Inductees

Rickey Paulding started playing basketball in Detroit, took a turn to Columbia, Mo., and a journey in Europe ended in Oldenburg, Germany.
Along the way, he became one of the best basketball players to ever play for the Missouri Tigers, as proven by being named to the Mizzou All-Century team.
After his college days ended, Paulding played pro basketball for nearly two decades. And that’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted him with the Class of 2025.

A product of Renaissance High School, he landed at Missouri for the 2000-01 season. He said his youth/AAU coach, Larry Griffin, and Mark White, the boys basketball coach at Renaissance, were impactful in his journey to Division I basketball.
“They both helped me to see where the game of basketball could take me, and the doors it could open for me,” Paulding said. “Also, they both taught me the importance of having a good work ethic and to not be afraid to stand out and be special.”He played in 33 games and started eight. But over the next three years, he became a regular in the rotation for Quin Snyder. He started to cement his place in Missouri lore his sophomore year, helping the Tigers reach the Elite Eight and reach as high as No. 2 in the AP poll that season.

“That run was one of the best times in my basketball career,” he recalls. “Of course, it was fun to accomplish what we were able to on the court, but the journey to those moments is what I remember the most. Some of the struggles that we had along the way brought us together and helped forge an incredible bond.”
Kareem Rush, Clarence Gilbert, Arthur Johnson and Paulding made up the core of that team. The latter three are in the top 10 all-time leaders in points. Paulding finished with 1,673 points, currently 10th.
The roster also featured a first-round draft pick in Rush, a future NFL wide receiver in Justin Gage and Josh Kroenke, now the owner of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Rapids.
“It’s pretty wild to see where everyone ended up,” said Paulding, who was drafted in the second round by Detroit in 2004. “At the time, we were all just trying to figure out life on and off the court. I’m very fortunate to have been able to be around that kind of talent. I like to brag that I played with those guys back in the day.”
The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament the next year as well, and Paulding dropped 36 points, on nine 3-pointers, in a loss to Marquette, led by future NBA star Dwyane Wade. It was the most any Mizzou player scored in a tournament game.
Paulding was drafted months after the Pistons won the NBA championship, but he had a hard time finding a fit on a roster that returned to the NBA finals.

However, professional basketball took him to Israel, France and Germany, where he spent 15 years playing for Baskets Oldenburg, a team in the Bundesliga sponsored by the electric company EWE. He played for the Baskets from 2007 to 2022, before retiring. He’s the highest all-time scorer in German Basketball Bundesliga history. He helped the club to its only league title in 2009 and the German Cup crown in 2015.
“I’m very fortunate to have been able to play for so long,” said the now 43-year-old. “I got to really live out my dream and have so many wonderful experiences living in Europe. The best part was being able to have my family there with me.”
Paulding continues to be around the game he loves as the assistant varsity coach at Lee’s Summit North High School.
He has two sons on the Broncos’ roster this year, Sidney, a freshman and Ricky Paulding III, a senior, who goes by Tre.
He and his wife, Kara, also have a daughter, Marleigh. Kara, a Mizzou grad with bachelor’s and law degrees, grew up in Blue Springs and that led to the family settling in Lee’s Summit.
Paulding, the son of Virginia and the late Rickey Paulding Sr., also coaches youth basketball teams through RP23 Athletics and helps with summer camps.
“I love having the opportunity to coach because I received so much from the coaches that I had growing up,” he said. “Basketball has given me a lot and it’s important to me to give back any way that I can.”