In his fourth season, Ron Nunnelly brings considerable basketball talent to the staff.

After serving as student assistant coach in 1999-2000, Nunnelly was promoted to assistant coach in the fall of 2000. His experience, both on the bench and on the court, provides a wealth of knowledge to the Bearcats.

His playing experience has taken him from Rock Bridge High School in Columbia to Malaysia and Australia. Nunnelly also has what every collegiate basketball player desires, a national championship ring and an MVP plaque.

As a junior at Central Missouri State, he led his team to the NCAA Division II national championship in 1984. Nunnelly scored 38 points in the title game and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Nunnelly was named all-American and conference and national Player of the Year. CMSU also won the MIAA regular-season and MIAA Tournament championships. Nunnelly totaled 736 points in the 1983-84 season, averaging 23.0 points per game.

Nunnelly scored 2,468 career points for CMSU from 1981-85, where he was coached by former SBU head coach Lynn Nance. He is the third leading scorer in MIAA history and once scored 49 points in an MIAA game against Lincoln on Feb. 2, 1985. He was a three-time all-MIAA and Division II All-America selection and was named MIAA Player of the Year in 1983-84 and 1984-85. Ron led the Mules to 95 wins and just 25 losses in his four seasons. CMSU retired Nunnelly’s jersey in 1985 and inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 1997.

As a professional basketball player, Nunnelly traveled to Australia to compete in the Continental Basketball League. He led the league in scoring for six years averaging 36 points per game and scored 85 points in one game. A three-time league MVP, Nunnelly led his team to three Wollocott medals (symbolic of the best team in South Australia) and five division championship games with two championships. In 1993, he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player and averaged 40 points per game.

In 1995, Nunnelly became the first American to play in the professional league in Malaysia and was the first American to make the Malaysian all-star team. He was league MVP one season and played in three league championship games and once scored 44 points in a game in Malaysia.

In high school, Nunnelly scored 1,750 career points in three seasons for Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, where he was coached by Bill Laurie, the owner of the St. Louis Blues of the NHL. He was a two-time all-state selection and led all Missouri 4-A schools in scoring as a junior and senior. Rock Bridge won 75 and lost 11 games during Nunnelly’s career. He graduated from Rock Bridge in 1981.

Nunnelly is a 1999 graduate of SBU. He and his wife, Laura, have been married for 10 years.