For some college graduates, patience – and a willingness to work your way up the ladder the old-fashioned way – isn’t all that scary. Put in your work and you may find your way to a great career. A case in point is Mark Mullin. In 1985, six years after he had put his wife… Read more »
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Category: Sports Administrators
Bob Murrey
Robert “Bob” Murrey was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. His family moved to Waynesville, Missouri when he was 14 years old. There, he attended high school, graduating in 1946. As a high school student, he led the Waynesville High School basketball team to a third-place finish in the one-class Missouri State High School Basketball Tournament… Read more »
Jamie Myers
A simple conversation between Jamie Myers and his nephews in the late 1980s led to one of the most successful youth sports programs in the state of Missouri. “When I finished graduate school and moved back to Rolla for a counseling position, my two nephews were in middle school. When I asked if they were… Read more »
Becky Oakes
Becky Oakes – Sports Administration A native of Rolla, Missouri, Becky Oakes began a lifelong love and appreciation of sport in elementary school playing softball and making the decision to become a physical education teacher. In high school Becky participated in intramurals and community sports, music and student government. Oakes attended Southwest Missouri State University… Read more »
Patti Phillips
Like most leaders whose positive energy inspires others and creates a self-challenge to do more, Patti Phillips rarely stops to smell the roses. Which is understandable if you think about it. As a former college basketball coach who went on to work for the NCAA and two other major organizations, her efforts are time-consuming. There’s… Read more »
Ben Pitney
Ben Pitney learned the game of basketball early and starred on his high school team at Hannibal, his junior college team at Hannibal-LaGrange (HLG) and then at Northeast Missouri State University. After a stint in the military, Pitney became a high school coach and applied his knowledge of basketball, football and baseball in the state… Read more »
Jim Redd
At Northwest Missouri State University, Redd captained the team for three years, garnering First Team Defensive Lineman and Second Team Offensive Tackle awards in 1965. Jim began his head coaching career in 1976, mentoring the Bearcats of his alma mater. He was later named Director of Athletics for Northwest, and in 2003 was appointed Director… Read more »
Dr. Sue Rollins
The phone call came in to her house in 1976, with the folks at Drury University hoping she would join the athletic department. Sue Rollins sensed it could be something special, and a chance to help grow women’s sports certainly piqued her interest. After all, as a teen, she played fastpitch softball in the summers,… Read more »
Bill Rowe
Story by Mark Stillwell If the truth be told, Bill Rowe wouldn’t have minded a few more years coaching the Missouri State baseball Bears. After 19 seasons, his program was enjoying its longest run of sustained success when he answered the University’s call in 1982 to step aside from his diamond duties and spearhead the… Read more »
Cindy Shook
Whenever Cindy Shook drives by the Branson RecPlex – a 40-acre sports complex on the city’s north side – she cannot help but beam. It’s here were hundreds of youth baseball and softball teams from all across the country play in tournaments, and where locals use the basketball gyms and more. “It fills me with… Read more »
Greg Simpkins
When Greg Simpkins arrived in West Plains in 1990, it reminded him of home. The setting, the people, the values all made Simpkins think about his days growing up and playing football in Cassville. “They’re both towns and programs made up of good people, with a great Ozarks living, and nice places to live and… Read more »
Denny Thum
In 1988, a dozen years after joining the Kansas City Chiefs as an entry-level accountant in the ticketing office and then slowly climbing the ladder, Denny Thum found his career in the big-time of a National Football League front office. That’s when the Chiefs hired Carl Peterson (MSHOF President’s Award 2022) as team president, general… Read more »
Bill Tobin
A native of Burlington Junction, MO, Bill Tobin’s collegiate football career started at the University of Missouri, where he lettered from 1960-1962 on teams that had a cumulative record of 26-3-3. A halfback and kicker, Tobin was the MVP of Missouri’s 14-10 win over Georgia Tech in the 1962 Bluebonnet Bowl. He was the Houston… Read more »
Kerwin Urhahn
All Dr. Kerwin Urhahn ever wanted to do was his best. Nothing more, nothing less. Whether he was teaching math, coaching, or serving as a principal, Urhahn worked to give everything he had to the job with which he was entrusted. And in his 16 years as Executive Director of the Missouri State High School… Read more »
Patty Viverito
At the time of her induction in 2014, Patty Viverito was in her 22nd year as senior associate commissioner at the Missouri Valley Conference and he 29th year as commissioner of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The league, which sponsored nine women’s sports and FCS football, saw its women’s programs merge with their MVC men’s counterparts in… Read more »
Frank Viverito
The plan was pretty simple: Follow the wife to her new job in St. Louis and, when time to relocate, it’d be his call on which city. However, Frank Viverto has never left. One sports marketing job led to another and then, in 1995, more than a decade after relocating here, a call came from… Read more »