By: David Boyce - MIAA Contributor

When word spread throughout the MIAA and Pittsburg State world that Matt Newbery passed away late Sunday night from Covid-19, the outpouring of love for him showed just how special he made others feel.

“He was just a heck of a guy,” said Bill Gray, a close friend of Newbery.

Their friendship dates back to college when they were at Pittsburg State. But Gray knew of Newbery in high school when Gray was a freshman and Newbery was a senior.

At Pittsburg State, Gray joined Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and Newbery literally became a big brother to Gray.

“It was an important time for me,” Gray said. “I had a lot of growing up to do at that point, and he helped me through it.”
 

Later, when Newbery worked as an assistant sports editor at the Morning Sun, Gray wrote stories for Newbery. A few years later, when Newbery was assistant sports information director at Pittsburg State in the early 1990s, the two worked together again. Gray was an assistant softball coach.

“I see him as a friend. I see him as a boss. I see him as a brother,” Gray said. 

“I don’t think he had a mean bone in his body. Matt was passionate. He loved sports. He knew every obscure stat of every minor league team that nobody cared about.”

Indeed. Newbery’s near-photographic memory of statistics, moments in a game that occurred 10 to 15 years ago made him a valuable treasure for the MIAA.

Newbery became the second full-time sports information director for the MIAA in 1994 and held that position until 2009. 

Hired by former commissioner Ken B. Jones, Newbery started off working from his apartment. It was a time when the internet was still in its infancy. He faxed press releases and did much of the league statistics by hand. 

“In the early 1990s, you saw a lot of growth in Division II in communication,” said Pittsburg State sports information Dan Wilkes. “The MIAA was no exception in terms of expanding the sports information office, going from part-time operation to full time.

“Matt played a huge role. I know commissioner Jones leaned on him and that transferred to commissioner Ralph McFillen and down the road. Matt was a strong right arm for each of our commissioners in the league. The media trusted him.”

That trust helped grow the MIAA brand throughout Missouri and Kansas in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

“He cared about the league,” said Emporia State sports information director Don Weast. “In a way, he was a pioneer in Division II conference communication. He did a great job working with the Kansas City media and working with the media in the local communities. It was harder back then. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, there wasn’t social media. A lot of it was making phone calls.”

Simply put, Newbery connected with people.

“Some people have that intangible of being a people person and can relate to people from all different walks of life,” Wilkes said. “That was something Matt could do extremely well. He was somebody who cared about people and that showed. People responded to him because he was such a genuine person.”

The obvious proof of it was Newbery’s love of the Pittsburg State softball program. 

Former Pittsburg State softball player Wendi (Rickson) Horak was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2017. Newbery was there for the ceremony. Newbery was also there for induction ceremonies when two of Horak’s teammates made the Hall of Fame in other years.

Newbery enjoyed telling stories from games that occurred from 1992-94 when Rickson played for the Gorillas and the team made two appearances in the NCAA Division II tournament.

“He knew every single stat,” Horak said. “Even when we got together these last three years, he still remembered all the stats. He would say do you remember that game when this happened and I’d go no, but he remembers it like it was yesterday. That is one thing we are going to miss are his stories because he remembered everything. 

“I will miss his stories and big bear hug.”

So often when you talked with Newbery, he had a smile on his face. It indicated he enjoyed every moment of the conversation.

“His heart was as big as he was,” said Gene Cassell, sports information director at Washburn.

“He recommended me for the job at Washburn. I owe him a lot for getting me to where I am at now. When I started, he was someone I could always count on. If we had extra events, he would come over. It wasn’t just me; it was anybody in the conference. If you had multiple events or between SIDs, he wouldn’t hesitate to come up and help out. That is who he was.”

As much as Newbery cared about Pittsburg State, his passion for the MIAA was every bit as strong.
 

Wilkes said Newbery initially worried that people would think he showed favoritism to Pittsburg State when he first took the job with the MIAA. It was never an issue.

Cassell saw the joy Newbery displayed when the Washburn women’s and men’s basketball teams made runs in the national tournament.

“It didn’t matter the team, he put on his orange conference hat and be one of their biggest cheerleaders,” Cassell said. “He wanted to do anything to help promote the league and promote the student-athletes in the league. That is what he was all about.”

Wilkes concurs.

“Him and I had a special relationship and we were best of friends,” Wilkes said. “I would joke with him that you are more a Hornet or Bearcat some days than a Gorilla. I did it totally tongue in cheek. He would laugh and say, ‘I love my Gorillas, but I love them all.’ People knew that.”

People knew that Matt Newbery cared. It is why his sudden death hit so many people so hard.

“Like a ton of bricks,” Gray said.

Horak summed up well what Newbery meant to people.

“Matt was that guy who had unconditional love for you,” she said. “His friendship to us was unconditional. He was always there for us. If we needed something, Matt was there.”

This Tribute To Matt Newbery Was Written By David Boyce | Photos Are Courtesy Of Gene Cassell