COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 The Mizzou athletics department added six people to its hall of fame this week, including four former athletes and two former administrators.
Former athletics director Mike Alden, men鈥檚 basketball鈥檚 Kareem Rush, football鈥檚 Brock Olivo, women鈥檚 basketball鈥檚 Sophie Cunningham, volleyball鈥檚 Alyssa Munlyn and former sports information director Bob Brendel make up MU鈥檚 2025 Hall of Fame Class.
鈥淭his group represents the very best of Mizzou Athletics,鈥 current AD Laird Veatch said in a statement. 鈥淚n their own ways, each honoree contributed significantly to the success and tradition that define our department and our university. We are thrilled to celebrate their accomplishments and welcome them into the Hall of Fame.鈥
The six new inductees will be enshrined during a September ceremony, bringing the MU Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame up to 262 members and four inducted teams.
People are also reading…
Alden鈥檚 tenure as athletics director included some of the most transformational decisions in the recent history of Mizzou sports. He spearheaded the Tigers move from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference in 2012, plus the construction of Mizzou Arena and other MU facilities.
Alden also hired Gary Pinkel to coach Missouri鈥檚 football team, which wound up producing 118 wins in 15 seasons, making Pinkel the program鈥檚 winningest coach.
Within administrative circles, Alden is also recognized for having produced 鈥淎lden鈥檚 Army鈥 鈥 a diaspora of sorts made up of administrators who worked under him at Mizzou. Veatch is among that group.
Alden鈥檚 17-year tenure as Missouri鈥檚 AD is the second-longest in school history to only the 28 years spent in the big chair by Don Faurot, the coach and administrator for whom MU鈥檚 football field is named.
Rush, a lefty sharpshooter who played for the Tigers from 1999-2002, still holds the program record with a career 3-point percentage of 43.9%. He wrapped up his collegiate career with 1,584 points, 456 rebounds, 174 assists and 201 steals 鈥 plus a streak of 40 straight games with at least one made triple.
With Rush on the floor, Mizzou made it to the NCAA Tournament three times, including a run to the Elite Eight in 2002. Rush was the Big 12鈥檚 co-freshman of the year in 2000 and first-team all-Big 12 the next two seasons.
Olivo, a Borgia product who ground his way to a spot in MU鈥檚 gridiron lore, finished his four-year career as the Tigers鈥 leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. From 1994-97, he amassed 3,026 yards on the ground and 27 scores while famously playing on four special teams units despite the workload 鈥 at least in part due to his legendary intensity during workouts.

Former Missouri running back Brock Olivo, shown here as a freshman in 1994, runs the ball during a game against Kansas State.
Mizzou retired his No. 27 in 2003. After coaching in the NFL and Europe, Olivo took a job on coach Eli Drinkwitz鈥檚 staff. He鈥檚 now listed as a special teams assistant.
After consulting on the Tigers鈥 women鈥檚 basketball coaching search, Cunningham cemented her place in the school鈥檚 hall of fame with her playing career still going. As an MU legacy and hometown product, she spent four seasons leading the women鈥檚 hoops program to four NCAA Tournament appearances.
After scoring a school-record 42 points in her debut, she went on to pour in 2,187 over the course of her career, making her the all-time leading scorer. She cracked the All-SEC first team three times and was a third-team All-American in 2019. The WNBA鈥檚 Phoenix Mercury drafted her that year, and she was traded to the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Munlyn was a four-time All-American at Missouri from 2015-18, setting program records in blocks and hitting percentage, plus several defensive single-season marks that have yet to be touched. She returned to the program after playing, working as an assistant coach from 2019-22.
Brendel, a St. 香港三级片 native who was a sports information director at MU from 1980-2000, helped found the athletics department鈥檚 hall of fame 鈥 and is now in it. He ran point, from a media and records standpoint, for the men鈥檚 basketball and football programs at various points in his tenure and expanded the department鈥檚 collection of records. He has since returned to the press box and office part-time as a historian and archivist.
鈥榋OU to You鈥 Tour coming to town
Mizzou鈥檚 offseason fan caravan will stop in the greater St. 香港三级片 area next week, bringing a group of coaches and athletes to town in an annual offseason fixture. Missouri will host the event from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at Chicken N Pickle in St. Charles. The tour stop is free and open to the public, though MU has asked attendees to register through the athletics department website.
Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz speaks with the media on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. about the NCAA House settlement lawsuit. (Video by Mizzou Network, used with permission of Mizzou Athletics)