Inductees
Jeff Graviett

When fringe sports fans wonder about the secrets to success of any coach, they may automatically assume it’s that they pay attention to detail, put in hours of hard work and hold players accountable.
Well, that’s true. Yet the common denominator is pretty simple – a love for the game. And perhaps that best explains Jeff Graviett’s leadership of the Notre Dame Regional High School baseball and softball programs.
“My first high school coach, (Chaffee’s) Bob Coons, showed me work ethic,” Graviett said, noting the coach was always there for every player. “And I quickly became the young kid that stayed around all morning shaggy balls. I just couldn’t get enough.”
Graviett has poured that love into his teams and, in turn, they turned him into one of the state’s most successful coaches. And, for that reason, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Graviett with the Class of 2024.
He has amassed an impressive combined record of 938-259 in 27 seasons. He became the baseball assistant coach in 1997 and then the head coach in 1999. A year later, he also joined the softball staff and was promoted to head coach in 2003.
Overall, his teams have advanced to 15 Final Fours. The baseball team won state in 2009 and 2015, placed second in 1999 and third in 2000, 2002 and 2008. The program also won 11 district championships.
The softball team won state in 2009 and has four runner-up finishes (2005, 2008, 2015, 2017), three third-place finishes (2004, 2007, 2016) and a fourth-place finish in 2010.
“I am not receiving this recognition without the players,” Graviett said. “I was blessed with a lot of great athletes, players and assistant coaches. I just tried to get the best out of every kid and give them the love of the game. To my former players, thanks for the memories and the relationships. The relationships will always outweigh the wins and losses. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing your former players get married, start families, and even coaching their kids down the road. God has most certainly blessed me at Notre Dame.”
A 1994 graduate of Chaffee High School, where he earned All-Scott Mississippi Conference honors in basketball and baseball, Graviett was entrusted with Notre Dame’s programs at a young age.
He was only 24 when the school asked him to lead the baseball program ahead of the 1999 season. That may have been a surprise to some, considering Jim Glasstetter coached for more than 20 years through 1995, winning three state titles. But his successor, Gregg Muench, later left to enroll his son in the St. Louis School for the Deaf.
However, Graviett wasn’t green. At age 19 in 1995, he coached Chaffee’s Junior American Legion team (and later took over its Senior Legion team in 2000). At age 21, while working on his undergraduate degree at Southeast Missouri State, he joined Notre Dame baseball as an assistant.
Over the years, his focus turned from winning to relationship-building.
“I started wanting to pass on the love of the game of baseball/softball to my players so that they would want their kids to play this wonderful game someday,” Graviett said.
With that fun environment, his teams thrived. His 2008 baseball and softball teams had lost heartbreakers the year before – baseball in the semifinals, softball in the state championship game – and so those setbacks fueled the 2009 teams.
The 2009 softball team won after being down to its final out in the district championship, won the state semifinal in extra innings and then saw its pitcher throw a perfect fame in the state championship.
Graviett was the Missouri Baseball Coach of the Year in 2009, and has served as Notre Dame’s athletic director since 2016. He has been inducted into the following halls of fame: Notre Dame, Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association and the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association.
The success stems from mentors Coach Coons, assistants Ray Reinagel, Legion coach Tom Reinagel, athletic director Paul Hale, farmer-coach Tom Obermann and Charleston coach Michael Minner.
Additionally, Graviett always has had the support of his parents, as well as his wife, Angie, and their children Garrett, Miranda, Kirstan, and Blake.
“God has been a huge part of my story,” Graviett said. “I would have never chosen Notre Dame as my destination, but he chose it for me. That place is special. It has strengthened my faith life and truly made me appreciate all of the little things God has provided me.”