three-time First Team All-State selection, she remains the only player in Dadeville history to have her jersey retired. In 1997, she was also recognized as USA TODAY’s Missouri Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Holman continued her basketball journey with one season each at Southwest Baptist University and State Fair Community College before channeling her passion for the game into a lifelong commitment to developing young athletes. For more than two decades, she has coached girls basketball at the grade school, junior high, and high school levels. At Walnut Grove, she has spent over a decade on the sidelines as an assistant coach for both the middle school and high school programs, with earlier coaching stops at Hollister High School (three seasons) and Omaha, Arkansas (one season). Holman is the proud mother of two daughters, Kelli and Kolbi.
Shannon Bigelow Pulsipher – Crocker High School/Mineral Area College
In the early 1990s in the heart of Pulaski County, and just up Interstate 44, was one of the state’s top small-school standouts in girls basketball. That would be Pulsipher, who earned All-State honors in Class 2 in 1991, 1992 and 1993. She averaged 20 points and 15 rebounds a game for the Eddie Bowling-coached team, with Amy Hathaway as the assistant coach. Pulsipher also ran the mile and two-mile in track, winning multiple district titles and advanced to the state meet. She also advanced to the cross country state meet. Pulsipher later went on to play for Mineral Area College in Farmington, earning All-Region 16 in her second season there. She then graduated from Cox College with an ASN, and from Missouri State University in horticulture. She now lives in Bolivar with her husband of 28 years, Jason. They are parents to Adelaide and son-in-law Derek Rasmussen; Anson and wife Aleah; Samuel; and Darby and her husband, Ryker Higbee. They also have a grandson, Emerson.
Shelley Garrison Rozean – Clever High School/College of the Ozarks
One of Clever’s initial standouts was Rozean, who was the first in school history to earn First Team All-State honors, doing so in Class 1 in 1981. She then repeated the honor as a senior in 1982. In fact, Clever had only three other girls earn All-State from 1988 to 2010. Coached by Jim LaSalle in volleyball, basketball and softball there, she scored 1,550 career points in basketball, averaging 23.5 points a game as a senior. She earned First Team All-Southwest Central League honors in all four sports her final three years after earning the distinction in basketball as a freshman. She also was a two-time All-District selection, and All-Ozark as a senior. Rozean helped the basketball and volleyball teams win conference championships all four seasons, with the softball team winning two SWCL banners. At C of O in basketball, Rozean started every game all four years – and was the first player there to have played all four years, as C of O started the program only three years before her arrival. They beat Missouri State by nine points and lost to the University of Arkansas by seven in exhibition games. Shelley thanks her parents, Gilbert and Barbara, as well as siblings Lisa and Darren for their support. She and her husband, Eric, are parents to Maggie, Mollie, Mason and Miles and a grandson, Whitaker. Rozean is now in her seventh year at Springfield-based The Jacques Company, which handles rental properties and real estate.
Stephanie Lansdown-Shelton – Seymour High School/Evangel University
At Seymour, Shelton earned Class 2 All-State honors in both 2001 and 2002, with Seymour reaching the Final Four her senior season. That year, the Lady Tigers placed fourth in the state tournament. Career-wise, she scored 2,139 points, had 500 assists, 539 steals and made 191 3-pointers in 116 games (all starts). Shelton was First Team All-Conference all four years, All-District three years, All-Ozarks and the KKOZ Player of the Year. Shelton also played softball there and went on to play basketball at Evangel University in Springfield, where she was part of some of Evangel’s best teams in history. Her freshman through junior seasons resulted in a 93-24 record and two NAIA Tournament quarterfinals and the Final Four. She was a two-time All-Heart of America Athletic Conference selection, including second team in 2006. Lansdown finished with 1,036 career points, which ranks No. 21 all-time, while her 133 3-pointers rank 11th-best in Evangel history, and her 218 steals are 10th-most in program history. Even better, Shelton is still part of the game, with a basketball family. She and her husband Cody, the Seymour girls coach, have a daughter, Olivia, in the junior high school program, and a second-grader in Carter. She also owns Precise Touch Neuromuscular Massage in Seymour.
FILBERT FIVE – MEN’S TEAM
Curtis Hargus – Hillcrest High School/Drury University
If you ever look up the all-time leading scorers at Springfield’s public high schools, you’ll run across an interesting name for Hillcrest High School. That would belong to Hargus, who ranks sixth all-time in Hornets basketball history with 1,334 points. More incredible, he accomplished it in three year in only 71 games – far fewer than most of the guys ahead of him on the list. He earned First Team Large Class All-State in 1975 and honorable mention All-State honors in 1974. He averaged 24.4 points as a senior and was selected by the St. Petersburg/Tampa Times as one of 300 high school All-Americans. That garnered interest from several Big 8 Conference and Southeastern Conference schools, along with colleges in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. In 1974, he scored 52 points against Jefferson City – and it’s still an SPS record and second-best among all Springfield schools. He converted 20 consecutive free throws in the same game, also an MSHSAA record. He landed at Drury University, lettering for four seasons. He was a member of Drury’s 1979 national championship basketball team. Hargus has seen been Associate Director of United Way, Director of Emergency Services for Red Cross, and retired as a public school teacher after 29 years with the Ozark School District. He coached junior high school track and field, boys and girls basketball, and spent a majority of his coaching career as a high school cross country coach at Ozark High School.
Collins Harris – Jefferson City High School/Drury University
Harris led Jefferson City to the Class 5 state championship in 2004 as the Jays finished 25-4. He earned First Team All-State that season, although it wasn’t his only endeavor. Harris also was in concert, marching, jazz band and played seven different instruments. He then became one of the keys to building Drury basketball from 2004 to 2008 under coach Steve Hesser (MSHOF 2022). A power forward/center, he helped Drury win the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament in 2008, advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament and finish 25-6. At the time, he was only the fourth Panther to earn NCAA Division II All-America honors (Drury joined in 1994), and helped Drury to an 88-31 record, three NCAA D-II Tournaments and two conference championships. At one point, he scored 42 points in a game. Upon graduation, Harris was the only Panther to earn First Team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors three times and finished with 1,910 points – averaging 19.0, 17.8 and 17.9 points a game in his final three seasons. He played in all 119 games and was the Great Lakes Region Player of the Year in 2008. The son of Collins Harris III and Amanda & Ali Woodley, he is back in Springfield as a business entrepreneur with My Car Guy Auto Group. He and his wife, Veronica, are parents to Nahmy and Galaxy.
Barry Kemp – Evangel University
One day after Kemp told a high school teammate that he had about 20 college scholarship offers, Evangel coach Steve Jenkins (MSHOF 2016) drove nearly seven hours to North Texas to sign him. Kemp went on to earn NAIA Division II All-America honors in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and today is one of only 24 players in Evangel history to earn All-America recognition – and one of only nine to have pulled the feat at least twice. He was Evangel’s all-time leading scorer with 2,310 points until a shooter named Jackson Capel came along in the mid-2000s. Kemp also ranks second all-time in both rebounds (832) and blocks (144). A a three-time all-conference selection, he helped Evangel to 29- and 21-win seasons in his final two years and led the Valor to the conference regular-season title and a first-round NAIA Tournament win in his junior season. He previously played for Troy Hamm-coached Krum (Texas) High School, on a team that went 37-0 his senior year, and earned All-State. He also played quarterback on the football team and ran track. These days, he is an Air Force chaplain after serving as a Springfield police officer starting in 2001, working several years on its SWAT team.
Anthony Welcome – Nixa High School/Johnson County (Kan.) Community College/
Drury University/William Jewell College
In Nixa, basketball fans roll out the welcome mat for one of their favorites. In 1994 while playing for coach Jay Osborne (MSHOF 2022), Welcome earned First Team All-State and All-Ozarks and played in the Missouri Hall of Fame Game for the top 20 players. He averaged 21.2 points, seven rebounds and three steals a game as a senior. He also was on the track & field team, earning All-State in the high jump and long jump that May. He then played at Johnson County Community College in Kansas, and spent his final two seasons at Drury and William Jewell. He finished with 1,842 career points in college, and earned First Team All-Jayhawk Conference at Johnson County and First Team All-Heart of America Athletic Conference at William Jewell. At Jewell his senior year, the Cardinals reached a No. 2 ranking and the Sweet 16 of the NAIA Division II Tournament. An account director of National Oncology, Welcome lives in Blue Springs with his wife, Emily, and their six children Alexa, Ashlyn, Athen, Alec, Alivia and Amelia.
Scott Welsh – Willard High School
Welsh was a three-time All-State selection for Willard High School for coach George Wilson (MSHOF 2008), earning Second Team honors in 1990 and then First Team All-State in 1991 and 1992. In all, he scored 1,899 points on varsity. Along the way, he helped the Tigers win the Blue & Gold Tournament in 1991 and place third in the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions a year later. That was a fitting part of his time with Wilson, who had coached his dad, Ed, at Fair Play High School and coached his brother, Steve, on Willard’s 1988 state third-place team. Welsh went on to a career in grounds, mostly as a golf course superintendent. He has been at Bill & Payne Stewart Golf Course in Springfield for the past five years. Previously, he worked 10 years at Green Hills Country Club in Willard and was at Island Green Golf Club in Republic for a decade. He got his start at Silo Ridge Golf & Country Club in Bolivar, learning under Ronnie Harmon. He also worked grounds for the Willard School District. Welsh and his wife, Angie, are parents to Syler, a senior at Willard High School.
