2004 Hall of Fame Class

RANDY ALBRECHT - Meramec Community College - Randy is a native of Sparta,  Illinois where he was an Illinois All State selection in 1962. He was a three year  letter winner at St. Louis University where he later coached both the
Freshman team and then the Varsity. In 1977 he took over the head coaching position  at Meramec Community College and the rest is history. His teams have won eight Region 16 Championships, seven National Tournament appearances, Runner Up in the Nationals in 1989 and 530 wins. His wife Linda of thirty-eight years have two children and three grand children.

DON EDWARDS - Lawson High School - Don currently serves as principal at  Lawson. In addition he serves on the board of the Missouri State High School Activities Association.. He got his start in basketball at North Harrison
High School in Eagleville, MO and was a 1974 all-state selection. He graduated  from Northwest Missouri State University where he lettered in basketball. His coaching success was at Jefferson High School in Conception Junction, MO. His teams, both girls and boys, racked up 824 wins over a twenty year period. They appeared in six Final Fours, won three state titles, eighteen Conference Championships, sixteen MSHSAA district titles and Don was a three time Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. His 1989 girls state championship team was undefeated. He and his wife Susan have two boys.

DAVID GILL - Southern Boone High School - David retired following the 2002-2003 school year after coaching for twenty-five years at the Ashland, MO school.  He is a graduate of Hickman High School in Columbia and Lincoln University in  Jefferson City. He was an outstanding track and field athlete at both  schools. His first job was at Hatton, MO and in 1977 he moved to Southern Boone. His basketball teams won 537 games. He won Coach of the Year honors at both the Conference and District level. David is a past President of MBCA and also served as treasurer and vice-president. He was active in the Missouri Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and received their certificate of merit along with the  Northeast Athletic Director of the Year award. He currently serves as Director of Competition for the Show-Me state games. David and his wife Jeanne have three daughters and two grandchildren.

LARRY LITTRELL - Glasgow High School - Larry started his coaching and teaching career at the elementary level. He was teacher and athletic director of St. Mary's elementary from 1965 to 1972. He jumped to Central Methodist College from 1972 to 1974 as Assistant Basketball Coach. His next stop was Glasgow High School where his record was outstanding. His Boys and Girls teams over a twenty -three year period won 23 Conference Titles, 18 District Championships, 2 State Titles and one third place finish. For thirty-three years organized and worked in the Glasgow Youth Program. The Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters named him Coach of the Year in 1978. He received the Basketball Coaches of the United States Achievement Award in both 1978 and 1980. Five times he was named Coach of the Year for Missouri by Radio Station KRES of Moberly. In 2003 the Howard County R-II Schools honored Larry by placing his name on the Glasgow High School Court.

TOM SMITH - Missouri Western State College - Tom is native of Gary, Indiana where he played Basketball at Horace Mann High School and gained All-Conference and Honorable Mention All State honors. He attended Valparaiso University and played for Missouri Sports Hall of Fame member Gene Bartow. Again he was selected All-Conference and Honorable Mention All American. Tom=s Head Coaching career started at Central Missouri State University in 1976, where his teams won 86 games. He moved to his alma mater Valparaiso in 1981 where his teams won 84 times. In 1989 he was selected to take over the head coaching position at Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph. Since that time his teams have won 334 games and Tom has been honored numerous times. The MIAA has selected him as their Coach of the Year 5 times. His teams have won the Conference Title 6 times and the Post Season Tournament 4 times. Including one year at CMSU Tom's teams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 11 times.

BILL HOGUE - Kickapoo High School - Bill started his Basketball career as a High School player in Southwest City. Not only was he an All Stater but he set the single game scoring record at 65 points while averaging 24 points per
game.  He was a three year letter winner at Tulsa University where he played for Missouri Sports hall of Fame member Clarence Iba. Bill has coached Basketball at nine different High Schools in Missouri. He has coached at all levels
including his latest stint as Freshman Coach at Kickapoo High School, where his teams have won 165 times in nine years. His varsity high school teams won 4 conference titles at three different schools and finish second in the state while at Rogersville High School. While at Central High School in Springfield, his teams won the Blue and Gold Tournament twice and finished runner-up once. Bill received the Eddie Mathews Sportsmanship Award at both Sparta High School and St. Agnes High School.

JIM PHILLIPS - Platte City High School - Jim Phillips played his High School Basketball at Marceline where he was an All-State selection. He attended Truman State University (Northeast Missouri State University) and earned three
letters and was Co-Captain his senior year. His High School Basketball Coaching and Teaching career started at Breckenridge and continued for twenty-nine years at ten schools. His teams racked up 504 wins. Included were 10 District Championships and two Third place State Tournament Titles. Jim coached at Callao, Brashear, Glasgow, Knox County, Princeton, Marceline, Bevier, Higbee and Platte City.

TOM ROBERTS - Schuyler County R-1 High School - Tom spent most of his thirty-seven year coaching and teaching career promoting girls basketball in the state of Missouri and across the country. During the course of that career his teams racked up 507 wins. He served on the committee that started the Girls State Basketball Tournament in our state. He held the first Girls Basketball Clinic in the state in 1971 and started the first Girls Basketball Camp at Tarkio College in 1974. He directed the Mississippi Hills Girls Basketball Camps and the Culver Stockton College Girls Camps in the 70's and 80's. Tom was the third President of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) and served on the MSHSAA Basketball Advisory Committee. He coached four different high schools to the state tournament finishing second, third and fourth. In 1982, Tom was the Class 1A coach of the year for Missouri.

THAD J. STROBACH - Kirkwood High School - Thad got his start at winning championships by serving as manager of the St. Louis University High School during their state championship in 1958. He graduated from St. Louis University in 1963 and followed that up with a Masters Degree in Guidance and Counseling in 1965. After serving as a High School Assistant at The Priory, Thad started the Women's Basketball Program at St. Louis University and in four years his teams were 43 and 11. In 1973 he took over the Head Coaching Position at Visitation Academy in St. Louis. 485 wins later he moved to Kirkwood High School where his girls teams won 80 more games. During his stay at Visitation Thad's teams won 5 state championships, finished second 4 times and third once. This phenomenal record included 43 straight wins, 15 District titles, 28 preseason and regular season tournaments and 12 league titles. In addition to all of the above he has organized and directed Basketball Camps and Clinics for over 25 years. Thad served on the MSHSAA Basketball Advisory Committee for seven years.

KENNETH R WALKER - El Dorado Springs High School - Ken played his High School Basketball at Bernie and was selected to the All-State team in 1962-63. He graduated from Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar. He has coached both Girls and Boys Basketball at several schools during his career. His Boys teams at Stoutland, Bronaugh, Wheeling, Koshkonong and Strafford racked up 109 wins. His Girls Teams at the above schools plus Harrisburg, New Bloomfield and El Dorado Springs won 493 games. Ken has been the Associated Press and MBCA Coach of Year.

DENNIS J. KRUSE - Hazelwood Central High School - Dennis Kruse started  long involvement with Basketball as a player at St. George of Hermann High School. He lettered three years and was Honorable Mention All State. During his
college days at Quincy College he won seven letters, three in basketball, 3 in baseball and on in cross country. He was voted into Who's Who at Quincy College in 1966. He returned to St. George of Herman High School as basketball coach in the fall of 1966. After a stint in the Army where he coached a post team he returned to Missouri and coached and taught as North Callaway, Rock Bridge, Webster Groves High Schools. He switched to College and assisted at Washington University and served as head coach at Maryville University. A short retirement ended in 2003 went he assumed the head coaching position at Hazelwood Central. Along the way his teams won 14 Conference Championships, 12 District Championships, won a State Championship in 1969, finished 4th and 3rd and was named
Coach of the Year 13 times. All told his teams won 516 times in 36 years and he is still going.
 

RICHARD MARTI - Lamar High School - Richard got his athletic start at Mt Vernon High School. He was an All Conference selection in both football and basketball. He attended Ft Scott Junior College and led the nation in scoring as a freshman halfback in football by scoring 117 points. This led to Pittsburg State College where he was a squad member of the 1961 National Championship Team. After five years at Broken Arrow, to Oklahoma Junior High School where he coached football and basketball, Richard moved to Lamar and as the saying goes "the rest is history." He coached the boys basketball teams for fifteen years 1973-1988 then switched to the Girls teams and is still turning out Conference and District Championships.. His boys teams won two district titles and his girls teams have won three.. In addition they have racked up three conference trophies. Six of his players have been named to the All State Team. In 2000 he was named Conference Coach of the Year. In thirty-one years Marti coached basketball teams have won 495 games at Lamar.