Mark Fisher has compiled a distinguished list of accomplishments and accolades, both on and off the court, in more than three decades of involvement with athletics. In 2018, he was honored with the Gary Filbert Award, the highest honor given by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association for his work in basketball as a coach and administrator. In 2015, he was inducted into the Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame and this past January he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
For 12 years, Fisher was the athletic director for the Springfield Public Schools and oversaw the activities programs for the city’s five high schools and nine middle schools that included a roster of more than 300 coaches reporting directly to him. Under his leadership, $3.5 million was raised through corporate partnerships to fund the Healthy Place to Play Initiative. The program allowed for athletic facilities improvements which were completed during the 2012-13 school year.
In addition, Fisher served as tournament directors for the 32 team Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament and the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions, the most attended high school basketball event in the nation that perennially features the top prep talent in the United States. He was also the organizer for the annual Pink & White Lady Classic, the elite girls’ high school tournament held each winter in Springfield.
Fisher coached boys’ basketball in addition to a variety of other sports at Greenwood High School in Springfield from 1989 to 2003, Owensville High School from 1986-89 and Stanberry High School from 1981-86. He guided Greenwood to a state runner-up finish in 1991, was the Co-Coach of the Year in the state that season and was twice named the Springfield Tip-Off Club Coach of the Year. He guided the Stanberry girls’ track & field team to a state championship in 1982 and
Mark Fisher will enter his fourth year as the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Drury University in 2018-19.
On June 6, 2018, Fisher announced that he intends to retire at the end of the '18-19 academic year.
During his tenure, the Panthers have won eight Great Lakes Valley Conference championships and appeared in 18 NCAA-II national tournaments.
The Drury athletics department also experienced significant growth under Fisher adding wrestling and women’s bowling as NCAA programs in addition to shooting sports and STUNT as non-NCAA sports. The number of student-athletes enrolled at Drury has grown from 250 in his first year to nearly 450 in 2018-19. Fisher also hired Drury’s first full-time head coach for the men’s and women’s track & field programs in 2015-16.
A native of Fairfax, Missouri who received his BS and MS degrees from Northwest Missouri State University, Fisher served on the MSHSAA Board of Directors and is also actively involved in many of the Springfield area’s sports-related organizations. He has serves on the board of the Springfield Area Sports Commission as well as the Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame.
Fisher and wife Debbie have three children and six grandchildren: son, Trevyor and wife Kortney (granddaughters Kinley, Blakely, and Landree), daughter, Ashley and husband Chris (grandsons Graham, Brooks, and Theo) and son, Ben.