Missouri State University will induct seven former student-athletes, an iconic sportswriter and a national championship team as part of its 2025-26 Athletics Hall of Fame class, the school announced. Induction ceremonies are scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026.
Longtime journalist Lyndal Scranton will receive the Don Payton Award, which honors individuals whose contributions to Missouri State athletics fall outside traditional Hall of Fame categories. Scranton spent 36 years with the Springfield News-Leader from 1979 to 2015 and became the Bears’ primary beat writer in 1989. He currently serves as public relations director for Lucas Oil Speedway and contributes to the Springfield Daily Citizen.
The team inductee is the 1963 Missouri State men’s golf team, coached by the late Andy McDonald. That squad captured the first NCAA College Division national championship, now recognized as Division II, defeating Aquinas College of Michigan by 11 strokes at the national tournament hosted at Springfield’s Grandview Golf Course.
The individual Hall of Fame inductees include men’s basketball standouts Alize Johnson and Kyle Weems, women’s basketball star Tyonna Snow, volleyball setter Chenille Bayless Gaumer, men’s track and field high jumper Curt Brand, swimmer Andi Rojas and baseball relief pitcher Bob Zimmermann.
The class will be formally recognized at a 10 a.m. induction brunch Feb. 14 at The Old Glass Place in Springfield. Tickets are $25 and available through the Bears Fund. The inductees will also be honored at halftime of Missouri State’s men’s basketball game against Delaware later that day.
With this class, total membership in the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame will grow to 438, including student-athletes, coaches, teams, media members and supporters.
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