Missouri State

BLAKE AHEARN
Men's Basketball, 2003-07
Inducted 2016

Blake Ahearn was a four-year starting guard for the Bears of Coach Barry Hinson from 2003 to 2007. A native St. Louisan, Ahearn wound up MSU's 7th-leading all-time scorer with 1,677 points and is the Bears' career three-point field goal leader with 276. Ahearn led all NCAA Division I men in free throw percentage each his first three years and set MSU, Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA single season and career records for free throw percentage which still stand. He shot .975 as a freshman, hitting 117 of 120 shots, and his career mark of .946 was fashioned on 435 of 460 from the line in his four seasons with MSU. Ahearn began his career hitting his first 32 free throws in a row, missed one, and then launched an MVC-record 60 straight. He hit 60 in a row again as a sophomore and 51 straight his junior season. He was 2004 MVC Freshman of the Year and an all-league first teamer as a junior and senior, one of only four Bears to gain all-MVC first team twice. He played on Bears' teams with a combined record of 82-47, including two 22-win campaigns, competed in the National Invitation Tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and reached the NIT quarterfinals in 2006 against the Louisville Cardinals in Freedom Hall. Ahearn averaged 16.2 points a game as a junior and 15.4 as a senior. He was on the USA Pan American Games team in 2011. Ahearn's eight-year professional career included stints with the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He was the all-time scoring leader in the NBA Development League and also played professionally in Spain, Italy, Ukraine, China and Puerto Rico. He retired from playing in 2015 and began his first season as head boys' basketball coach at Clayton (Mo.) High.