(Photo by August Jennewein)
You might think an accomplished athlete like Bob Bone (pictured) looks back on his college days as a series of memorable achievements. It’s understandable. There are many accomplishments to remember.
With 2,678 career points, Bone is the all-time leading basketball scorer at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He’s a three-time All-American and holds the university’s career records for field goals (947) and assists (446) and single-season records for points (787) and points per game (30.3) for his 1976-77 season.
He was an Academic All-American three times in basketball and two times in baseball, where he started at second base for a team that amassed a 30-13 record and finished third at the NCAA Division II College World Series.
But Bone puts his stats and records aside. His time at UMSL was special for other reasons. Among them are Grayling Tobias and Jim Goessling. Bone, Tobias and Goessling played basketball together on the 1975-76 and 1976-77 teams, and all three are members of the UMSL Sports Hall of Fame.
“For me, the people I got to meet stand out more than any specific memories,” Bone says. “I was developing friends for a lifetime.”
In addition to the relationships he formed with his teammates, he says the campus had an intimate nature, and his teachers were more than accessible.
“There were so many instructors who were willing to have a personal relationship with the students,” Bone says. “To have a visit with an instructor or have a conversation away from class was a common thing.”
Bone earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1977. He spent 21 years at Collinsville (Ill.) High School, where he served as athletics director and boys’ basketball coach. Under his leadership, Collinsville won 10 Southwest Conference championships and 13 Illinois High School Association Regional championships.
Bone was named director of athletics at Clayton (Mo.) High School during the 2006-07 school year, and he’s a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
This story was originally published in the spring 2013 issue of UMSL Magazine.
