Hesser helped the Panthers to a 21-9 overall record and a national tournament birth last season in his third year at the helm. Hesser’s first two DU squads have posted marks of 21-7 and 21-9, the latter also producing a share of a Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division championship (in their first season as a member) and an NCAA Division II tournament appearance.

The results make it clear that the former long-time high school coach has had no problems getting young athletes at the next step to understand that basketball is basketball, whatever the level.

Then again, that’s what prior Drury athletic director Dr. Edsel Matthews believed all along when he tabbed Hesser as the 19th head coach in the history of Panthers’ basketball in the spring of 2004, after the latter had put together a lengthy, successful run as head coach at Springfield’s Glendale High School.

His five-year stint with the Falcons produced a 14-12 mark in his initial campaign, then a stretch where Glendale won an average of 21 victories over the next four seasons. But Hessser’s run of coaching success started long before he arrived in Springfield, which explains why earlier this summer, the Stillwater, Okla. native was elected into the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Most of his most famed work was done as head coach during a seven-year run at Bartlesville High School, where his teams won state titles in 1989, 1991 and 1992 and twice earned state Coach of the Year honors for Hesser.

His Bartlesville teams also finished second in the state in 1988 and made the state quarterfinals in 1986 and 1990. He also coached the prep programs at Pauls Valley and Stillwater, leading the latter to four conference titles and two state tournament appearances in six seasons. His prep coaching record in Oklahoma was 262-142, including a 147-47 mark at Bartlesville.

Hesser, a 1980 Oklahoma State University graduate, also picked up valuable college experience early in his career as an asssistant coach for one season with Billy Tubbs at the University of Oklahoma for one season before he accepted the job at Bartlesville.

After the 1992 state championship campaign, he decided to return to the college ranks to serve as an assistant coach to Jim Kerwin - his high school coach - at NCAA Division I Western Illinois University, before a family illness led him back home to take the job at his alma mater, Stillwater High School. There, his Stillwater teams won four conference titles and made two state tournament appearances in six seasons before Hesser moved to Springfield to accept the Glendale position, where his Falcons annually ranked among the best teams in the Ozark Conference and southwest Missouri.

As a player, Hesser was a two-sport standout at Stillwater High, excelling in both basketball and football. He started his college playing career in both sports at New Mexico Military Academy before moving on to finish his college education, and playing days, at the University of Central Oklahoma.

His playing career ultimately cut short by a leg injury, Hesser finished his undergraduate degree work at Oklahoma State, then earned his master’s degree in secondary education from Oklahoma in 1985. In addition to his head coaching duties, Hesser is a member of the Drury Exercise and Sport Science faculty.

Hesser and his wife, Patty, have one son; Tyler is a Drury graduate and served as a student assistant basketball coach for the Panthers.

DRURY BASKETBALL COACHING VICTORY LEADERS

A.L. Weiser (31 years) 316-256 .552

Marvin Walker (11 years) 249-110 .694

Gary Stanfield (13 years) 239-131 .646

Edsel Matthews (7 years) 120-79 .603

Bill Harding (6 years) 119-44 .730

Leon Richardson (6 years) 68-72 .486

Steve Hesser (3 years) 63-25 .716

Dan M. Nee (5 years) 41-22 .651

Jerry Kirksey (1 year) 33-2 .943

George M. Pritchard (4 years) 28-28 .500

DRURY ALL-TIME COACHING RECORDS (98 YEARS)

Steve Hesser 2004-07 63-25 .716

Gary Stanfield 1991-04 239-131 .646

Marvin Walker 1980-91 249-110 .694

Skip Shear 1979-80 16-14 .533

Jerry Kirksey 1978-79 33-2 .943

Edsel Matthews 1971-78 120-79 .603

Bill Harding 1965-71 119-44 .730

Leon Richardson 1959-60 68-72 .486

John E. Chase 1958-59 9-15 .375

A.L. Weiser 1927-58 316-256 .552

E. Craig Davis 1926-27 8-5 .615

Fred M. Walker 1924-26 7-13 .350

George M. Pritchard 1920-24 28-28 .500

Allen Foster 1918-20 8-12 .400

George F. Baldwin 1917-18 8-4 .667

Dan M. Nee 1912-17 41-22 .651

Morgan Knapp 1911-12 4-2 .667

George Dole 1909-11 11-2 .846

Charles Watson 1908-09 7-3 .700