Wilbur Neil "Sparky" Stalcup (February 13, 1910 – April 21, 1972) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College—now known as

Northwest Missouri State University Northwest Missouri State University is a public university in Maryville, Missouri. It has an enrollment of about 8,505 students. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, its campus is based on the design for Forest Park at the 1904 St. Louis Worl ...

—from 1933 to 1943 and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

from 1946 to 1962, compiling a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

record of 332–236. Stalcup was also the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

at Missouri from 1971 until his death in 1972.

Early life and playing career

Stalcup grew up in

Oregon, Missouri Oregon is a city and county seat of Holt County, Missouri, United States. The population was 837 at the 2020 census. History Oregon was originally called Finley, and under that name was platted in 1841. The present name refers to the Oregon ...

, where he played for the 1928 team that won the Missouri State High School championship at a time when there were no size divisions for high school basketball. The Oregon team made it to the quarterfinals of the National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. During the run Oregon did not have a gymnasium and practiced on an outdoor court and occasionally inside a Methodist church. There were only 10 people from the school body of 100 who played. Stalcup attended Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College and played for Henry Iba. He was a member of Iba's 1932 team that lost a title game in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

national championship.

Coaching career

After graduating from Northwest Missouri State in 1932, Stalcup began his coaching career that fall as head coach at Jackson High School in

Jackson, Missouri Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. It is a principal city of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Jackson was 15,481 at the 2020 census ...

Northwest Missouri State

Following one year at Jackson High School, Stalcup returned to Northwest Missouri State to succeed Iba as head basketball coach. With a 138–57 record, Stalcup is second only to Iba in won-loss percentage. His only

Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen mem ...

was in 1939–40 when his team was 17–0 in conference play and 20–1 overall. His teams had winning records in eight of his nine seasons.

Missouri

Following a hiatus on basketball during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Stalcup moved to Missouri. He compiled a 194–179 record at Missouri. His team won no conference championships, although they did win two Big Seven Holiday Tournaments. Among his players was Norm Stewart. He had the most wins in the school history until Stewart eclipsed him. He was president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1961–62. He was color commentator on basketball broadcasts after leaving coaching and was the athletic director at the university when he died.Missouri Hall of Fame Profiles - mutigers.com - Retrieved September 25, 2009
/ref> The Stalcup Room in the

Mizzou Arena Mizzou Arena is an indoor arena located on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Home to the school's men's and women's basketball teams, the facility opened in November 2004 and replaced the Hearnes Center as the school' ...

is named for him.

Head coaching record

College basketball

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stalcup, Wilbur 1910 births 1972 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Missouri Basketball players from Missouri High school basketball coaches in Missouri High school football coaches in Missouri Northwest Missouri State Bearcats football players Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men's basketball coaches Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men's basketball players Missouri Tigers athletic directors Missouri Tigers men's basketball coaches People from Holt County, Missouri Players of American football from Missouri