MBCA president Jeni Hopkins presents Mark Fisher with the Gary Filbert Lifetime Achievement Award.

Information from www.mobca.org

The Missouri Basketball Coaches Association recently preseted Mark Fisher, a 1977 graduate of Fairfax High School and son of Pat Fisher and the late Jimmie O. Fisher, with the Gary Filbert Award. The award is given annually to a coach who has shown a lifetime of dedication that reflects the mission set forth by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association of promoting basketball in Missouri.  This is the highest honor awarded by the MBCA and was established in 2011.
Mark is the athletic director at Drury University. He served as Springfield Public Schools Athletic Director for 12 years running the No. 1 basketball tournament in the nation, the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions. A successful coach at multiple stops, Fisher has impacted kids positively and grown the game in the Show-Me State during his distinguished career.
Mark had great success at Greenwood Laboratory School in his 14-year tenure.  He accumulated seven District Championships and 368 total wins. He was also the Blue and Gold Tournament Director for 14 years and was the Southwest Representative for the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association for several years. Coach Fisher was named the Springfield Public Schools Athletic Director in 2003 and remained in that position until 2015. During that time, Coach Fisher raised millions of dollars to enhance the facilities at all of the five high schools. He was also the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions Director, the most attended high school tournament in the nation. In July of 2015, Fisher became the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Drury University.  In his short time at Drury, he has already left his mark by adding and enhancing each program under his leadership. He has added NCAA sports and non-NCAA sports for the student-athletes to participate and be involved in. In 2015, Fisher was inducted in the Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame. Throughout his career, he has been a pillar for our association’s mission of promoting basketball in the state of Missouri. Fisher is married to Debbie, and has three children, Treyvor, Ashley, and Ben. He also has four grandchildren, Kinley, Blakely, Graham, and Brooks.
Other Gary Filbert Lifetime Achievement Award Winners include: 2017 George Wilson, 2016 Bob Burchard, 2015 Gene Bess, 2014 Larry Holley, 2013 Dave Porter, 2012 Denny Hunt, and 2011 Gary Filbert.
Filbert is best known as the man who guided the Show-Me State Games into the biggest state sports festival in the nation. He started the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. He helped get the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame off the ground, was inducted into the Hall and had an award named in his honor.
More information about past Gary Filbert Lifetime Achievemet Award recipients can be found at www.mobca.org.