KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There will be a public memorial service for former Raytown South boys’ basketball coach Warren “Bud” Lathrop, who died Thursday, next weekend at the school.
Well-wishers can pay their respects during a memorial service at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 21, in the gymnasium at Raytown South High School.
During a coaching career that spanned six decades, Lathrop, 82, boasted 955 career victories, which are the most in Missouri history and rank 20th all-time in the nation among boys’ basketball coaches, according to the National Federation of High Schools.
He leaves behind a wife, Gay, and two sons — Lance, 58, of Raytown, and Brad, 53, of Overland Park.
The Cardinals won four state titles under Lathrop in 1970, 1972, 1977 and 1990, when the team finished 31-0 led by forward and future Mizzou star Jevon Crudup.
Raytown South made the state semifinals six other times under Lathrop (1974, 1975, 1985, 1992, 1993, 2003) and won 35 conference championships during his tenure.
Lathrop, a 1954 Raytown graduate and 1958 William Jewell College graduate, started his coaching career at Mound City High School for two seasons and spent one year at Fulton High School.
He moved back home and started the Ray South program when the school opened in 1961.
Lathrop has been elected to the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the William Jewell College Athletic Hall of Fame and won more than 20 Coach of the Year awards during his career.
