Former standout Pannier's legacy continues to inspire

~ Darla Pannier still holds more than 20 Central records

Mark Ruark considers Darla Pannier to be among the premier players in the history of Missouri high school girls basketball.

But, Ruark emphasized, "more than that, she was such a good person."

Ruark recently reflected on Pannier, shortly after the 20th anniversary of her death.

Pannier, a 1988 Central High School graduate, died July 25, 1989, from injuries suffered in an automobile accident the day before. She was 19.

"I find myself thinking about her quite a bit over the years," said Ruark, who coached Pannier at Central. "She was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of player to get to coach and just a special person to be around.

"I thank the Lord I got the opportunity to coach somebody as good as her and a person as good as her."

Pannier, a 5-foot-11 forward/center, was a three-time all-state selection at Central. She averaged 28 points and 16 rebounds as a senior to earn Converse All-American honors.

Pannier continues to hold more than 20 girls basketball records at Central. She still ranks third nationally in career field-goal percentage (66.1) and seventh in single-season field-goal percentage (70.0).

"After all these years, she's still among the top scorers in state history [with 1,909 points]," Ruark said. "I think there's no question she was one of the top basketball players ever in the state of Missouri, and a lot of great players have come out of there.

"Tennessee and Vanderbilt were among the Division I powers that were recruiting her during high school, so I'd say she was definitely one of the best ever."

Pannier decided to stay at home and signed with Southeast Missouri State, then a Division II power that was planning the jump to Division I.

Pannier soon learned she would have to sit out her freshman year at Southeast because she did not score high enough on her ACT due to a reading problem that Southeast discovered.

Deciding it would be too difficult to spend an entire season on the sidelines, she opted to attend NAIA Central Methodist University in Fayette, Mo.

Pannier took that level by storm, ranking second nationally as a freshman with an average of 29.6 points per game. She shot better than 60 percent to rank 17th nationally and added 11 rebounds a contest.

Pannier became the first athlete, male or female, at Central Methodist to earn first-team All-American honors in any sport.

"She had a tremendous freshman season and she had such a good future going for her," said her father, Al Pannier.

Tragedy struck the summer following her freshman year of college. She was on her way from her parents' home in Tamms, Ill., where they recently had moved, to help at a Central basketball camp being conducted by Ruark.

Pannier never made it as she was involved in an automobile accident during a rainstorm near Thebes, Ill.

"I remember the day of the accident and everything that happened like it was yesterday," said Ruark, who still lives in Cape Girardeau and works as a school principal in Jefferson County. "And to think she was driving to our basketball camp.

"The more years that go by, you appreciate what type of player she was, and more importantly what type of person she was. It just sticks with you, something like that. It was such a tragedy. And the Pannier family has always been good to me."

Darla Pannier has been gone more than 20 years, but she is not forgotten.

In October 1989, shortly after her death, Pannier became the first female athlete inducted into the Central Methodist Hall of Fame. She also had her uniform number retired by the university.

Female athlete of the year awards are named after Pannier at both Central and Central Methodist, with both schools also having scholarships in her name.

Additionally, Missouri's annual girls basketball Hall of Fame game issues the Darla Pannier Most Valuable Player Award.

"She was a better person than she was a basketball player," Al Pannier said. "Every day you think about it. It's just something you don't know why it happened.

"You don't necessarily like the cards you're dealt, but it's just one of those things you learn to live with."