With less than four minutes remaining in Friday’s 50-32 win over ‘State Line Rival’ Shawnee Mission East (Kan.), Rockhurst assistant coach Paul Beirne gave Mark Nusbaum a pat on the back and assured the Hawklet head coach that the game was in the bag.
Shortly thereafter, Nusbaum became the latest Missouri high school basketball coach to waltz into the state’s 500-win club. In all, 15 other coaches have equaled or surpassed Nusbaum in that regard. Five of them reside and teach in the Kansas City Metro.
"Longevity," Nusbaum quickly responded while explaining how he was able to win so many contests. "It was humbling to be able to work with so many good players and I’ve always had a great coaching staff. I was the one that always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
"Pete Campbell, a 1989 Rockhurst graduate, has been with me all 11 years at Rockhurst. He could be a head coach anywhere right now, but he chooses to stay here for now. He has such a passion and he knows the game so well."
Nusbaum’s years of success have meant a road well traveled for many of Kansas City’s biggest coaching names. Take for instance, St. Thomas Aquinas’ (girls) Rick Hetzel , Liberty’s Roger Stirtz, William Chrisman’s John Vickers and Platte County’s Rick Hodge. Yep. All coached under Nusbaum.
Blue Valley North athletic director and former Plattsburg and Shawnee Mission South (Kan.) basketball coach Mickey Masterson was also a benefactor of Nusbaum’s basketball pipeline.
"I really didn’t tutor them," Nusbaum replied. "I just allowed them to coach under me and I delegated authority to allow them to do their thing. We all coach together as coaches. We’re all on the same page. All of those guys were great assistants."
Nusbaum began his high school coaching career 31 years ago by learning from his high school coach George Funk, who compiled a 436-237 career record in 31 years collectively at Marshalltown, Knoxville and Ida Grove.
The Hawklets coach stole ideas from Funk and still employs them today.
"He was very big on discipline," Nusbaum said. "It was always fundamentals first and then go from there."
Nusbaum began his head-coaching career at Russell (Iowa), a Class 1A school. Then he made a gradual progression into the big school ranks by coaching at Albia (Iowa) (2A), O’Hara (3A), Liberty (4A) and now Rockhurst (5A), where he owns a 217-86 mark.
Since arriving at Rockhurst, Nusbaum has guided the Hawklets to four final four appearances in Columbia, including one runner-up finish, a third-place finish and a pair of fourth-place finishes. He won his lone state basketball title when he coached Liberty to a spotless 31-0 mark in 1998.
With Friday’s 18-point win, Rockhurst improved to 15-3 on the season and remained ninth in the latest Missouri Class 5 boys basketball rankings.
Below are last weekend’s scoring leaders and the latest Missouri boys and girls basketball rankings. Records in parentheses are through Tuesday’s contests. The number to the right is last week’s ranking.
Last weekend’s leading scorers
Boys
Daylen Robinson of Kansas City-Northeast scored 39 points in a 74-54 win over Kansas City-East…Chillicothe’s Bryce Young poured in 34 points in a 51-47 win over Excelsior Springs…Riley King of Blue Springs South ripped the cords for 33 points in a 62-58 win over St. Joseph-Central…Harrisonville’s Sam Cooper scored 32 points in a 72-58 win over Park Hill…Derreon Parker of Grain Valley poured in 30 points in a 56-55 loss to Odessa…Staley’s Sam Anderson ripped the cords for 29 points in an 88-76 win over Lincoln College Prep…Bobby Gay of Wentworth Military Academy scored 29 points in a 56-53 win over Lutheran…Lincoln College Prep’s Tomie Aromona poured in 29 points in an 88-76 loss to Staley…Carvel Claggett of Winnetonka ripped the cords for 28 points in a 68-59 win over Renaissance…Smithville’s Dillon Deck scored 28 points in a 54-41 win over Savannah…Denton Koon of Liberty poured in 26 points in a 60-45 win over Blue Springs…Smithville’s Dillon Deck ripped the cords for 25 points in a 50-36 loss to Cameron.
Girls
Hannah Wilkerson of Miller scored 47 points in an 87-77 loss to Purdy…Parkway Central’s Alison Magruder poured in 32 points in a 63-52 loss to Francis Howell…Mikalah Hardcastle of Sparta ripped the cords for 32 points in a 75-55 win over Chadwick…Hermann’s Shelby Winkelmann scored 30 points in a 62-60 win over St. Clair…Ashley Elliott of Marquette poured in 29 points in a 65-56 win over Seckman…MICDS’ Delaney Hobbs ripped the cords for 29 points in a 47-41 win over Lutheran South…Sharne Morris of Valley Park scored 28 points in a 58-48 win over Grandview…St. Dominic’s Leslie Wilmer poured in 28 points in a 67-59 win over St. Charles West…Michelle Auer of Notre Dame-St. Louis ripped the cords for 28 points in a 54-40 loss to Webster Groves…Cleveland NJ-ROTC’s Angela Samuel scored 27 points in a 65-40 win over Vashon…Stephanie Anderson of Whitfield poured in 27 points in a 56-51win over Principia…Seckman’s Marissa Lehnig ripped the cords for 26 points in a 65-56 loss to Marquette.
Missouri Boys Basketball Rankings
Top 10
1. St. Francis Borgia (18-0) 2
2. Webster Groves (18-1) 1
3. Sikeston (15-1) 5
4. Raymore-Peculiar (15-1) 3
5. Kearney (16-1) 7
6. Branson (19-2) 4
7. Hazelwood Central (17-3) 6
8. Nixa (20-1) 8
9. Notre Dame-Cape Girardeau (15-4) -
10. Truman (16-2) 10
Class 5
1. Webster Groves (18-1) 1
2. Raymore-Peculiar (15-1) 2
3. Branson (19-2) 3
4. Hazelwood Central (17-3) 4
5. Nixa (20-1) 5
6. Truman (16-2) 6
7. McCluer (16-3) 7
8. Oakville (18-4) –
9. Rockhurst (15-3) 9
10. Columbia-Rock Bridge (15-5) 10
Class 4
1. St. Francis Borgia (18-0) 1
2. Sikeston (15-1) 2
3. Kearney (16-1) 3
4. Notre Dame-Cape Giardeau (15-4) 5
5. Soldan (14-4) 6
6. O’Hara (16-4) 4
7. Jefferson City-Helias (12-6) –
8. Lafayette-Wildwood (14-6) –
9. MICDS (14-5) 7
10. Sullivan (13-6) 8
Class 3
1. Arcadia Valley (20-0) 1
2. Cardinal Ritter (13-4) 2
3. Hogan Prep (11-5) 4
4. Schuyler County (15-0) 5
5. Strafford (15-2) 6
6. Whitfield (12-8) 3
7. Maryville (12-2) 7
8. Macon (14-2) 8
9. Southwest-Washburn (15-2) 9
10. Blair Oaks (13-3) 10
Class 2
1. Sturgeon (19-0) 1
2. Penney (16-0) 2
3. Wellington-Napoleon (16-0) 3
4. Spokane (17-2) 4
5. Mid-Buchanan (15-1) 5
6. Adrian (15-0) 7
7. Bernie (14-2) 8
8. Stoutland (12-2) 6
9. Oak Ridge (13-3) 9
10. Fayette (16-3) –
Class 1
1. Scott County Central (15-2) 1
2. Meadville (16-0) 2
3. Dadeville (13-0) 3
4. Pilot Grove (16-2) 6
5. LaPlata (13-1) 8
6. Richland (12-3) 5
7. Glasgow (13-3) 4
8. Leopold (12-4) 10
9. Montrose (13-2) –
10. Braymer (14-2) –
Missouri Girls Basketball Rankings
Top 10
1. Incarnate Word Academy (20-1) 1
2. Nixa (16-2) 2
3. Webb City (16-1) 7
4. Columbia-Rock Bridge (19-2) 5
5. Blue Springs (15-2) 6
6. St. Joseph-Benton (17-2) 3
7. Fort Zumwalt West (16-2) 4
8. Platte County (14-4) 10
9. Troy Buchanan (18-3) -
10. St. Francis Borgia (15-4) -
Class 5
1. Incarnate Word Academy (20-1) 1
2. Nixa (16-2) 2
3. Columbia-Rock Bridge (19-2) 4
4. Blue Springs (15-2) 5
5. Fort Zumwalt West (16-2) 3
6. Troy-Buchanan (18-3) –
7. Eureka (17-2) 7
8. St. Joseph’s Academy (15-6) 6
9. Springfield-Kickapoo (14-5) 8
10. Cor Jesu Academy (14-4) –
Class 4
1. Webb City (16-1) 2
2. St. Joseph-Benton (17-2) 1
3. Platte County (14-4) 4
4. St. Francis Borgia (15-4) 6
5. Pacific (17-2) 3
6. St. James (15-3) 7
7. St. Dominic (17-3) 8
8. Notre Dame-Cape Girardeau (17-4) 10
9. St. Clair (17-3) 9
10. Hickman Mills (15-6) 5
Class 3
1. Cardinal Ritter (15-2) 2
2. South Shelby (14-1) 4
3. Hermann (17-2) 5
4. California (16-2) 1
5. St. Pius X-Festus (16-1) 3
6. Mount Vernon (15-3) 6
7. Maryville (13-2) 7
8. Conway (16-2) 8
9. Bowling Green (14-3) 10
10. Fair Grove (15-3) –
Class 2
1. Penney (16-0) 1
2. Harrisburg (16-0) 2
3. Sparta (17-2) 3
4. Neelyville (19-0) 4
5. Purdy (14-4) 10
6. Laquey (16-3) 5
7. Miller (13-4) 6
8. Salisbury (15-1) 7
9. Osceola (12-2) 8
10. Bismarck (17-1) 9
Class 1
1. Montrose (16-0) 1
2. Marion County (12-3) 2
3. Mercer (15-0) 4
4. Verona (15-4) 6
5. Jefferson (14-2) 3
6. Meadville (16-1) 5
7. Walnut Grove (13-2) 7
8. Northeast Nodaway (15-1) 8
9. Pilot Grove (14-3) 10
10. Southwest-Livingston (15-3) 9
