Ivan Milton was the longest-tenured athletic trainer Missouri State University has had many noteworthy accomplishments in his nearly three-decade career on the Springfield campus, as he was influential the establishment and expansion of a number of training facilities and services. In his first year at Missouri State University, he opened and supplied the training room… Read more »
News
Sport: Basketball
Monachino Father-Son Coaching Duo
Countless people have contributed to the success of St. Pius X High School athletics, but one name continually resurfaces when talking about the school and winning – Monachino. Joe Monachino and his son, Joe Jr., each built their own successful coaching careers at St. Pius X, winning state championships and earning Final Four appearances in… Read more »
1952, 1953 MSU Bears NAIA basketball champions
To hear the old-timers tell it now, it sounds almost too good to be true. And former standout guard Bill Thomas says as much. He’s speaking of the then-Southwest Missouri State Bears, who won the 1952 and 1953 NAIA national championships in men’s basketball. In the ’52 national semifinals, the Bears forged a tie at… Read more »
Johnny Murdock
More than a dozen players who donned the maroon and white of the Missouri State University men’s basketball program moved on to play professional basketball during the past 40 years. There were even a few, like Blake Ahearn, Alize Johnson and Winston Garland, who landed in the NBA. There were some with NBA G-League experience… Read more »
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 »
Jill Nagel
In 2004, for the first time in her life, Jill Nagel had to watch a basketball season go on without her. She had starred for King City High School in the early 1990s, and then at William Jewell College, where, “after a quarterfinal conference tournament loss at Lindenwood,” she said, “I took off my jersey… Read more »
Lynn Nance
Granby native Lynn Nance excelled on the Missouri hardwood in high school, at Southwest Baptist College and in the professional ranks with the St. Louis Hawks. Named one of the Top 100 Missouri Athletes of the Century, he went on to become one of the most prolific college basketball coaches in the state’s history. Between… Read more »
Leon Neal
He grew up in the 1960s and 1970s in what’s now South Central Los Angeles where, in his words, “Many black males would die by the age of 25 because of gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, and yeah I lost some friends.” Leon Neal, the longtime coach of the Evangel University women’s basketball program,… Read more »
Natasha Neal Moore
NaTasha Neal Moore grew up in Springfield playing a variety of sports. Softball. Track. Volleyball. She tried them all. But her path to basketball stardom was written in the stars long before she ever graced the earth. Born in Portugal while her parents were playing professional basketball, Neal Moore had basketball in her heart from… Read more »
Marvin Neals
Marvin Neals, who coached both Soldan High School and Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School to Missouri high school basketball championships, is noted as one of the finest coaches in the state. He is the only coach in the history of Missouri to win state championships in two different classes in the state. Neals took… Read more »
Dave Neier
Dave Neier never has been one to draw attention to himself. And his favorite comment to local media was, “You were there, you saw what happened.” Later, it became, “What are you asking me for? You know what’s going on.” What went on was winning. His St. Francis Borgia Regional High School boys basketball teams earned… Read more »
James Nelson
Jim Nelson coached at Jewell from 1950-1990. He had the longest tenured coaching career in the history of Jewell athletics. During his illustrious career he served as assistant football coach, head football coach, head men’s basketball coach, head women’s basketball coach, cross country coach, track coach, and tennis coach. Nelson came to Jewell with Dr.… Read more »
Bob Nelson
Bob Nelson coached for 25 years at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park, 19 years with the men’s team and six years with the women. Along the way, “Mad Dog,” as his former players affectionately know him, amassed a record of 509-240.
Kathy Nelson
The quote from a dear friend still comes to mind all these years later, a reminder that sometimes you’ve got to roll the dice and take a chance. Back in 2010, the Kansas City Sports Commission recruited veteran TV journalist-turned-executive Kathy Nelson to run WIN for KC, which empowers the lives of girls and women… Read more »
New Haven High School Basketball Program
Since the school’s first game one hundred years ago, New Haven has established an outstanding basketball tradition recognized throughout the state. The Shamrocks have ten Final Four appearances and eight State Championships. From 1956 through 1959, the teams won four consecutive Class S State Titles and boasted an overall record of 130-9. During that span, they… Read more »
Palmer Nichols
Palmer Nichols was a basketball coach at Sacred Heart High School in Sedalia, Missouri. He also co-founded the local Boys and Girls Club chapter in Sedalia.