WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Officials at Missouri State University-West Plains inducted former Grizzly Basketball standout Quinton Pippen into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame during the annual Grizzly Sports Reception April 22 at the West Plains Civic Center’s Magnolia Room.
Former Grizzly Volleyball standout Jekaterina “Kate” Stepanova (2008-10) also was selected for induction. An official induction ceremony for her will be held at a later date, organizers said.
An estimated 125 family members, friends, Grizzly Booster Club members, students, faculty and staff attended the April 22 event.
Pippen, a 6-foot, 4-inch forward from Hamburg, Arkansas, may have been known for his genial smile, but his competitive fire helped form the foundation of the best team in Grizzly Basketball history. With his help, the 2010-11 team finished the season with a best ever 31-4 record, a national No. 1 ranking – which it held for five consecutive weeks at the end of the season, a 10-0 sweep of Region 16 in regular season and post-season play, a third Region 16 Championship, the program’s first National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) District 4 Championship, and the program’s first ever trip to the NJCAA Division I Men’s National Basketball Championship in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Pippen finished the season averaging 13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 43 percent from the field, 38 percent from 3-point range and 78 percent from the free throw line. He earned All-Region 16 honors and was named by the NJCAA as a second team All-American.
He graduated from Missouri State-West Plains in 2011 with an Associate of Arts in General Studies degree and transferred to the University of Chicago. After redshirting the 2011-12 season, he helped guide the team to the Great West Conference Championship in 2012-13 and was a second team All-Western Athletic Conference honoree in 2013-14.
He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Chicago in 2014 and currently lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he provides basketball lessons for young children and older children trying to improve their skills.
During his induction of Pippen, who was unable to attend, Hall of Fame Selection Committee Chairman Russ Gant praised Pippen as one of the outstanding leaders and competitors on the first Grizzly team to earn a No. 1 ranking in the NJCAA Division I men’s basketball poll and the first Grizzly Basketball team to compete in the NJCAA Division I Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
This is the 14th year of the Grizzly Athletics Hall of Fame. Grizzly Hall of Fame Selection Committee members include Chairman Russ Gant, Grizzly Booster Club President Russ Squires, Booster Club members John Williams and Chuck Kimberlin, and Missouri State-West Plains Dean of Student Services Dr. Angela Totty and Director of Development Joe Kammerer.