You can make a case that Mark Edwards and Washington University in St. Louis took a chance on each other and it worked out beautifully. There he was in 1981, 35 years old and already an NCAA Division I assistant coach but being asked by university officials to return home. The mission? Oh, just dust… Read more »
News
Sport: Basketball
Don Edwards
If not for the influence of one high school coach, Don Edwards might have been a farmer. And while that likely would have been farming’s gain, it would have been a major loss for the sporting world in northwest Missouri. Admittedly, Edwards grew up with the same dreams of every other American boy. He wanted… Read more »
Doug Elgin
Doug Elgin, who in 30 years has brought a firm and steady hand to the Missouri Valley Conference as its commissioner, is quick to share the credit for MVC success with others within the organization. Elgin salutes the MVC Presidents Council for taking ownership of league membership issues, and also points to the remarkable continuity… Read more »
Howard Ellfeldt
Howard J. Ellfeldt attended the University of Kansas before completing his M.D. in Orthopedic Surgery in 1968. He served in the US Army and founded Kansas City Bone and Joint Clinic. Ellfeldt also served as team physician for the Kansas City Kings and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was inducted in Missouri Sports Hall of… Read more »
Claude English
In the early 1990s, with his NBA days done and his wife about to start a new job at a TV station, Claude English drove all over Kansas City. His car found its way to Park University’s campus on the northwest side of the metro area and then, while walking around, ran into the athletic… Read more »
Bud Epps
For teens who think they have no future in sports if they aren’t destined for the pros, don’t overlook roles just as valuable as the clean-up hitter or quarterback. Just ask Bud Epps. A 1972 graduate of St. Joseph Central High School, Epps once was pulled aside by John Henage (MSHOF 2015), at the time… Read more »
2002 Evangel University Men’s Basketball National Championship Team
In the tucked-way basketball office at a quaint college on Springfield’s north side, a framed copy of a newspaper hung for years for all to see. It captured the night of March 2002, with the headline splashed all over that the Evangel University men’s basketball team won the NAIA Division II national title. “After 20… Read more »
1963 Exeter High School Boys Basketball State Championship Team
In the southwest corner of Southwest Missouri lies one of the best basketball stories you’ve likely never heard of. Back in the winter of 1963, the Exeter High School Boys Basketball team authored one of the most impressive – and unlikely – undefeated state championship seasons in the history of the Show-Me State. It is,… Read more »
Nancy Fahey
As the head coach at Washington University in Saint Louis, Nancy Fahey has led the Bears to five NCAA Division III National Championships including back-to-back undefeated national championships in 1999 and 2000. In both 2000 and 2011, she was named the WBCA D-III Coach of the Year. Fahey has reached the Final Four 10 times… Read more »
Richard Fairchild
Richard Fairchild compiled a .661 winning percentage with a total of 463 wins and 237 losses during his 28-year career as a high school basketball coach. After his first coaching job in Skidmore, Missouri, Fairchild spent a productive six years in Oregon, Missouri, leading that team to win two conference championships, three district titles, and… Read more »
The Farmer Family
Mike Farmer loves telling this story. It’s about his dad, Elliott, the second baseman of the early 1930s Missouri Tigers baseball teams. “I remember being told by friends of his that he never went down swinging,” Mike says with a chuckle. “Hitting a baseball to him was (as easy) as catching a baseball.” In the… Read more »
Fast Break Club
The Fast Break Club grew out of conversations, in the early 1980s, among business and professional women in Springfield, brought together by Dr. Mary Jo Wynn for the purpose of brainstorming ways to support the women’s athletic program at Missouri State University. Challenged by University of Texas’ winning women’s basketball coach, Jody Conradt, in October… Read more »
Bob Ferry
Bob Ferry’s basketball career began at Cleveland High School in St. Louis. He averaged 32 points per game during his senior year in 1955 and was named to Missouri’s All-State team. He attended St. Louis University and was named an All-American following the 1959 season. After graduation, he was the first draft choice of the… Read more »
Jack Fette
Widely known as one of Missouri’s most storied sports officials, Jack Fette’s officiating career began in 1947 when he worked as a baseball umpire at the “Class D” professional level. He advanced to the American Association in 1950 as the youngest umpire in the league. His career seemed to be secured as a Major League… Read more »
Gary Filbert
A St. Joseph Benton High School graduate, Gary Filbert lettered in football, basketball, and track. After graduation, he headed to the University of Missouri and played for the freshman basketball squad. Upon returning from a four-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, Filbert was a three-year varsity basketball letter man for the Tigers. Upon graduation,… Read more »
Filbert Five – Class of 2019
CLASS OF 2019 Women’s Team Jill Esely Durnin (Savannah High School/William Jewell College) Dr. Tammy Erwin (Walnut Grove High School/Southwest Baptist University/College of the Ozarks) Carrie Long Green (Skyline High School/Southwest Baptist University) Brittany Percival Lyon (Hartville High School/Missouri Science & Technology) Kelsey Williams (Eminence High School/Moberly Area Community College/Lincoln University, University of Central Missouri) Men’s… Read more »