The 6th annual MaxPreps Boys' Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard headed north from Arkansas to Florissant, Missouri to honor the McCluer North High School Stars on their state championship and No. 19 national ranking. The Stars defeated Nixa in the Missouri Class 5 state championship game to win their second-straight state title. Led by Head Coach Randy Reed, the Stars finished with a 27-1 record and are one of only ten boys' basketball teams out of over 20,000 teams nationwide to receive the prestigious "Minuteman" trophy for the 2011-2012 season.
The Stars were honored at a school assembly held on Thursday, May 10, 2012. Family, friends, fellow students and former players filed into the auditorium to congratulate the boys on their outstanding season and to witness the trophy presentation by MaxPreps representative Chris Magnuson and Sergeant First Class Reggie Hunt of the Missouri Army National Guard.
To commence the ceremony, McCluer North athletic director Bruce Smith took the microphone and thanked everyone in attendance for coming as well as MaxPreps and the Army National Guard for recognizing the Stars with such a tremendous honor. MaxPreps representative Chris Magnuson then took over and discussed the Stars' on-court accomplishments leading to their second-straight state championship and No. 19 national ranking in the MaxPreps Freeman poll. The microphone was then handed over to Sergeant First Class Reggie Hunt who talked about the similarities between a championship basketball team and the Army National Guard. SFC Hunt then gladly presented the coveted Army National Guard national ranking trophy to coach Randy Reed. After giving a brief thank you to MaxPreps and the Army National Guard, coach Reed turned it over to his players, coaches, and school principal to each express their appreciation for the fan support they had all season and for their gratitude for having received such an honor. As the 9 graduating seniors, sporting their new commemorative Tour of Champions t-shirts, reflected on how sweet it was to win back-to-back state titles to end their high school careers, one message to the underclassmen from the coaching staff was very clear – "winning players graduate, but a winning tradition never does."
The 2011-2012 McCluer North Stars truly demonstrated the characteristics of excellence and tradition embodied in the Army National Guard national ranking trophy! Congratulations to Coach Reed and the McCluer North Stars for the second-straight state championship and their top 20 national ranking, and best wishes on extending your winning tradition!!
