Sometimes, life grabs you by the coattails and pulls you in another direction. And sometimes they aren’t coattails at all but your eyes, ears and voice so that the athletic events of smalltown high school athletes can be broadcast on air. That’s exactly what happened to Larry Cowger. “In 1998, a gentleman from the radio… Read more »
News
Sport: Basketball
Alberta Lee Cox
Alberta Lee Cox, a 1949 graduate of Raytown High School, was a standout player and coach in basketball. Her playing experience spanned 20 years as a member of the National AAU team, participating in tournaments that ranked fifth or better in the nation, and in two World Tournaments in 1957 and 1964. She was a… Read more »
Ed Crenshaw
A graduate of Sumner High School in St. Louis, Ed went on to play college basketball at Quincy College. In the years that followed, Crenshaw distinguished himself as one of the finest basketball coaches in the state. Between the years of 1961 and 1996, Coach Crenshaw split time between St. Dominic High School and University… Read more »
Frank Cusumano
After 25 years covering sports for KSDK TV, after tons of awards and numerous World Series and two Super Bowls – after everything – you would assume Frank Cusumano would put it on cruise control. Hardly. In October 2018, there he was on assignment at inner-city Roosevelt High School, reporting on a Public High League… Read more »
Forrest DeBernardi
Forrest Sale “Red” DeBernardi was an American college basketball player in the 1920s. Standing 6 ft. 1 inches tall, DeBernardi was one of the best centers of his era and played all five positions. Born in Nevada, Missouri, he attended Westminster College where he played from 1919 to 1921. On January 19, 1920, he made… Read more »
Carly Deer Stubblefield
Her destiny was to be a Missouri State Lady Bear. How else to describe it? After all, when Carly Deer Stubblefield was in the sixth grade, her dad returned home from a coaching clinic inspired by a college coach. “That coach was Cheryl Burnett,” Stubblefield said of the Lady Bears’ longtime leader (MSHOF Legend 2015),… Read more »
Ray DeGreef
Ray DeGreef spent 27 years as a basketball coach at St. Francis Borgia High School in Washington, Missouri, where he posted a record of 545-240. Before his time at Borgia, he coached at Browning High School, Southside Catholic High School, St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis, Arlington Heights High School, State Teachers’ College in… Read more »
Dave Dorr
Dave Dorr’s contribution to basketball in Missouri was most significant during the 1970s and 1980s when the college game was enjoying its explosive growth. In 1991, he was only the second to be inducted into the writers wing of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Dorr is a member of the United States… Read more »
Larry Drew
A Kansas City native, Larry Drew was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 1st round (17th overall) of the 1980 NBA Draft. A 6’1″ point guard from the University of Missouri, Drew played in 10 NBA seasons. He played for the Pistons, Kansas City/Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers. During his… Read more »
1996 Drexel High School Girls Basketball State Champions
In March of 1995, their season having been detoured away from the state championship game, two of Drexel High School’s girls basketball players essentially made a pact. There in the hotel, while going over the scouting report for a third-place game, expectations were already being raised for next winter. BryAnn Cook Middleton and Stephany Dawson… Read more »
1978-79 Drury College Panthers Basketball
The 1978-79 Drury College basketball team started the season 4-1, before posting an impressive win over the defending NCAA-II Champions, Cheyney State of Pennsylvania, 70-67 in the first annual Southwest Missouri Basketball Classic. That win started a 19 game winning streak and the Panthers finished the regular season with a 25-2 record. The team finished… Read more »
Mary Phyl Dwight
There weren’t many opportunities for sports-minded young girls growing up in Missouri in the 1960s. So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn Mary Phyl Dwight couldn’t quite help herself once she arrived on Missouri State University’s campus in the fall of 1970. A graduate of Raytown South High School, Dwight grew up yearning… Read more »
Carla Eades
Carla Eades played for Madison Consolidated High School, making it to two sectional championships and one regional. She was part of the 1980 First Team All-State and the Indiana All-Star 1980, as well as playing in the MVP of Indiana All-Star game in Kentucky. Eades is a three-time Academic All-American, three-time Kodak All-American, and made… Read more »
Al Eberhard
Eberhard starred for the University of Missouri Tigers before being drafted by the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted with the fifteenth pick in the first round of the 1974 NBA draft and played four seasons in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons, averaging 6.8 points per game and 3.5… Read more »
Al Eberhard
Back on his family’s farm, Al Eberhard would shoot baskets at a backboard hanging from the barn door. And, if it was too cold outside, the day wasn’t lost. You see, his dad, who had poured the concrete slab outside to create a makeshift basketball surface, also hoisted a backboard inside, not far from the… Read more »
George Edwards
George Edwards truly belonged to the University of Missouri; he played basketball there and then eventually landed as the Tigers’ head basketball coach for 20 seasons. He took over for George Bond and led the Tigers (who were a part of the Missouri Valley Conference for the first two seasons of his tenure) to an… Read more »