KSHOF Class of 2016

STEVE ANSON – WASHBURN UNIVERSITY A native of Princeton, Indiana, Steve Anson’s baseball career in Kansas began in 1972 when he enrolled at Kansas State University. Anson lettered for the Wildcats all four years in Manhattan and set career and single season marks that still stand today. A career .349 hitter in 184 games, Anson led the team in hits and batting average all four years in Manhattan. As of 2016, Anson also held the school record for career triples with 19. Anson was named a first-team All-Big 8 performer in 1974. Following his playing career, Anson was named head coach of Wayne State University in 1978 before being named the head coach at Washburn University in Topeka in 1980. Anson guided the Ichabods to five NAIA National Tournaments and was named the 1994 MIAA Conference Coach of the Year. In 24 years at Washburn, Anson compiled a career coaching record of 844-798-3. Anson’s players also achieved success under his tutelage and he coached three All-American selections, two Academic All-Americans, and 96 All-MIAA Conference selections. Anson was named to the K-State Baseball All-Century team in 2000 and was inducted to the Washburn Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.

BILL BRIDGES – UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Bill Bridges, originally from Hobbs, New Mexico, is another in a long line of University of Kansas basketball players to make their mark on Kansas sports history. A three-time Big 8 Conference selection, Bridges compiled over 1,000 points and rebounds during his three-year KU career. In 1961, Bridges was named a first-team All-American selection. Following his collegiate career, Bridges was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1961 NBA Draft. Bridges played thirteen NBA seasons with the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Golden State Warriors, where he totaled more than 11,000 career points and rebounds. Bridges was a three-time NBA All-Star in 1967, 1968, and 1970. Bridges was inducted to the KU Athletics Hall of Fame and the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

BOB DAVIS – TOPEKA Iola born and Topeka raised, Bob Davis is a name that sports fans all across the state will recognize. A graduate of Topeka West High School in 1962 and Washburn University in 1967, Davis began his broadcasting career at Fort Hays State University in 1968 as the Voice of the Tigers. For the next forty eight years, fans of many teams across the state and region could count on Davis’s voice calling the action of their favorite teams. In 1984, Davis moved to Lawrence and the University of Kansas to be the Voice of the Jayhawks, a position he held until 2016. During that span, Davis called eight Jayhawk Final Four appearances, including two National Championships in 1988 and 2008, and six KU football bowl games. From 1997 to 2013, Davis also called baseball games for the Kansas City Royals. Davis was named the Kansas Sportscaster of the Year thirteen times and a two-time recipient of the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s Oscar Stauffer Sports Broadcasting Award. Davis has been honored in numerous athletic halls of fame across the state, including the Fort Hays State Athletics Tiger Hall of Fame in 1990, the Kansas Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Topeka West High School Graduates Hall of Fame in 2011.

TAMECKA DIXON – UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS A native of Linden, New Jersey, Tamecka Dixon left a legacy at the University of Kansas that is unrivaled. A two-time Big 8/Big 12 All-Conference selection in 1996 and 1997, Dixon was also named the conference Player of the Year both seasons and earned All-American honors in 1997. Dixon led the Jayhawks to four NCAA Tournament appearances, scoring over 1,600 points and totaling more than 330 assists for her KU career. Dixon was drafted in the first round of the 1997 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks and was named a three-time WNBA All-Star during her professional career with the Sparks, Houston Comets, and the Indiana Fever. Dixon also won two WNBA Championships with the Sparks. Dixon is an inductee of the KU Athletics Hall of Fame and her #33 jersey was retired by KU in 2003.

BILL DOTSON – CONCORDIA Kansas has a long history of producing some of the finest distance runners in American history and Concordia native Bill Dotson is another in the long line of track stars from the Sunflower State. Dotson broke fellow Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Glenn Cunningham’s twenty eight year old high school mile record before graduating from Concordia High School in 1958. Dotson then enrolled at the University of Kansas where he became a two-time All-American and the first KU athlete to break the four minute mile mark in 1962. Dotson won five Big 8 Conference track titles, including three indoor titles and two outdoor titles, and won the Big 8 Conference title in cross country in 1961. Dotson set three three American records in the mile during his career. In 2008, Dotson was inducted to the KU Athletics Hall of Fame.

SCOTT HUFFMAN – QUINTER Quinter native Scott Huffman literally rewrote the technique of the pole vault during his career. After winning the high school state championship in the pole vault at Quinter in 1983, Huffman walked on at the University of Kansas where he perfected what became known as the “Huffman Roll” pole vault technique. Huffman won the 1986 Big 8 Conference outdoor and the 1988 Big 8 Conference indoor championships and was named an indoor All-American in 1986 and 1988. In 1994, Huffman entered his names in the American record books as he used his patented technique to hurl himself over nineteen feet, seven inches, for an American record. Huffman was a three-time USA Track and Field National Champion following his career at KU and he competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, finishing thirteenth. Huffman was inducted to the KU Athletics Hall of Fame and was named to the Pole Vault Summit Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

JERRY KILL – CHENEY A native of Cheney, Kansas, Jerry Kill’s coaching career spans parts of three decades and numerous conference and national honors. After graduating from Cheney High School in 1979, Kill attended Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, where he played linebacker for the Moundbuilders. Kill began his coaching career as an assistant to Dennis Franchione at Pittsburg State University in 1985 and he served on the staff under fellow Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Broyles for the 1991 Pittsburg State National Championship team. Kill’s first head coaching position came in 1994 at Saginaw Valley State in Michigan before stints at Emporia State University from 1999 to 2000, Southern Illinois from 2001 to 2007, and Northern Illinois from 2008 to 2010. In 2010, Kill was named the head coach at the University of Minnesota. During his career, Kill won four conference championships while posting a career coaching record of 152-99. Kill was honored with National Coach of the Year awards three times and was named the 2014 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year. In 2004, Kill was inducted to the Southwestern College Athletic Hall of Fame and he was inducted to the Southern Illinois University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.

DEANDRA DOUBRAVA-MCBRIDE – SCOTT CITY Scott City native Deandra Doubrava-McBride is one of the most decorated athletes in Emporia State University history. A four-time state champion in three events at Scott Community High School, Doubrava-McBride helped lead the Beavers to a team state championship her senior year in 1994. After enrolling at Emporia State, Doubrava-McBride made her mark early, and often, claiming eighteen MIAA Conference Championships throughout her career. In 1999, Doubrava-McBride won two NCAA Division II National Championships in the 400 meter and the heptathlon. She was named the 1999 U.S. Track Coaches Association Division II Female Athlete of the Year and the MIAA Ken Jones Female Athlete of the Year. For her career, Doubrava-McBride earned fourteen All-American honors and as of 2016, still holds six Emporia State indoor and outdoor school records. Doubrava-McBride was inducted to the USTFA Division II Hall of Fame in 2006, the Emporia State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009, and the MIAA Hall of Fame in 2012.

JAIME MENDEZ III – KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Jaime Mendez III helped form the foundation of K-State football during the early 1990s. A four year letterman for the Wildcats, Mendez’s impact was immediate as he led the team in interceptions and interception return yardage as a freshman, both marks setting school records. Mendez was named honorable mention All- Big 8 as a freshman and was named the Big 8 Newcomer of the Year in 1990. Mendez also earned All-Big 8 Conference honors in 1991, 1992, and 1993. In 1993, Mendez helped lead the Wildcats to a 9-2-1 record and the school’s second bowl game while recording a career high in tackles. Mendez was named a consensus All-American selection and was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award in 1993. In 1994, Mendez signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles. As of 2016, Mendez’s fifteen career interceptions still rank tops in K-State history. Mendez was inducted to the K-State Football Ring of Honor in 2002 and the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.

LAFAYETTE NORWOOD – WICHITA With a coaching career that spanned parts of six decades in multiple sports, and at both the high school and collegiate levels, there are few accolades that Wichita native Lafayette Norwood did not accomplish. A graduate of Wichita East High School in 1952, Norwood attended Cowley College for two years before completing his degree at Southwestern College in 1956. In 1969, Norwood made history when he was named the head basketball coach at Wichita Heights High School and became the first African American coach in the Wichita school district. Norwood led the Falcons to 109-56 record and a state championship in 1977 before being named an assistant coach for fellow Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Ted Owens at the University of Kansas in 1978. In 1981, Norwood was named the head basketball and golf coach at Johnson County Community College. Norwood was inducted to the Southwestern College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992, the Cowley College Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

AUSTRA SKUJYTĖ – KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY A four-time All-American track star at Kansas State University, Austra Skujytė from Biržai, Lithuania, rewrote the K-State record books on her way to Olympic history. The first woman to win two NCAA National Championships at K-State, Skujytė won back to back outdoor heptathlon titles in 2001 and 2002 earning All-American honors both years. Skujytė claimed two outdoor Big 12 Confernece titles in the heptathlon in 2001 and the long jump in 2002 and also won two indoor conference titles in the pentathlon in both 2001 and 2002. Skujytė was named the Big 12 Conference Outdoor Performer of the Year in 2001 and 2002 and the conference Indoor Performer of the Year in 2002. Skujytė also helped lead the Wildcats to Big 12 Outdoor Conference championships in 2001 and 2002. Following her collegiate career, Skujytė competed for her home country in the 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012, Olympic games becoming the only woman to compete in the heptathlon in four different Olympic games. Skujytė won the silver medal in the heptathlon in 2004 and finished fifth in the same event in 2012. Skujytė was named to the Big 12 Conference 10th Anniversay Track Team and was inducted to the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.

GEORGE SWEATT – HUMBOLDT Humboldt native George Sweatt was a Pittsburg State University pioneer and one of the greatest baseball players in our state’s history. The first African American to letter in any sport at Pittsburg State University, Sweatt actually lettered in football, basketball, and track and field following his service in the army during World War I. Sweatt was a six-time all-conference performer in track. Sweatt signed with the Kansas City Monarchs baseball club of the Negro Leagues while still in school at Pittsburg State and went on to play in seven professional seasons with the Monarchs and the Chicago American Giants. Sweatt played in the first four Negro Leagues World Series, in 1924 and 1925 with the Monarchs, and in 1926 and 1927 with the American Giants, and won three Negro Leagues World Series championships. Sweatt was inducted to the Pittsburg State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.