Missouri Sports Hall of Fame announces Kansas City Enshrinement

Former Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain and longtime Sporting KC standout Matt Besler will soon be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, and former Kansas City Chiefs President Carl Peterson will receive its President’s Award.

The trio are headlining the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s Kansas City Enshrinement, set for 1 pm, Sunday, April 23 at the LEX at Municipal Auditorium.

However, locally there are two more special guests being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame during the ceremonies. Don Edwards, a long-time, highly successful Jefferson High School Basketball Coach and the Northeast Nodaway High School Girls Basketball 1973 through 1979 and 1982 teams.

Edwards was a basketball coach whose boys and girls teams earned 824 wins over a 20-year period at Jefferson High School. They appeared in six Final Fours, won three state championships, 18 conference championships and 16 district titles. He also was a three-time Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. Two of his girls teams won state titles in Class 1. The 1989 team was 31 – 0, and the 1997 team finished 30 – 2. The 1990 team placed third. In boys basketball, his 2000 team won Class 1 with a 29 – 3 record. That came four years after his 1996 team placed third. He  also coached softball, guiding the team to six Final Fours and winning three state titles in 1981, 1987 and 1998. Basketball has long been a part of his life, as Edwards was a 1974 All-State selection at North Harrison High School in Eagleville. He went on to play at Northwest Missouri State, where he lettered in the sport.

When the Missouri State High School Activities Association launched a postseason tournament to decide a girls basketball state champion, Northeast Nodaway stormed out of the chute. The Lady Jays advanced to seven Final Fours in the eight seasons between 1973 and 1979, winning state six times in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979; and then won it again in 1982. All were in class 1 however the early years many times, the Nodaway County players faced much larger schools in state action. Coached by Claude Samson, Northeast Nodaway finished 31 – 0 in 1973 after beating South Shelby 41 – 35. The 1974 team placed third, and the 1975 team was a state runner-up. The 1976 squad finished 30 – 1 after a 38 – 31 victory against Hale. A year later, Northeast Nodaway scored a 41 – 17 victory in the finals and finished 32-0. The 1978 team held off Wheaton 41 – 32 in the finals and ended the year 32 – 0. It was a 30 – 3 season to close out the 1970s, as Northeast Nodaway beat Greenwood 52 – 37. The Lady Jays won it all again in 1982, beating Purdy 44 – 28, and finished 30 – 1.

Others in the class of 2023 are Muna Lee, Central High School/LSU/Olympic Track and Field; Rockhurst High School football program; Vic Bonuchi, Excelsior Springs High School football coach; Charlie Burri, Missouri Western State University coach and athletic director; Blair Kerkhof, Kansas City Star sportswriter; Claude English, Park University athletic director; Archbishop O’Hara High School volleyball era 2002-2010; Tom O’Brien, high school tennis coach; William Jewell College 2003 Women’s Soccer Team; Karen Schull MacGee, golf; Larry Lady, commissioner of Heart of America Athletic Conference; Michael Watson, UMKC basketball player; Karen Kornacki, sports broadcaster; and Benton High School 2007 Girls Basketball State Championship Team.

Sponsorship tables are $1,500 and includes a poster autographed by individual honorees, recognition at the table and in the printed program. An individual ticket is $150.

The ceremony supports the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization based in Springfield. This year marks the Hall of Fame’s 29th year in operation, and the museum has never applied for state or federal funding. The April Enshrinement ceremony is the Hall of Fame’s third such ceremony in the Kansas City area since 2017.