Hall of Fame
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.