Legacy Leader

Legacy Leader Coach Bill Harding It would be hard to over-estimate the impact that Bill Harding has had on the Drury University athletic community and, perhaps more importantly, hundreds of its student-athletes. He was a four-year letterman playing for A.L.Weiser which led to his graduation in 1954; however, his lasting Drury legacy began when he returned as the basketball coach in 1965. By the end of his six-year tenure, Coach Harding’s teams had won 119 games, five conference championships and qualified for three national tournaments. In 1971, he was named the Drury athletic director and served in that role until 1977. As a testament to his “eye for talent,” he left the basketball coaching duties to his four-year assistant, Dr. Edsel Matthews, who also succeeded him as the athletic director. Both men are justifiably members of the Drury Athletic Hall of Fame. While I could complete this short essay with additional stories and statistics about Coach Harding’s accomplishments – and the stories are legion – his impact on the student-athletes under his watch extends far beyond the court or the gym. I had the good fortune to be a “minor” sport athlete at Drury during his tenure. While he was never the golf coach, he was frequently engaged with us, as he was with many Drury student-athletes. He could be demanding and expected maximum effort, even from those of us on the golf team, but his great gift was that he truly understood young people and also the importance of balancing athletics and academics. He was a friendly ear, an encouraging coach and a mentor who demonstrated daily that you could pursue excellence and simultaneously enjoy the pursuit. About two years ago, the members of the 1969 Drury men’s golf team met to watch as one of our own was inducted into the Drury Athletic Hall of Fame for his athletic and other lifetime contributions to Drury. After the ceremony, there was a planned team picture for the Drury archives. We held the shoot until we located Coach Harding and included him in the picture. It wouldn’t have been complete otherwise. Turns out that Coach also modeled how to leave a legacy.

Legacy Student-Athlete Trevor Tannahill (’16), Drury Men’s Golf Steve Sheppard's legacy student-athlete is Trevor Tannahill. Trevor, a business/marketing major is a sophomore from Overland Park, Kansas and will graduate from Drury in 2016. A standout at Olathe East High School and at Johnson County Community College prior to his arrival at Drury, Trevor should be a major contributor to the Panther golf team this year and the next two.

“I am very honored to be Steve Sheppard's Legacy student-athlete. I have to come learn that he was the first Drury golfer to be inducted into the Drury Sports Hall of Fame and he graduated as an honor student. It would be wonderful if I can, in any way, duplicate his success while a student at Drury. I appreciate his support of Drury athletics through his donation to the Legacy Fund.” – Trevor Tannahill