On late winter afternoons, with rays of sunlight beaming through the west windows of the old junior high gymnasium, you’ll find … wrestlers. Yes, wrestlers. The main gym? That’s for duals for the varsity teams. See the black and yellow posters of the success hanging nearby? They’re of 100-match winners and state medalists. Beyond is… Read more »
News
Category: Coaches
Bob Roberts
Now in his 26th year, Bob Roberts has notched an impressive 871 wins against only 486 losses, a .642 winning percentage. In 1998, while at Atlanta High School, his Lady Hornets captured the state title. Their record that season was a hard fought 31-0. That championship was on the heels of a third place finish… Read more »
Jack Roberts
Jack Roberts, a Drury standout in the sport of basketball, is the first Drury athlete to be inducted into the Drury Hall of Fame not only for his athletic success while at Drury, but also for his contributions to society after his graduation from Drury. Jack graduated from Drury on May 30, 1949 following a… Read more »
Lynnette Robinson
In August 1987, despite having never visited the Missouri State University campus, Lynnette Robinson pulled into Springfield with only a U-Haul and a dream. Truth is, others might have gasped and high-tailed it back home, given that her new boss, recently hired Lady Bears basketball coach Cheryl Burnett, needed an assistant coach to help carry… Read more »
John Roderique
In the summer of 1997, weeks before he stepped under the Friday night lights as head football coach of the Webb City Cardinals, John Roderique would jolt out of his sleep. That is, with his mind swirling about, well, everything. “Those first few weeks, I’d wake up and think, ‘What did I do?” said Roderique,… Read more »
Jeff Rogers
He was only about five years older than the seniors when hired to coach the Glendale High School boys soccer team and, given he had walked across a college graduation stage a year before, you figured that Jeff Rogers would need a few years to let the program marinate into his winning formula. Instead, Glendale… Read more »
Dan Rolfes
For some basketball coaches, they knew at an early age that they wanted to lead teams eventually. For many, it simply comes together by happenstance. Which makes Dan Rolfes’ story so incredible. There he was in college, trying to figure out what he wanted to do in life, when the fifth-grade little sister of his… Read more »
Ron Jones
Ron Jones is a former Wayne State College Wildcat athlete, instructor, coach, and athletic director. A native of Farnhamville, Iowa, Jones came to Wayne State University as an athlete, competing for two years (1961-63) in basketball and baseball. During his senior season, he was MVP in both basketball and baseball at WSC. Jones averaged 18.2… Read more »
Bill Ross
As an athlete at the University of Missouri, Ross excelled in both basketball and baseball. Following graduation, and after a successful tenure as a high school basketball coach, Bill became instrumental in the development and implementation of the Intercollegiate Athletics program at UMKC. In the development of the program, he began the men’s and women’s… Read more »
Craig Ruby
A two-time All-American and All-Missouri Valley Conference forward at the University of Missouri, J. Craig Ruby took over the head coaching position of his alma mater in 1920. Ruby coached the Tigers for two seasons, compiling a record of 33 wins and only 2 losses. Both of Ruby’s Missouri teams were retroactively named national champions… Read more »
Dale Russell
Born and raised in Branson, Missouri, Dale Russell was a standout athlete for the Branson Pirate basketball team that went a perfect 41 and 0 en route to the 1955 Class B State Championship. At only 6’2″, Russell played center for the Pirates. His height, however, was not a handicap as he was named the… Read more »
Mike Russell
In 1977, after five seasons coaching junior varsity football at Lutheran North High School, Mike Russell got quite the shock. There he was, meeting with the principal and a longtime assistant coach, when the news dropped. The guy hired to be the new varsity football coach had backed out. “So (the AD) asked which one… Read more »
Joann Rutherford
From the moment her father put a basketball in her hands at age 2, Joann Rutherford loved the game, and her passion for the sport only grew from there. How could it not? Her father, who had played at Pittsburg State University and with the U.S. Air Force team, had installed a full-length court in… Read more »
Tom Rutledge
Tom Rutledge came to Missouri Southern in 1988 as an assistant football coach and in 1989 became the first head cross country and track and field coach for both the men’s and women’s programs. Since that time, Rutledge has been named MIAA Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year five times and Indoor Coach of… Read more »
Claude Samson
Claude Samson’s success as the boys’ and girls’ basketball coach at Northeast Nodaway High School is exceptional. His boys’ team won 15 conference championships and nine district titles. They won seven final four state tournament appearances, including three second-place finishes, for a record of 536-129. The Northeast Nodaway girls had similar success with an .880… Read more »
Jim Scanlon
Some college graduates want to go straight to the big time after walking across the graduation stage. However, Jim Scanlon wasn’t afraid to start his career at the bottom of the coaching ladder. Nor was he allergic to rolling up his sleeves to get a job done. Call it a great road taken. Scanlon coached… Read more »