Southeast Hall of Fame grows by six

The Southeast Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame gained six inductees on Friday night with the official inductions of the 2016 class at the Show Me Center.

The class included four former players, including volleyball player Lea (Beckemeyer) Nenninger, Heather Jenkins of track and field, baseball catcher Jim Klocke and former football running back Eddie Moss.

Southeast’s men’s basketball coach of 16 seasons Ron Shumate also was inducted, and Dr. John and Judy Holcomb joined the Friends of the Redhawks wing.

“As you can see from tonight’s list of honorees, the Hall of Fame is now and will continue to be a very exclusive club,” university president Dr. Carlos Vargas said.

The crowd present was the largest ever for an induction ceremony at Southeast.

Shumate headlined the group, entering the HOF as the school's all-time winningest men's basketball coach.

“We came in when there wasn’t really a winning tradition, and I felt like it was almost a sleeping giant, we came in there and started to wake it up,” Shumate said. “That first year we won the MIAA, they hadn’t won it in 18 years.”

With a record of 307-171, Shumate led Southeast to two NCAA Division II Championship Game appearances in 1986 and 1989.

During the ceremony, Shumate was joined on the stage by several of the players he once coached.

“These are the guys,” Shumate said. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all of these guys.”

Moss led Southeast in rushing in both 1970 and 1971 before being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 13th round of the 1972 NFL Draft. While he didn’t make the Bills, Moss played football for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973-76 and ended his career with the Washington Redskins. Moss was primarily a blocker in the National Football League and wrapped up his pro career with 66 yards on 13 carries.

Moss is no stranger to joining halls of fame. Last November, he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

“That was a great honor, too,” Moss said. “It was great to see everything then work out and have the opportunity to get into SEMO’s Hall of Fame, too.”

One of Moss’ teammates at Southeast, defensive lineman David Means, was part of the 2015 class, but Moss is not the only one with connections to last year’s group.

Klocke was the Redhawks’ starting catcher for four years under 2015 inductee coach Mark Hogan, who has more career victories than any other baseball coach in Southeast history.

“I’d just say, ‘Jimmy, you’re joining an esteemed group of individuals in the history of Southeast Missouri State,' the highest honor you can receive as an athlete,” Hogan said in a video package at the event.

Klocke was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, but did not sign, and was drafted again by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 31st round in 2010. During his time at Southeast, Klocke was the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and was named First-Team All-OVC three times.

“From his freshman year all the way through he just kept getting better and better,” Hogan said. “He kinda reinvented himself as an athlete, he had a lot of self-initiative, just a pleasure to coach everyday.”

Jenkins, a Cape Girardeau native, still holds one record at Southeast for the all-time discus throw. She credited her early growth as well as her middle and high school coaches for her development and success before arriving at Southeast.

Jenkins also thanked her coaches at Southeast, Joey Haines and Eric Crumpecker, for her mental toughness.

“From the first day, me and [Crumpecker] got along so well,” Jenkins said. “He really helped push me past the point that I thought was my breaking point.”

Southeast’s first Hall of Fame class was inducted in 2002, and the hall now has a total 98 members, but Director of Athletics Brady Barke doesn’t expect to run out of candidates any time soon.

“Every year you wonder when are you gonna start running out of eligible people, and this class is an indication that we’re not there yet,” Barke said. “The indication was that if you look at the records that many of them set and the success they had, all of them are very well-deserved.

"Coach Shumate’s record speaks for itself — most winningest men’s basketball coach in the history of Southeast, NCAA Tournament appearances, he had a tremendous career here. ... It’s just a very special class.”