Missouri State

JIM MENTIS
Football, 1946-50; Football Coach, 1962-68
Inducted October 30, 1982

This year’s final Hall of Fame inductee was a teammate of Dick Kerin on the Missouri State football teams of the late 1940’s. Jim Mentis came out of the Navy after World War II and lettered for the bears at end and tackle four years in a row from 1946 through 1949 playing for three different coaches in his four years at Missouri State. He played on the league title team in 1948 and was an all-conference honorable mention selection in 1947, a second team pick in 1948, and a first team choice in 1949, as well as winning the scholastic trophy. He also served as president of the “S” club. Mentis, a native of Mt. Vernon, 0hio, was a high school coach from 1953 to 1961 at Carthage and Springfield Central and then returned to the MSU staff. He was a football assistant and was the first wrestling coach for one season before he took over as the Bears’ head coach in 1965 with a 7-3 team and in 1966 took the Bruins to an undefeated MIAA championship team and a trip to the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. Mentis concluded his four seasons at the head of the MSU grid program following the 1968 season and has remained on the physical education faculty since that time.