Jack Watkins – Hall of Famer

Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Honoree

(St. Louis, MO) – Jack Watkins has been serving Missouri Valley Conference athletic departments, media outlets, coaches, administrators, and referees for thirty years. The Valley’s Associate Commissioner can now add ‘Hall of Famer’ to his business card.

Watkins has served as the league’s media coordinator, tournament director, sports information coordinator and has been a key cog in the Valley’s ability to host NCAA basketball events in St. Louis and in other MVC cities.

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame recently announced that the Sikeston native (born in St. Louis) is a part of this year’s class of inductees. Watkins joins former Valley Commissioner Doug Elgin and current Senior Associate Commissioner Patty Viverito into the Hall.

Listen to Part One of our Watkins Interview

The official induction will take place on November 14.

Called Hall of Famer

Watkins never expected this honor and frankly doesn’t like to talk about himself, but he is a wealth of history, knowledge and great stories. When Hall of Fame representative Jerald Andrews contacted him about the honor, Watkins assumed the call was about something he had failed to do for Andrews.

 

 

Watkins is in his thirtieth academic season working in the Missouri Valley Conference and considers himself lucky to have worked with Commissioner Elgin, Viverito, Mike Kern and former work mate Joe Mitch. He refers to them as ‘the Beatles of sports administration.’

 

 

Experiences and Accomplishments

Watkins’ first year with the Valley was prior to the 1993 Arch Madness Tournament. The league sold out the portion of the old Kiel Auditoreum and he remembers the joy of Doug Elgin and Joe Mitch more than the tournament itself. Then in 2017 the league set an Enterprise Center basketball attendance record.

 

 

Though it happened very early in his career, Watkins points to the 1993 NCAA Regional as the high-light of his career, because of what it led to. He says that 1993 NCAA event was the true spring board to all of the Valley’s other NCAA hosting opportunities.

With just seven full-time staff members the Valley took on the Regional that featured three college basketball ‘blue-bloods’. As other St. Louis sports facilities opened in the metro area, the Valley’s effectiveness at hosting events and those new venues, made St. Louis a regular stop for March Madness events.

 

 

Second Hall of Famer in His Family

Joining Watkins in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame this November are Viverito’s husband Frank who is the President of the St. Louis Sports Commission. He has been a friend and co-laborer in numerous NCAA events with Watkins and the Valley. Others include St. Louis sportscasters Steve Savard and Mike Claiborne and photographer Bill Greenblatt.

During our conversation, Jack had fun and insightful things to say about those four. The entire list of inductees can be found here.

Listen to Part Two of our Watkins interview here.

Watkins’ wife of 32 years, Genny has a connection to the Hall. Her grandfather, Wilbur ‘Sparky’ Stalcup is already a member. He was the long-time, University of Missouri basketball coach. Jack says bringing the family a second member to the Hall is a special blessing.

 

 

Jack Watkins is a St. Louis treasure. The community is richer because of his involvement with the Missouri Valley Conference and so much more. He has been a part of bringing large events and thus jobs and money to the State, as well as three decades of priceless memories for sports fans.

His visionary work has helped Valley fans have greater access to their teams through the league’s television packages and his and Kern’s relentless work to get information to reporters who can pass that along to fans.

Congratulations Jack! You deserve every award you receive.

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