On a dairy farm outside of Clever in southwest Missouri, back in the late 1970s and 1980s, Kris Flood usually could be found shooting hoops in about the only enclosed facilities nearby. “We had a few places where we could go and play basketball, mainly in hay barns,” Flood said. “My uncle laid down a… Read more »
News
Category: Coaches
Fred Flook
In the early 1960s, Fred Flook was coaching at Liberty High School when the athletic director of nearby William Jewell College, Dr. Norris Patterson (MSHOF 2006), called in search of a coach who could double as a baseball and gymnastics coach. A Liberty football coach, George Carter, had recommended Flook to Patterson, who wanted to… Read more »
Don Foster
Don Foster turned the Palmyra boys basketball program into Northeast Missouri’s most successful and feared program during the 1970s and ’80s. The Panthers won a state championship in 1979, made four other state tournament appearances under Foster, and showcased how a no-nonsense approach worked. “The way he taught us to play the game and how… Read more »
Amy Francka
Throughout her childhood and teenage years, playing softball was the focus. Summer teams and then for the local high school in Morrisville was the routine. But after leaving the game behind, Amy Francka (pronounced France-kuh) found another calling with a bows and arrows. Initially, she aimed and fired to fill the time, inspired by an… Read more »
Steve Frank
He grew up working for his grandfather’s lumber companies in northeast Missouri and, when not there, could be found in the local high school basketball gym because his dad was the coach. However, Steve Frank’s life nearly detoured away from the game, as he considered declining the collegiate path in order to work in the… Read more »
Larry Garman
He grew up in the far southwest corner of Missouri, in a football town called Seneca. Years before the local high school would play in seven state championship games, before numerous playoff games, the mid-1950s teams planted the seeds. The quarterback? That was Larry Garman, who led the Seneca High School Indians to conference championships… Read more »
Dale Gildehaus
For St. Francis Borgia Regional High School football coach Dale Gildehaus, it’s more than the incredible number of wins and losses or all the trophies. It’s about faith, family, his players and coaches, and the Borgia Regional High School Community in and beyond Washington, Missouri. In fact, in today’s world of “what have you done… Read more »
Sandi Gildehaus
She set out to make a positive impact in life, and you can say that Sandi Gildehaus has done just that. A former high school and college cheerleader, she would attend St. Francis Borgia Regional High School football games and naturally watched the cheer team, too. Then, one day, the cheer coach decided to retire.… Read more »
Dave Gill
Thumb through the scrapbook of old newspaper clippings, and it’s easy to see why Dave Gill is held in such high regard in the mid-Missouri community of Ashland. “1981 State Champions” screams one headline below a worn photo of a softball team. Stretched across the top of another sports page, a headline reads “Gill retires… Read more »
Bob Glasgow
Back in 1983, Bob Glasgow was right of college and looking for a high school wrestling job when he heard of two, including the head coaching role at Oak Grove High School. In fact, Oak Grove was seeking its fifth head coach in 10 years but had enjoyed some success stories, with three state champions,… Read more »
Don Gosen
Don Gosen was a basketball coaching legend around Hermann, Missouri, for many years. He played basketball for Hermann High School and graduated in 1947. His senior year, his high school basketball record was 43-7 and placed fourth in state playoffs in only one class of schools.Gosen attended Moberly Junior College from 1947 to 1949, and… Read more »
Darrel Gourley
It’s almost as if it all happened in Hollywood, scripted and released on one of those old 1940s black-and-white movie reels. How else to explain the tremendous career of William Jewell College’s longtime coach, Darrel Gourley? You see, he was a high school freshman when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and then was forced to wait… Read more »
Rich Grawer
Grawer led the DeSmet Jesuit basketball program to three state titles in the 1970’s, and set a record for consecutive wins among large schools in the state of Missouri with 63. He would later become the head coach at Saint Louis University and, in 1985, began a streak of six consecutive winning seasons, culminating it… Read more »
Rick Grayson
Whenever Rick Grayson ultimately sinks his final putt, those eager to follow him as one of Springfield’s next great golf gurus probably will feel like the act after Elvis has left the building. Certainly, his resume wows, given Grayson has been a Professional Golf Association (PGA) teaching professional for 33 years. But that’s just skimming… Read more »
Roy Green
Former Kickapoo Chiefs standout Spencer Laurie was once asked to described Coach Roy Green in two words or less. Without hesitation Laurie replied, “Player’s coach.” And with very few exceptions, all of the players who have hit the hardwoods under Green’s tutelage during his 41 years of coaching would agree. Green has always been a… Read more »
Ann Luetkemeyer Gulshen
Back in the fall of 1975, Ann Gulshen couldn’t believe her ears. It had been three years since passage of federal Title IX legislation that forced public schools and universities to offer athletics to girls. And as she entered her senior year, Eldon High School planned to offer volleyball and called it, “the biggest thing… Read more »