Date: January 31, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Westwood Center
Three Rivers College will host a banquet honoring the 2025 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees at 6 p.m. on January 31 at the Westwood Center in Poplar Bluff. This year’s inductees are Sunday Adebayo, Dave Jarvis, Moon McCrary, Wilbur Thornton, and Laverne Turner. Read the full story.
Limited seating is available. Tickets are $60 per person. A reserved named table of 6 is $1,000. Advanced ticket purchase is required. Last day to purchase tickets is January 17. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information about tickets or sponsorships, please contact Melody Dolle-Ducote at 573-840-9698 or mdolle-ducote@trcc.edu. You can also purchase tickets, tables, and sponsorships online now.
On February 1, the Three Rivers men’s and women’s basketball teams will play Moberly Area, with the women playing at 5 p.m. and the men playing at 7 p.m. Inductees will be honored at halftime of the women’s game. Three Rivers College graduates and former students will receive free admission for these games as part of the 2025 Alumni Reunion.
2025 Three Rivers College Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees
Sunday Adebayo — Men’s Basketball — 1993-95
Sunday Adebayo finished his career at Three Rivers with 1,180 points and 706 rebounds in 76 games from 1993-95. At the time of his induction, he was still the leading rebounder in Three Rivers men’s basketball history and ninth overall in scoring. He averaged 19 points and 10.3 rebounds as a sophomore and was named Region XVI Player of the Year and an All-MCCAC selection.
In an unforgettable performance, he led the Raiders with 30 points, 17 rebounds, and seven dunks in the 1995 Region XVI Championship. The Raiders went on to finish fifth in the NJCAA tournament after finishing second in 1994.
Adebayo played his junior and fifth-year seasons at Arkansas, and his senior season at Memphis University.
Dave Jarvis — Baseball — 1985-93
Dave Jarvis was a three-time MCCAC Coach of the Year during his nine years leading the Three Rivers baseball team and was the 1984 women’s basketball MCCAC Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Raiders to an 18-14 record.
He had a 324-152 career record as head baseball coach at Three Rivers, highlighted by a No. 4 NJCAA poll ranking in 1992. The Raiders won Region XVI Championships in 1990 and 1992, and Jarvis was named Region XVI Coach of the Year in both seasons.
Jarvis also played for the Raiders from 1978-1980 as a catcher. He was a starting catcher and team captain at Arkansas State and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education at Arkansas State.
Jarvis accepted an assistant coaching job with Murray State University in 1993 and the head coaching job at Belmont University in 1998, where he won more than 1,000 games with two NCAA Tournament selections.
Jarvis has three sons, Jordan, Logan, and Jackson. Logan played for his father at Belmont from 2017-2022. The family resides in Franklin, Tenn.
Moon McCrary — Basketball — 1978-80
Moon McCrary was a leader during Three Rivers’ 1979 National Championship basketball run and was eventually drafted in the fifth round of the 1982 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns.
The Memphis native led the Raiders in scoring during both seasons at Three Rivers, averaging 17 points as a freshman and 18.1 as a sophomore. He also led the team his sophomore season with 6.8 rebounds per game and 205 total free throws.
At the time of his induction, McCrary was third All-Time in scoring at Three Rivers with 1,402 points. He was a two-time All-Region XVI and All-MCCAC selection and was named an All-American as a sophomore after the Raiders finished fifth in the National Tournament.
After graduating from Three Rivers, McCrary was the Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year at the University of Missouri. He pursued a career in law enforcement and eventually retired as the Columbia Chief of Police.
Wilbur Thornton — Contributor
For 24 years, Wilbur Thornton gave his time to Three Rivers athletics as the “Voice of the Raiders.”
Thornton, who passed away on November 27, 2015, volunteered his time announcing games on the radio, allowing the Booster Club to sell ads and turn an expense into a fundraiser. He took vacation time from his job with the U.S. Postal Service to travel with the team on long road trips, and closed out important wins with his signature phrase, “How sweet it is.” After a Saturday night game, he would sign off with, “See you in church in the morning.”
Three Rivers won 613 games with Thornton on the mic from 1990-2014. For years after his death, his name remained on the broadcast chair at the Bess Activity Center. Three Rivers men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as baseball and softball teams, wore commemorative patches on their home jerseys during their 2014-15 seasons.
Thornton worked for the U.S. Postal Service for more than 50 years, eventually retiring as the Postmaster General in Poplar Bluff in 2009, overseeing 144 Southeast Missouri post offices. He also was an EMT, led marriage and funeral ceremonies as a lay minister, volunteered as a fire fighter, worked for the Poplar Bluff police department as an auxiliary policeman, and served Dunklin County as the Civil Defense Director.
“When you live in a small town, you don’t have all that many people that will volunteer their time,” Thornton said in a 2006 interview. “You do it because of the pride you have in your community.”
Laverne Turner — Volleyball — 1995-97
Laverne Turner was a two-time All-Region XVI selection and a MCCAC All-Conference selection in 1995-96. At the time of her induction, she was first all-time in single-season kills for Three Rivers volleyball and second all-time in career kills.
Turner was a two-sport athlete at Three Rivers and called her sister Marlana a teammate in both volleyball and basketball during Turner’s sophomore year.
Turner excelled academically as the Salutatorian at South Pemiscot High School and graduated from Three Rivers in 1997. She then transferred to Williams Baptist College and graduated in 2000.
She later returned to school while working full-time and raising two daughters—Tanisea and Tamiya Starks—and earned her Master of Business Administration degree in 2010 from William Woods University.
