Inductees

Arvel Popp was Bill Bradley’s basketball coach at Crystal City High School. He worked in virtually all sports at the high school before he retired as a coach in 1975 after 28 years with the Hornets.

He was one of the area’s most successful coaches at the time but always was associated with Crystal City’s 1961 basketball team. Led by Bradley, the small-town Hornets lost 52-51 to big-city St. Louis University High in the Missouri Class L championship game.

Bradley went on to the NCAA Final Four with Princeton, a National Basketball Association championship with the New York Knicks, and became a U.S. Senator.

“Coach Arvel Popp played a major role in my life, and he is the only person I have ever called `Coach,’ ” Bradley said. “He was an inspiration as well as a teacher. Above all, he set high standards that all of us strive to measure up to. His impact on the entire community over many years was significant.”