Greg Garton is proof you can go home again. In three different phases of his life, as a player, as a coach, and as an administrator, Garton contributed to Republic athletics. And now he’s a Missouri Sports Hall of Famer.
Garton joined the 2023 induction class during the Hall’s Enshrinement Ceremony Sunday. He was honored for his accomplishments at Republic, but also for an All-American basketball career at Missouri Southern, where he is still the all-time leading scorer.
“It’s just an honor,” Garton said of the ceremony, which included more than a dozen other individual inductees and other honorees. “We just came out of a press conference, and I got to sit and talk with Bret Saberhagen, one of my heroes from the Royals, and (basketball player) Tyler Hansborough and (football player) Sean Weatherspoon.
“Then when you come out here and see how many people are here, it’s a little emotional.”
Garton experienced plenty of emotional times during his career at Republic, where he played basketball and baseball. He was a member of four basketball district championship teams, and he helped the Tigers finish as Class 3 runners-up in 1980. He was first team all-Central Ozark Conference three times, and he was All-Ozarks MVP in 1982, along with earning a place on the all-state first team.
Garton has many memories from his time as a player. But one is especially vivid, just as his coach predicted at the time. He recalls the pre-game speech he and his teammates heard from coach Jerry Buescher before one of their Final Four games in Columbia in 1980.
“He said, ‘Guys, you’ll remember this. This will be right up there with your wedding and the birth of your children as days you’ll remember.’ And I look back, and I can literally remember that.”
Garton was also a part of two COC and district championship baseball teams and made the all-COC baseball team three times.
After four seasons at Missouri Southern — two of them ending with All-American honors — he became a coach and eventually returned to Republic. In the 1990s, he coached his alma mater to two 20-win seasons, two district championships, and a Blue & Gold Championship. It was the first Blue & Gold title in 30 years for Republic at the time.
The 1992-93 team that won the Blue & Gold championship was also the last Republic team to win 18 games in a row. That’s a team and a streak that’s gotten a lot of attention this season, exactly 30 years later, because this year’s team has put together an 18-game winning streak of its own. The team finished 27-3 that year.
Eric Doennig was a member of that team, and he remembers, above all, Garton’s work ethic. “I’ve not encountered, before or since, in a leader, a co-worker, or any individual I’ve come across throughout my career, such a tremendous competitor, and yet one who cared about his players and his community,” Doennig said.
As much as Garton’s competitive nature, Doennig said he appreciates Garton’s ties to his hometown.
“I’m not sure Republic has ever had someone who loves the community, has been more dedicated to the community and has done more for the community,” Doennig said of Garton’s career as player, coach, and administrator.
After his coaching tenure ended, Garton spent 19 years as the activities director at Republic. Ten teams reached the final four during his tenure, and Republic won two boys basketball championships and two girls basketball championships. He also helped oversee the construction of Republic’s athletic facilities at the new high school.
Doennig said he still thinks about lessons he drew from his time as one of Garton’s players.
“Coach had a tremendous impact on how I go about my business on a day-to-day basis; how I teach my own children. Some of the lessons he instilled in us, growing up in those formative years. No doubt he’s had an impact on me and countless other individuals, players and students throughout his career.”
It’s a sign of Garton’s competitive nature that even after a Hall of Fame career — he’s already a part of the Missouri Southern and Republic Tiger Sports halls of fame — he still thinks about where he could have improved.
“I’m like, ‘Well, I wish I could have done more for my kids when I coached them, or when I played (at Republic) or at Missouri Southern,” he said. “I’m overall proud of my accomplishments, but I always wish I could have done more.”
