Don Foster turned the Palmyra boys basketball program into Northeast Missouri’s most successful and feared program during the 1970s and ’80s. The Panthers won a state championship in 1979, made four other state tournament appearances under Foster, and showcased how a no-nonsense approach worked. “The way he taught us to play the game and how… Read more »
News
Sport: Basketball
Steve Frank
He grew up working for his grandfather’s lumber companies in northeast Missouri and, when not there, could be found in the local high school basketball gym because his dad was the coach. However, Steve Frank’s life nearly detoured away from the game, as he considered declining the collegiate path in order to work in the… Read more »
Joanie French
Every athlete has their favorite memory and, when Joanie French talks about hers, it’s almost too good to be true. In 1974, at age 17, there she was playing shortstop for Big Blue in the Women’s State fastpitch softball tournament against Foremost Dairy, known as Springfield’s best travel squad full of coaches and collegians. With… Read more »
Brad Gaines
When Brad Gaines enrolled at what was then Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, he had a game plan. “I truly didn’t try,” he said. “Hoping (my mom) would let me drop out. I really didn’t want to go to school. I wanted to work at Ford Motor Company, where my older brother worked and… Read more »
Charlie Gallagher
Charlie was born in Hawthorn, New Jersey and raised in Miami, Florida where he graduated from Archbishop Curley High School. He attended Louisiana Tech University and moved to Springfield in January of 1968. Charlie was successfully involved in the sportswear industry as a supplier to Nike, Champion, Starter and other companies providing sportswear for the… Read more »
Harry Gallatin
Harry ” The Horse” Gallatin played nine seasons for the New York Knicks in the NBA from 1948 to 1957, as well as one season with the Detroit Pistons in 1958. In 1954 Gallatin led the NBA in rebounding and was named to the All-NBA First Team. For his career, Gallatin played in seven NBA… Read more »
Winston Garland
Garland, a Gary, Indiana native, turned down a scholarship offer to play for the Indiana Hoosiers and coach Bobby Knight in 1985. He also stiff-armed Jerry Tarkanian’s UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on the recruiting trail, among others. However, Garland took a chance after he and his parents forged a tremendous connection with Coach Charlie Spoonhour, a down-home personality who… Read more »
Daryel Garrison
In the early 1970s, having helped his Kansas City high school to success, Daryel Garrison couldn’t believe it. An assistant coach from Missouri State University had stopped by the local summer playground to see about talent. It turned out that Charlie Spoonhour (MSHOF Legend 2019), years before his folksy humor and basketball success won over… Read more »
Greg Garton
Enshrinement: Greg Garton Greg Garton still remembers the very first basketball goals in his life – one that fell out of his dad’s truck on the way home from the store (it was fixed), and another in the driveway when he was in fourth grade. Man, he wore those out. “My father always worked with… Read more »
Alex George
Alex George was a Kansas City sports and civic leader. As the president of the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission, he led efforts in both professional and amateur sports. His work and support helped keep the Chiefs in Kansas City and secured an expansion of the Royals franchise. He also headed up the bond drive… Read more »
Dave Gill
Thumb through the scrapbook of old newspaper clippings, and it’s easy to see why Dave Gill is held in such high regard in the mid-Missouri community of Ashland. “1981 State Champions” screams one headline below a worn photo of a softball team. Stretched across the top of another sports page, a headline reads “Gill retires… Read more »
Joyce Arnsmeyer Gillespie
It all started on a dirt basketball court in front of her grandparents’ house in Hartsburg, a rural community of about 100 folks south of Columbia. That’s where she’ll never forget the uncle who taught her the game. Joyce Arnsmeyer Gillsespie beams about it all these years later. “When I was about 10 years old,… Read more »
Glasgow High School Boys Basketball Program
One of the most unique basketball shrines in the Show-Me State is north of I-70, in a Missouri River bluff town called Glasgow. In the high school gym’s lobby alone, it features walls of trophy cases displaying nearly endless hardware, especially of Final Four days long ago and recent. Look closer. See the plaques hanging… Read more »
Buford Goddard
At the confluence of the James and Finley rivers stands an old general store. In the back of the general store is a single bedroom where in 1934 Buford Goddard was born. The general store, owned by Goddard’s grandparents, also served as a post office for the unincorporated community of Jamesville, located in Stone County,… Read more »
George Goldman
George Goldman was a local basketball star in Kansas City, Missouri from 1909 to 1912 who played for the Kansas City Athletic Club. C.E. McBride (MSHOF 1956) once commented that it was common for him to score 50 points in a single game. Goldman was six feet, two inches, weighed 180 pounds at the height… Read more »
Don Gosen
Don Gosen was a basketball coaching legend around Hermann, Missouri, for many years. He played basketball for Hermann High School and graduated in 1947. His senior year, his high school basketball record was 43-7 and placed fourth in state playoffs in only one class of schools.Gosen attended Moberly Junior College from 1947 to 1949, and… Read more »