Four athletes, one team will be inducted

The 1960-61 men's basketball team was the NCAA College Division runner-up.

Four individuals and the 1960-61 men's basketball team will be inducted into the Southeast Missouri State University Athletic Hall of Fame during ceremonies at the Show-Me Center next month.

The ceremony is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. Oct. 8 with a reception at 2 p.m.

The individuals who will be honored are Frank Hawkins, who played football a the university from 1903 to 1907; Don Pritchard, a three-sport athlete from 1931 to 1934; Ray Rippelmeyer, a basketball player from 1953 to 1955; and Ted Banker, a football player from 1970 to 1973.

The 1960-61 basketball team won the MIAA championship, the NCAA Southwestern Regional and was the national runner-up in the NCAA College Division Tournament in Evansville, Ind.

The team won regional games against Colorado College and Southern Illinois (87-84) at Houck Field House.

Nearly 2,000 fans accompanied the team to Evansville, including a group that dribbled a basketball from Cape Girardeau to the tournament site. Several of those individuals will be at the ceremony.

Southeast beat Chicago University and South Dakota before losing 42-38 to Wittenburg and finishing at 25-3.

Members of the team were Les Hemmer, Bill Giessing, Ron Gray, Carl Ritter, Vivan Reed, Floyd Hodge, Perry Kegley, Bob Reiche, Dawson Pikey, Mike Lorch and Bob Miller. The team was coached by the late Charles Parsley with assistance from the late Joe Uhls.

Ritter, Giessing and Uhls previously have been inducted to the Hall of Fame as individuals.

The 1961 team will be the seventh squad to be inducted to the team portion of the Hall of Fame.

The individual list will grow to 41 with the four inductees, including posthumous honors for Hawkins and Pritchard.

Hawkins was labeled "the greatest football player in Southeast history" by his coach, Ferdinand Corleaux, who was inducted last year. Hawkins was the team captain in 1907 when Southeast beat Mississippi 12-6, and he carried the ball on every play in one touchdown drive in that game.

Pritchard was a four-year letterman in football, basketball and tennis. He was a three-time first-team all-conference selection in football from 1932 to 1934 and was captain of the team in 1934. He was a standout receiver and punter.

Rippelmeyer played basketball for two seasons at Southeast in the 1950s while also playing minor league baseball after being drafted by the Milwaukee Braves. He was a two-time all-conference selection and twice led the Indians in scoring. He set a single-game record of 30 points and set single-season scoring records in both his junior and senior seasons. He was an honorable mention All-American on Chuck Taylor's NAIA team in 1955.

Rippelmeyer was drafted by the New York Knicks but instead fulfilled his commitment to the Army. After a two-year stint, he played on two Pacific Coast League championship teams and later became a pitching coach for the Philadelphia Phillies and worked with Steve Carlton.

Rippelmeyer currently is a roving minor league pitching coach with the New York Mets.

Banker was a four-year letterman in football, won all-MIAA honors and was team captain in 1981 and 1982 and was the team MVP in 1982.

He played from 1983 to 1990 in the National Football League, spending six years with the New York Jets and two with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played in the playoffs in 1985, 1986 and 1989. While playing with Browns in the AFC Championship game in 1989, he suffered a knee injury that ended his career.

Tickets for the ceremony are available to the public and can be purchased by calling (573) 651-2227.