Jamahl DePriest hired as MSSU men's basketball assistant coach

(

rom MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern men's basketball program has added a familiar face to the coaching staff as Jamahl DePriest returns to MSSU as an assistant coach for the Green and Gold.

DePriest replaces Paul McMahon who left the program to pursue other career opportunities.

"I'm excited to bring Coach DePriest back to Missouri Southern," said head coach Jeff Boschee. "I was sad to see him leave the first time, but grateful to get him and his family back in Joplin. He is coming from a big role at Newman and I look forward to getting started with him."

DePriest enters his second stint on the coaching staff of the Missouri Southern basketball program, this time serving as the top assistant with the Green and Gold. DePriest comes to the Lions after serving four years on the coaching staff of MIAA member Newman, including the previous two as the Associate Head Coach.

In four seasons at Newman, DePriest helped coach seven All-MIAA and All-Heartland Conference selections.

During the 2018-19 season, DePriest helped led the Jets to an impressive 20-9 record overall, the Jets finished tied for 3rd place in the Heartland Conference standings with an 11-5 record. The 20 win total tied the school record for most wins in a single season in the NCAA DII era. The Jets also reached the double digit win total in conference play. It was the first time the Jets have had consecutive seasons with double digit win total in Heartland Conference play since joining the league in 2006. Marshawn Blackmon and Ben Ayre earned Second Team All-Heartland Conference honors. Juwan Davenport was named Honorable Mention All-Conference.

During his first season with the Jets in 2017-18, he helped engineer a turnaround that saw the team go 14-14 overall and 10-6 in Heartland Conference play. Newman went 6-2 in their final eight regular season games to finish third in the conference standings after being selected eighth in the preseason poll. Head coach R.J. Allen was named Heartland Conference Coach of the Year, and a pair of players earned all-conference honors.

DePriest came to Newman after two seasons as an assistant coach in his first stint with Missouri Southern. There, he helped guide the Lions to 37 wins in two seasons and a pair of top-four finishes in the MIAA. 

The team began the 2016-17 season ranked No. 5 in the country and were the only team to defeat national champion Northwest Missouri State on the season. In his time in Joplin, DePriest helped coach an All-American, an MIAA Freshman of the Year, and seven all-conference performers.

Prior to MSSU, DePriest, spent one year as an assistant at NAIA Langston, helping the team to its most victories in a decade. The Lions finished the season seventh in the nation in 3-point defense and 10th in defensive rebounds, and produced three all-conference players and Langston's first NAIA All-American in over 15 years.

He began his coaching career with two seasons as an assistant at Coffeyville Community College from 2012-14, as the Red Ravens went 55-12 overall, reaching the NJCAA round of 16 after a KJCCC East title in his first season. DePriest helped coach four Division I players and numerous Division II and NAIA transfers.

DePriest was also listed as one of the top-25 Stop To Go Coaches by CoachStat.net, highlighting some of the best defensive coaches in the game of basketball.

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, DePriest holds a bachelor's degree in health science from William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he played the final two years of his collegiate career. That career began at Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa, where he was a team captain and also a student ambassador.

DePriest and his wife, Tylease, have two children, Zion and Jade.

"I am humbled and excited to be returning to the Lion family," DePriest said. "Southern is a special place with a ton of pride and tradition. I look forward to upholding that standard as well as work tirelessly to help propel the program to new heights."

Forbis, Pittman, Shank, Burnham, 1986, 1990 softball teams named to MSSU Athletics Hall of Fame

 

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern department of athletics has announced its 2021 Athletics Hall of Fame Class, a group that includes three players, a coach and two teams. The group will be enshrined as part of Hall of Fame Weekend on October 30.

The newest class will be present at a social Friday evening at the North End Zone Facility and will be inducted at a brunch on Saturday morning. The group will be introduced as new Hall of Fame members at halftime of the Lions' football game vs. Missouri Western that Saturday.

The presentation and meal will begin at 10:00 am and go to just before noon, with the induction speeches beginning at 10:30 am.

Steve Forbis (1982-1984 Football, pictured), Chuck Pittman (1989-92 Baseball), Kimi (Shank) Reed (2006-10 Women's Track and Field/XC) and Jamie Burnham (Track and Field/XC Coach), as well as the 1986 and 1990 softball teams will all be enshrined into the Hall of Fame this October.

Steve Forbis

Forbis was a force for the Lions' defense in the early 80's and still holds single-season records while placing himself in the top ten of multiple other single-season and career lists at Southern.

Forbis is the single-season tackle leader for the Lions posting 148 stops in 1985. He also holds the number 5 spot on the single-season stop list with 125 in 1983. Forbis ranks third in career tackles at MSSU with 365 tackles and he led the team in tackles in each of the 1983, 1984 and 1985 seasons. Forbis was a first-team All-CSIC and All-District pick in 1985, while earning Academic All-American honors in 1984.

Forbis graduated in 1986 with a degree in accounting from Missouri Southern. Forbis was an educator and a coach for nearly 30 years and has since worked with both American Fidelity and the Expedian Group in Republic, Mo. He and his wife, Leslie, have two daughters, Kelsey and Karsen.

Chuck Pittman

Pittman helped the Lions to back-to-back trips to the Division II College World Series in the early 90's and is the Lions' career record holder in wins with 29.

Over his four-year career, Pittman went 29-11, while striking out 203 batters in 255 innings pitched. His 29 wins still stands as most-ever in a Lions' uniform and he posted back-to-back 10-3 seasons in 1991 and 1992, helping the Lions to the Division II College World Series in both years and a National Runner-Up finish in 1991. Pittman ranks third most in career shutouts, while ranking fourth in both career starts, complete games and innings pitched. His 203 strikeouts rank sixth-most in MSSU history.

Pittman graduated in 1993 from Missouri Southern with a degree in business and has been employed by Cardinal Scale in Webb City since then, currently serving as a Heavy-Capacity Logistics Manager. He and his wife, Allison have two children, Chloe and Chase, and reside in Webb City.

Kimi (Shank) Reed

Shank competed for the Lions in both cross country and track and field where she was one of the most decorated female distance runners to ever wear the Green and Gold.

An eight-time All-American, Shank was a four-time All-MIAA honoree in cross country, winning the individual championship in 2009, while finishing as the runner-up in 2008. In cross country, Shank was a four-time All-Region selection, winning the 2009 NCAA Division II Regional Championship and finishing as the meet runner-up in 2008. She was a three-time All-American at the Division II Championships, finishing fourth at the 2009 meet where she helped the Lions to the highest-ever finish in the sport (3rd place).

On the track, Shank was a five-time All-American. She picked up honors in 2008 in the 20k, while finishing second in 2009 and also picking up All-American honors in the 10k in 2010. Shank was an All-American in both the 2010 indoor and outdoor 5k, as well. 

Shank is the MSSU school record holder in the indoor 5k, holding seven of the top-ten times in the event. She was also part of the school record in the distance medley relay. She is also the school record holder in the outdoor 5k and 10, holding five of the top-ten times in the 5k and six of the top-ten times in the 10k. Shank helped the MSSU women win the MIAA Triple Crown in 2007-08, winning MIAA Team Titles in cross country, as well as indoor and outdoor track and field.

Shank graduated from Southern in 2010 with a degree in health promotion and wellness. She went on to earn a doctorate in physical therapy from Rockhurst and has been service as a physical therapist for Mercy in Springfield. She is married to Marshall Reed (former MSSU track and field student-athlete). The couple resides in Springfield and is expecting its first child due in July.

Jamie Burnham

Burnham has been a part of the Missouri Southern track and field and cross country programs since its inception in the late 80's.

Burnham has long-since been the face of the Missouri Southern distance program, having served as the head distance coach of both teams for the past five seasons, and six seasons as the women's head distance coach. All-told, Burnham has more than 30 years of service to Missouri Southern and of the 60 conference team championships that MSSU has claimed (CSIC/MIAA), Burnham has been on the coaching staffs of 29 of those. Burnham is the two-time defending MIAA and NCAA Division II Central Region Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year, helping the Lions to win three men's MIAA Cross Country Championships in the last four seasons and has coached numerous All-MIAA, All-Region and All-American performers, as well as multiple National Champions.

Burnham has also been part of the MIAA Track and Field Coach of the Year staffs, winning that award for the men in 2020 indoor season and for the women in the 2021 indoor season. Throughout his career, Burnham has helped the Lions to 12 MIAA Championships in men's cross country, seven in women's cross country, six in women's track and field and four in men's track and field.

An accomplished collegiate runner in his own right, Burnham is a member of his alma mater's Hall of Fame as he was an All-American at Missouri Baptist, finishing as the national runner up in the 10k in 1987. A native of Carl Junction, Burnham currently resides in Joplin.

1986 softball team

The 1986 and 1990 MSSU softball teams both finished fourth in the NAIA and NCAA World Series as the 1986 team went 44-13 and the 1990 team was 36-9. Both teams were coached by MSSU Hall of Famer Pat Lipira.

The 1986 squad was a pitching powerhouse as many of Lipira's teams were. That Lions team holds the MSSU single season records for fewest earned runs allowed (30), lowest ERA (0.53) and lowest opponent batting average (.165). Renee (Livell) Heidger (MSSU HOF Class of 2000) was the first ever first-team All-American for the program in 1986 playing as a shortstop. She was also named to the All-CSIC and All-District 16 teams and was named the Lions outstanding defensive player of the year.

Pitcher Lana Baysinger and third basemen Kim House were named second-team NAIA All-Americans, while Kathy Howard was named to the NAIA National Tournament Team. The Lions went 4-2 at the NAIA World Series, falling to St. Mary's of Texas to finish fourth overall.

The 1990 team helped usher in the NCAA era for Missouri Southern and the team didn't disappoint, earning an NCAA Regional Championship and a trip to the NCAA Division II World Series in the first year as a member of the NCAA. The Lions won the MIAA Tournament with a win over Missouri - Rolla (Missouri S&T) and took the title in the NCAA Midwest Region Championship with a win over Florida Southern.

Diane (Dink) Miller was named a second-team All-American as a catcher. Miller was also named the team's Outstanding Offensive Player, the Female Student-Athlete of the Year for the Lions and was a first-team All-Region selection. She became the second sophomore Lion to be named an All-American.

Miller's 15 doubles that season ranks seventh-best in a single-season at MSSU, while Monica Fabro's 21 sacrifice hits rank seventh in a single-season. Deanna Combs has the fourth-highest winning percentage in a single-season for a pitcher as she went 22-4 in the circle that year.

1990 softball

Jennifer Burken was named to the Final Four All-Tournament team. Deanna Combs, Kim Pellow, Fabro, Leslie Myers, Carrie Carter, and Tiffany Carter was named onto the South Region All-Tournament team and Combs was named the tournament's outstanding player. Combs and Miller were named first-team All-Region, Carrie Carter was named onto the second-team and Lipira was named the Regional Coach of the Year.

Lipira was named the MIAA Coach of the Year, Miller was the Most Valuable Player in the MIAA, while Burken, Carter, pitcher Combs and Robin Herschbach were named first-team All-MIAA, helping the Lions to win their first MIAA tournament championship.

Click HERE for complete rosters of each of the 1986 and 1990 MSSU Softball Teams.

The Missouri Southern Athletics Hall of Fame was established to pay tribute and give deserved recognition while enhancing school tradition by honoring former athletic letter winners and/or coaches who have shown distinctive, unique or exceptional ability while at Missouri Southern or since graduation. The honorees must be graduates of Missouri Southern and there must have been a lapse of at least 10 years since the individual last participated in athletics at Southern.

With the addition of the 2021 class (there was not a class in 2020), the MSSU Athletics Hall of Fame now includes 131 members and seven teams.

Sarcoxie High School archery team wins World 3D championship

(From the Sarcoxie R-2 School District0

Congratulations to the Sarcoxie High School Archery team who took first place in the NASP 3D World Championship and 4th in the Bullseye World Championship in Myrtle Beach, SC Saturday. 

Shoutout to Allysa Willis who is the HS female 3D World Champion and top overall 3D individual, Emma Harper was 5th place female and James Filbeck was 5th place male. 

Way to go Bears, we are so proud of you!