Finishing a season as undefeated champions isn’t easy. Just ask the 2007 New England Patriots. Or the 2009 Indianapolis Colts, 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2015 Carolina Panthers, 2018 Los Angels Rams and the 2019 San Francisco 49ers. But that’s football. Now let’s try basketball. On the women’s side, only four programs have ever gone an entire… Read more »
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Sport: Basketball
Gene Bess
To some, maybe it raised eyebrows. A successful high school basketball coach leaving to become an assistant at the junior college in Poplar Bluff? And after just leading the Oran boys to within a whisker of the Class M state championship? In March 1969, it made perfect sense to Gene Bess. “I’d been in high… Read more »
Jim Bidewell
He had grown up playing several sports in Poplar Bluff, where his dad owned a sporting goods store and doubled as a Big 8 Conference basketball referee. However, becoming a coach was not exactly on Jim Bidewell’s radar, even in college. “I was a junior at Arkansas State, engaged to my high school sweetheart, mopping… Read more »
Fred Biesemeyer
Fred E. Biesemeyer was born in Franklin, Howard County, Missouri in 1923. In his youth, Biesemeyer played baseball and was known for his exceptional skills at bat. Before his coaching career, he served in World War II, achieving the rank of lieutenant. He was also a Korean War veteran. Later in life, he coached basketball… Read more »
Rhonda Blades Brown
It started early for Rhonda Blades Brown, as it so often does for the greats. Not content to sit on the sidelines and watch, Blades Brown played basketball with the boys in grade school during recess, pretending to be Magic Johnson. “I played on my first team when I was 10 years old at the… Read more »
Frank Boal
The story goes that Kansas City was just supposed to be a pit stop on the road back home, that he’d cut his teeth in a large television market and eventually go cover the boyhood teams he once cheered. And then Frank Boal met Kansas City, and its passion for sports and people. “Once I… Read more »
Dick Boushka
A native of St. Louis, MO, but a product of Campion High in Wisconsin, Dick Boushka (pronounced BOO-shka) was named first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference three times (1953-55) during his SLU career. In his senior season, 1954-55, Boushka was a member of The Valley championship team that went 20-8 and advanced to the NIT Tournament. His… Read more »
Willie Bowie
He could easily rattle off the number of his coaching wins, the number of state tournament trips or even the big names on his teams. However, Willie Bowie prefers other statistics that speak to the kind of basketball coach he was at Paseo High School in Kansas City. “We had a ton of success, and… Read more »
Richard Bowles
Richard Bowles attended William Jewell College from 1945-49, graduating in just three years as salutatorian after missing the 1946-47 year serving in the military. He was the son of legendary coach and athletic director R.E. Bowles and the youngest of four brothers who were all student-athletes for the William Jewell Cardinals. He was a 1945… Read more »
Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley graduated from Bismarck High School and embarked on a basketball career that has spanned over five decades. He attended Hannibal-LaGrange College from 1952-’54, where his teams compiled a 59-11 record and placed third in the National Junior College Tournament both years. He then moved on to Northeast Louisiana University and was a two-time… Read more »
Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley displays a truly unique combination of brilliance, athletic ability, and leadership skills. He is an American Hall of Fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President in the 2000 election. Bradley was born and raised in Crystal… Read more »
1967 and 1968 Bradleyville Eagles Basketball
The 1967 & 1968 Bradleyville Eagles basketball teams continue to hold the state record for consecutive wins with 64. Bradleyville won the first three games of the ’67 season before losing to Sparta 68-65. Then, Coach Argil Ellison’s team began their record breaking win streak with an 87-57 win over Gainesville. The Eagles completed the… Read more »
Bobby L. Brown
Brown, a native of Stoutland, MO, began his coaching career at Richland High School in 1956, where he coached for three years and compiled an 80-17 record. Brown then spent four years at Bolivar, highlighted by a 30-4 record and state Class M Championship in 1960. In 1966, Brown became the head basketball coach for… Read more »
John Brown
Dixon, Missouri native, John Brown, was an All-American and All-Big Eight forward/center in 1972 and 1973 for the University of Missouri. He completed his career as the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer with 1,421 points, which now ranks sixth in school history. Brown played for six years for the Atlanta Hawks, where he was named to… Read more »
Travis Brown
He could have left his legacy only on the basketball court as a star guard and gone on his way in life, telling stories years later of leading Sumner High School to a state title and landing in the record books at Missouri Baptist University. Instead, Travis Brown far greater dreams, such as putting school… Read more »
Charles Brown
Charlie Brown is only the second person to honored with the President’s Award. A graduate of Lebanon High School and the University of Missouri, Brown has long been active in sports around Missouri. He served as the district and national chairman for Mizzou’s Tiger Scholarship Fund, and served a ten-year term on the University of Missouri Alumni… Read more »