Jeff Sherman, Hall of Fame Coach

Through all the accolades, Coach Sherman has remained humble. The 1983 graduate and longtime head men’s basketball coach at CMU was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Nov. 20 in Columbia.

“I am appreciative, grateful, and very humbled to receive this honor,” said Sherman, who was interviewed during the introductory press conference at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia. ‘’It takes a lot of people to make something like this happen. I am very thankful to have had such an amazing coaching staff and tremendous players who have provided the opportunity for me to be here.”

The mission of the Hall is to celebrate the accomplishments of athletes of the past, while inspiring future athletes to succeed. All inductees have helped mold Missouri sports to what it is today.

Most inductees are notified via a phone call or a letter from the Hall. However, Coach Sherman’s notification was not what he expected.

“I found out about the induction at the 2022 Final Four in New Orleans, during a Coaches’ Association breakfast,” he said. “Each table got up and introduced themselves, and before my table could do so, the Director of the Hall of Fame, Jerald Andrews, stopped and made the announcement to everyone.”

It was even more special since Sherman’s son and newly-appointed head men’s basketball Coach Matt Sherman was there to witness the announcement, along with another of his former assistants-turned head coaches, Missouri Southern Coach Sam McMahon.

Sherman ranks sixth on the all-time list of winningest basketball coaches in Missouri among four-year colleges. He is also an eight-time Heart of America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honoree.

Coach Sherman tallied fourteen 20-win seasons, one 30-win season, four Heart Conference Championships, and a division championship. On the national stage, he took his teams to six NAIA national tournaments, with three Round of 16 finishes.

He had 14 seasons where his teams were ranked in the NAIA Top 25. Sherman’s 1998 team was No. 2 in the country for three weeks, finishing with a 26-8 final season record. Overall, he coached 71 all-conference players and 20 NAIA All-Americans.

In the beginning, Sherman had a different coaching plan that initially did not include CMU. The plan was to return to his home state of Colorado. His father, Alan Sherman, was a high school basketball coach in the area, and Jeff wanted to remain close.

“I came back to CMU because of two people who are still very influential in my life,” said Sherman. “Dr. James Luetjen, who was the athletic director, and Ken Ash, who was the head men’s basketball coach at the time. They called me and asked if I would return to run the JV program as a graduate assistant.”

Coach Sherman did run the JV program and assisted varsity before getting married. Upon Ash’s departure in 1985, Sherman was tasked with helping the search committee find the next coach. However, Dr. Howell, then President of Central, and Dr. Luetjen soon realized they already had their coach.

With a 15-minute interview in one of the locker rooms, Dr. Luetjen and Dr. Howell offered Sherman the job. The only catch? He had to promise at least three years on the job.

It went four decades.

Over the next 37 years, Sherman chalked up 668 total victories. Upon conclusion of his final season in March of 2022, he ranked as the fifthwinningest active coach in all the NAIA.

Sherman has never forgotten his roots, and he attributes much of his success to his family, beginning with his parents. His father provided a sterling example and served in many roles, including as a high school coach, principal, mayor, and an associate minister. The community was very appreciative of Alan Sherman’s contributions, as evidenced by the school gym which now bears his name.

Sherman’s mother Beverly, passed away at the age of 47 due to multiple sclerosis. With this burden, however, she set an example of how adversity should be shouldered.

“My mother never complained to us kids,” added Sherman. “She was cheated out of much of her adult life and could not walk or do many things on her own. But I never heard her complain. She was a most gracious woman who said she was blessed to have the life and family that she had.”

While serving multiple roles throughout the community, Jeff’s father continued to work and provide care to his wife and raise his three children all on a teacher’s salary. This is a primary reason Jeff considers his dad a hero.

Alan Sherman, who still cherishes his role as a father, made the 900mile trip from De Beque, Colorado to be on hand and witness his son’s induction.

The coaching tree for Sherman is extensive. Seventy-five former players pursued coaching as a profession after completing their time with Sherman at Central. He hopes that those players and assistant coaches can build upon what he has learned from his Hall of Fame mentors. Every mentor he has worked with has been inducted into a Hall of Fame. Those inductees include Roy Edwards, Lowell Edwards, Ken Ash, Dr. Luetjen, and Ed Brant.

Throughout his long and productive career, players changed. Assistants changed. Staff changed. But the one constant in his life has been family, beginning with his wife, Julee.

“I owe more than ever can be repaid to my wife; she is the true head coach at home,” added Sherman. “If we had any kind of recognition for that Hall of Fame, she would have been enshrined long ago. Our greatest gift and our greatest accomplishment is our two sons. Both will tell you that Julee is the head coach at home; I play the assistant, and I am happy to do so.”

Julee added, “Each time he is recognized either in a Hall of Fame or with an award, it means so much more that it comes from his peers and those who have worked with him throughout his life. It shows the brotherhood and the bond that those coaches have with each other.”

But as it should be, the basis of a career and having success is family. Julee reflected, “Getting to see our son, Matt, play for Jeff and then come back as an assistant coach was one of my proudest moments. I think in the end, it brought those two closer together.”

Along with their sons, Ryan, ’13, and Matt, ’10, Jeff and Julee have enjoyed having their five grandkids cheer from the sidelines during home games. From running over to the bench after the games to enjoying postgame meals with the team, it has truly been a family journey.

As he reflects on his time in athletics, first as a 1978 graduate of De Beque High School in Colorado, where he was a two-time All-State selection in basketball and a three-time all-state selection in track & field, to his time at Northeastern Junior College, and then on to Central Methodist, he said, “If you are surrounded by good people, ultimately good things are going to happen.”

CoaCh Sherman’S aCCompliShmentS 14 6 668 71 37

CMU CUTS RIBBON ON NEW ESTES FIELD

Central Methodist University baseball had a lot to celebrate this fall, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to introduce its turf baseball field and a ring ceremony to recognize the Eagles’ second place finish at the 2021 NAIA World Series. Below left, coaches Nate Breland, ’07, and Rob Ehlers, ’10, celebrate. Middle, Vice President Julee Sherman cuts the ribbon with Fayette Schools Superintendent

Brent Doolin. From left are Mike Dimond, ’85; Jeremy

Dawson; Vice President Bill Sheehan, ’84; David Ross, ’82; Julee Sherman; Doolin; Vice President Joe Parisi; Jeff Sherman, ’83; and Breland and his children. Bottom right, Breland celebrates with Winston Welter, ’22.

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