The Missouri Valley Conference has announced its 2021 Hall of Fame Class.
The 24th MVC Hall of Fame class features two of the league’s “Founding Fathers” in Clark W. Hetherington of Missouri and James Naismith of Kansas; an Olympic track champion in F. Morgan Taylor of Grinnell; a college basketball Hall of Famer in Maurice Cheeks of West Texas State; a two-time NCAA champion in men’s basketball in Tom Thacker of Cincinnati; a star women’s basketball player and coach in Connie Yori of Creighton; the league’s first three-time softball MVC Pitcher of the Year in Tara (Oltman) Higgins of Creighton; and a Pro Football and College Football Hall of Famer in “Mean” Joe Greene of North Texas State.
MVC Hall of Fame -- 2021 Class (PDF)
There will be no in-person recognition for this year’s MVC Hall of Fame Class, and the class is comprised of only Veteran’s Committee selections, which include worthy candidates from former MVC member institutions. Notably, Hetherington, Taylor, Greene and Cheeks represent the first MVC Hall of Fame inductees from their respective institutions (Missouri, Grinnell, North Texas and West Texas State, respectively).
In lieu of the traditional Friday morning Hall of Fame President’s Breakfast, the league plans to feature this year’s class with a video tribute during the Thursday Coach of the Year Luncheon at the State Farm MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament in St. Louis.
The 2021 State Farm MVC Tournament marks the 31st-straight year the event has been staged in St. Louis. With 31-consecutive years at the same neutral site, Arch Madness is the second-longest neutral site tenured collegiate tourney in the nation (following only the Big East in New York City).
“The Missouri Valley Conference has always been recognized for the great success of its athletics programs, with a rich history that dates back more than a century,” said Commissioner Doug Elgin. “Our MVC Hall of Fame has provided us with an opportunity to honor the student-athletes, coaches, administrators and contributors who have played important roles in the Conference and in intercollegiate athletics.
“The individuals we will be honoring in the Class of 2021 have brought significant honor to themselves, their institutions and to the Conference. We are truly humbled to have this opportunity to salute their achievements.”
MAURICE CHEEKS, WEST TEXAS STATE (1974-78)
As an MVC student-athlete Maurice Cheeks was a four-year starter on the men’s basketball team at West Texas State (now West Texas A&M). Cheeks earned All-MVC honors three times and was selected his team’s MVP each of those seasons. As a collegiate player, he totaled 1,127 career points, 460 career field goals made with a 56.8 percent accuracy rate, 307 career free throws made, 453 career free throw attempts and 106 career games played -- all of those figures rank in the Top 10 all-time at West Texas State.
Cheeks averaged 16.8 points per game as a senior in 1976-77, shooting 56.8 percent from the floor while dishing out 212 assists (7.9/game).
He was selected in the 2nd round of the 1978 NBA Draft and was the 36th overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers. As an NBA player, he earned an NBA title with the 76ers (1983) and was a four-time NBA All-Star (1983, 1986, 1987, 1988). He also was a four-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection (1983–1986) and earned NBA All-Defensive second-team plaudits in 1987.
His No. 10 has been retired by the Philadelphia 76ers. In his NBA career he amassed 12,195 points, 7,392 assists and 2,310 steals. In March 2018 Cheeks was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
A current assistant coach with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, Cheeks had previously served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons.
JOE GREENE, NORTH TEXAS (1966-68)
Considered not only the greatest player in North Texas history, “Mean” Joe Greene is also considered the greatest defensive tackle in the history of football, and he’s the first alum of North Texas to be inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame. North Texas was a league member for 19 years (from 1957-75). Greene, a three-time Missouri Valley All-Conference player, anchored a defensive line at North Texas that allowed opponents just two yards per rushing attempt from 1966 to 1968, helping North Texas to a 23-5-1 record during that span. Greene was a consensus All-American in 1968.
In 1969, Greene became the first North Texas player to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he quickly became the cornerstone of Pittsburgh’s “Steel Curtain” defense. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1969 on his way to 10 All-Pro selections, five first-team All-Pro honors, and four Super Bowl championships. Greene was also the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1972 and 1974.
His No. 75 has been retired by both the Pittsburgh Steelers and by North Texas. Greene is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
CLARK W. HETHERINGTON, MISSOURI (Administrator)
Dr. Hetherington was a professor of physical education and director of athletics at the University of Missouri from 1900 to 1910, and he’s the first MVC Hall of Famer from Missouri, which was an MVC member for 21 seasons (from the league’s inception in 1907 until 1928).
Hetherington began discussion about the formation of an athletics conference involving the state schools of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska plus Washington University in St. Louis, and on Jan. 12, 1907, a meeting was held at the Midland Hotel in Kansas City to form the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, now known as the Missouri Valley Conference.
In addition to being a Founding Father of the MVC, as Missouri’s first athletic director, Hetherington required that varsity athletes at MU pursue an academic program, maintain scholastic eligibility, be well trained, and remain unpaid as amateurs. The following year the Intercollegiate Athletics Association, later known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), was formed, and Dr. Hetherington was one of the executive members.
JAMES NAISMITH, KANSAS (Administrator)
Naismith, who invented the game of basketball and wrote the original 13 rules of this sport in 1891 was a was a professor and university physician at the University of Kansas from 1909–1917. He then served as athletic director at Kansas from 1919 until 1937. Kansas was an MVC member from 1907 until 1928.
The Ontario, Canada, native founded the Kansas basketball program and served as its first coach (from 1898-1907). Before the formation of the MVC in 1907, Naismith coached Phog Allen, who later became the coach at Kansas for 39 seasons, beginning a lengthy and prestigious coaching tree. Allen then went on to coach legends including Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith, among others, who themselves coached many notable players and future coaches.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., is named in his honor, and he was an inaugural inductee in 1959. His honors include a host of Hall of Fame inductions, including the FIBA Hall of Fame, the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, the McGill University Sports Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma State Sports Hall of Fame, the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and now the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame.
He passed away at the age of 78 in 1939.
TARA OLTMAN, CREIGHTON (2007-10)
Tara (Oltman) Higgins is the only student-athlete (male or female) in school history to earn first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors all four years of her career and the first three-time MVC Pitcher of the Year in league history. She ended her career as the Missouri Valley Conference career record holder for wins (118), strikeouts (1,086), appearances (187), starts (143), complete games (128) and innings pitched (1,064), as well as the single-season mark with 32 wins in 2010.
Oltman helped the Bluejay softball program to a record of 155-70-1 from 2007-10, including MVC Tournament championships in 2007 and 2010, and NCAA Tournament bids in 2007, 2008 and 2010. She was a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American for her efforts in the classroom and community, as well as a three-time Easton All-American for her work on the diamond.
F. MORGAN TAYLOR, GRINNELL (1926)
A medal winner at three Olympic Games, he is Grinnell’s most famous athlete and the first former athlete from Grinnell inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame. Grinnell was a league member for 21 seasons (from 1918 through 1939).
Taylor took the gold in his specialty, the 400-meter hurdles, at Paris in 1924 in a then-record time of :52.6 seconds. Running for the Illinois Athletic Club of Chicago, he placed third at Amsterdam in 1928. And in 1932 at Los Angeles, where he was the U.S. flag bearer, he won the bronze medal again despite a sore leg. His Olympic accomplishments and four national AAU championships in the hurdles won him election to the prestigious Helms Foundation National Hall of Fame in 1967.
Taylor dominated college competition in several track events, and still holds Grinnell’s record in the hurdles and the long jump at 25-2. At Grinnell, the Sioux City, Iowa, native also was an ace pass catcher in football. In 1925 he grabbed a 40-yard toss that helped the Pioneers nick Iowa State, 14-13. On campus he was an all-around achiever, pursuing dramatics and vocal music as well as athletics. Later Taylor, who died in 1975, found success as a retail business executive.
TOM THACKER, CINCINNATI (1960-63)
Thacker is the third Cincinnati men’s basketball player or coach to earn selection to the MVC’s Hall of Fame (joining Oscar Robertson and coach Ed Jucker).
As a student-athlete, Thacker distinguished himself as a starter on UC’s 1961 NCAA Championship team, then took on a leadership role in the 1962 national title run and the 1963 runner-up finish. He closed his career in ninth place on UC’s career scoring list with 1,152 points and was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection (1961, 1962, 1963). As a senior in 1963, he earned consensus All-America honors and was a second team AP All-America selection.
Thacker was a territorial selection in the 1963 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals and played in the pros for seven seasons with Cincinnati, Boston and Indiana. He is the only player in basketball history to win NCAA (twice), ABA and NBA championships. Thacker, who was the first Black coach in any sport at Cincinnati, gained induction into the UC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981.
CONNIE YORI, CREIGHTON (1982-86 as student-athlete) (1992-02 as coach)
One of two Creighton women’s basketball student-athletes to have their jersey number retired, Yori received 1983 Women’s Varsity Sports Magazine All-Freshman Second Team honors; 1986 Kodak All-District VIII honors; and was selected for the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992 and Omaha Sports Commission Hall of Fame in 2013.
As a player, Yori led her team in steals each year during her career and topped the team for scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocked shots as both a freshman (1982-83) and sophomore (1983-84).
She concluded her career first in school history in scoring (2,010 points), scoring average (20.3 ppg), field goals made (797), field goal percentage (54.2), free throws made (416), free throw attempts (537), steals (292), assists (399) and rebounds (746). Additionally, she completed her career as the school’s single-season leader for points (589), points per game (21.0), field goals made (238), free throws made (129), free throws attempted (164), rebounds (254) and steals (88). Yori still ranks in the CU career top 10 in eight statistical categories and owns the Bluejay scoring average record.
Yori was named National Coach of the Year by five organizations in 2010 while coaching Nebraska to an undefeated regular-season and prior to that she had guided Creighton to seven upper-division finishes in the MVC from 1992-2002, compiling a 170-115 ledger in 10 seasons with two NCAA Tournament berths, plus a league regular-season and tournament title in 2002. She was MVC Coach of the Year in 2002.