Missouri State

TOM CLOPTON
Football, Basketball and Track, 1910-14
Inducted September 27, 1980

A three-sport letterman in the very earliest days of Missouri State athletics was Aurora native Tom Clopton. He was a football halfback and end for three years under coaches C. C. Buchanan and S. W. Briggs from 1911 and 1913 and participated in track in 1911. But his greatest athletic feats came in the MSU baseball program that was the forerunner of the modern program begun in 1964. Clopton was a four-year standout for the early diamond Bears, spending most of his time catching but also playing third base and right field. He was the MSU captain three of his four seasons, batted cleanup for the Bears and gained considerable recognition as a home run hitter in days when the long ball was a rarity in baseball.