Inductees

For years, Steve Hunter’s basketball teams “pressed the dog out of you.” Those were his words and for good reason.

In the early 1990s, after about seven years as a high school coach and clearly frustrated, Hunter and assistant Rick Boyce installed their own version of the run-and-jump press while at West Plains High School, triggering a Final Four run at a place not known then for hoops.

“Embracing a style of play that is different from everyone else gives you a decided advantage – the philosophy being that your opponent doesn’t employ your style, your pace, your system,” Hunter said, “and, therefore, struggles to prepare and practice for you.”

Many opponents loathed – or loved the challenge of — playing his teams, which won and won big, and it’s collectively the reason why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Hunter with the Class of 2019.

His record over 28 seasons as a high school boys basketball coach, including 25 years in Missouri, was 536-254.

Mainly, Hunter pushed all the right buttons so many times. He guided three Missouri programs – West Plains, Hartville and Ozark – to a combined six Final Fours within a 10-year period, winning a Class 4 state title in 2003 at Ozark. Along the way, he coached eight All-Staters, won 16 conference championships, 13 districts and advanced to 10 state quarterfinals.

He coached West Plains from 1989 to 1997, with his 1996 Zizzers finishing as Class 4 state runners-up. His 1998 Hartville Eagles placed third in Class 2.

In 14 seasons at Ozark (2000 to 2013), Hunter’s Tigers earned 280 wins, reached three other Final Fours (2001, 2004, 2006), plus won six district championships and five Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament titles.

In fact, after his Ozark days, his 64 Blue & Gold wins were the most in the 72-year history of Springfield’s prestigious event.

Which was fitting. His mom, Maxine, would drop off Hunter and three brothers at Blue & Gold tournaments during their formative years.

“I really never knew anything but being part of a team, sport or season, and competition was the name of the game in my family,” Hunter said. “Coaching seemed to be a logical choice for me, as I held most of my coaches in high regard and tried hard to please them and be an integral part of a team.”

Hunter was an all-conference basketball and baseball player at Glendale High School before playing at John Brown University and Lubbock Christian College in Texas (1982).

After a graduate assistantship at Sul Ross State University, he was a three-year head coach at Strother, Okla., which was 41-15 in his final two seasons, leading to West Plains.

“The West Plains job was not highly sought-after,” Hunter said, “because it was deemed a difficult place to win.”

Hunter’s Zizzers earned 146 wins, 93 in his final four seasons there. At Hartville, the team was coming off a 30-2, Final Four season.

“The group I was privileged to coach was loaded 10 to 12 deep with three returning starters,” Hunter said. “In addition, (Hartville) played a fast-paced style that mirrored what I had developed in West Plains.”

At Ozark, Hunter and assistant Kevin Armstrong built a youth program, assisted the junior high teams and – unheard of at the time – had freshmen and junior varsity players in varsity practices. It led to more individual coaching, with assistants given room to maneuver.

“With the combination of our system, our talent, our coaching, and our high expectations,” Hunter said, “we were a force to be reckoned with at all levels for a number of years.”

Among high school assistants who spent at least five years with Hunter were Armstrong, Boyce, Barry DeHart, Randy Schutjer, Jason Howser, Damon Seiger and Mark Schweitzer. He also had great support from his wife, Julie, and their children Jordan, Spencer and Hayley.

The 1996 and 2003 Missouri Coach of the Year, Hunter is a 2009 inductee of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In November 2018, he began a fifth season at North Arkansas College with an 85-40 record (.680).

His advice to aspiring coaches?

“Coach your players. Hold them accountable,” Hunter said. “Players want discipline, and they want instruction; they won’t tell you that now, but they will appreciate your expectations, your passion and the integrity of the game long after they no longer play. Life lessons are taught every day with every circumstance; be a role model for them and their future as a father, husband, and human being.”