Kansas Sports Hall Of Fame - Induction Ceremony (2018)
Smoky Hills Public Television is honored to broadcast the induction of those who made an impact on athletics in the state of Kansas. The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is held in Wichita annually. This time coming form the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview.
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Steve Hensen - 2009 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Steve Hensen enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during the 2009 Induction ceremony. Presenting keynote speaker is Gary Bender, 2008 KSHOF inductee.
Steven Michael Henson was one of the states top all-around athletes at McPherson High School before going on to become one of the greatest basketball players in Kansas State University history. He was two-time first-team all-state selection at McPherson High School and was named Mr. Kansas Basketball in 1986. Henson was also a Junior Olympic national champion in both the decathlon and high jump and a Kansas high school state champion in both the javelin and high jump. At Kansas State, he was a member of the track and field team as a decathlete and took third at the Big Eight Championships as a sophomore and junior. His tough, tenacious and smart play on the basketball court helped Henson become one of the most respected players in the Big Eight Conference from 1986-90. During his four year college career, Henson set eleven Big Eight records and 21 Kansas State records including both season and career records for assists, steals, and free throw percentage. He was a four-year starter on K-State teams that made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances the only Wildcat in history to accomplish that feat. His career scoring total of 1,655 points was fourth best in KSU history when he graduated. In 2003, Henson was elected to Kansas States All-Century team. He was a two-time honorable mention All-American and earned first-team All-Big Eight honors as a junior and second team as a senior. Drafted in the second round of the 1990 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, Henson played seven seasons in the NBA and three in Europe. Following his playing days, he was an assistant coach at Illinois, South Florida and UNLV, as well as an advance scout for the Atlanta Hawks. Born February 2, 1968 Junction City, Kansas. Graduated McPherson H.S., 1986; Kansas State University, 1990.
Wichita Sports Hall of Fame
Kansas Sports Hall Of Fame - Induction Ceremony (2017)
Smoky Hills Public Television is honored to broadcast the induction of those who made an impact on athletics in the state of Kansas. The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is held in Wichita annually.
To order your copy of The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame - Induction Ceremony (2017) please click on the link below:
If you would like to Donate to Smoky Hills Public Television then please click on the link below:
WSU Star Billy Hall Is Inducted Into the Kansas Baseball Hall Of Fame
Billy Hall, from Northwest High, was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame Saturday. As a walk-on at Wichita State he hit .364 with 59 stolen bases as a senior, helping the Shockers to the 1991 College World Series Final. He played fifteen seasons of professional baseball reaching the AAA level in four different organizations. (Video by Fernando Salazar)
Don Calhoun - 2009 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Don Calhoun enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during the 2009 Induction ceremony. Presenting keynote speaker is Gary Bender, 2008 KSHOF inductee.
Donald Clevester Calhoun was one of the best running backs in Kansas State football history. Calhoun attended Wichita North High School and helped the Redskins to a berth in the 1969 state championship game and was a consensus all-state selection for North High. He spent nine seasons in the National Football League seven with the New England Patriots and two with the Buffalo Bills and never missed a game due to injury. He also played for the New Jersey Generals in the United States Football League in 1984 before retiring after the season. Calhouns best year was in 1980 with the Patriots when he rushed for 787 yards and scored nine touchdowns from his fullback position. During his NFL career, Calhoun ran the ball 860 times for 3,559 yards and scored 23 touchdowns plus caught 86 passes for two more scores. During the 1976 season, his 5.6-yards per carry was the best in the NFL. He helped lead the Patriots into the playoffs when he came off the bench to replace an injured starter and rushed for over 100 yards in four consecutive games. Ironically, he caught the Patriots' longest reception of the 1975 season (62 yards) from former Kansas State teammate and fellow Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Steve Grogan against the Bills. While at Kansas State, Calhoun led the Wildcats in rushing during his junior season in 1973 and finished his career ranked No. 4 on the all-time K-State rushing chart. He was drafted in the 10th round of the 1974 NFL Draft by Buffalo. Born: April 19, 1952 Sumner, Oklahoma. Graduated Wichita North H.S., 1970; Kansas State University, 1974.
Rent the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame at the Wichita Boathouse
Events Held at the Boathouse
Bob Davis KSHOF Induction
Bob Davis, former voice of the Ft. Hays State Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks. Davis spent 48 years calling games across the globe, including eight Final Four's, six KU football bowl games, including the 2008 Orange Bowl and thousands of regular season games in both football and basketball. (Sean Boston/The Wichita Eagle)
Wichita State players talk about NCAA loss
Wichita State players Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet talk about the team's loss to Notre Dame in the Midwest Regional semifinal of the NCAA Tournament at QuickenLoans Arena in Cleveland on March 26, 2015. (video by Jaime Green)
Kansas Stars win NBC World Series
The team of former major league players, including future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, beat the Everett (WA) Merchants.
Darren Dreifort - 2007 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Darren Dreifort enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during the 2007 Induction ceremony. Presenting keynote speaker is Ted Hayes.
Ralph Terry - 2008 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Ralph Terry enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during the 2008 Induction ceremony. Presenting keynote speaker is Bruce Haertl.
Ken Roberts - 2009 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Ken Roberts posthumously enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during the 2009 Induction ceremony. Presenting keynote speaker is Gary Bender, 2008 KSHOF inductee.
A three-time world champion bull rider and a charter member of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Ken S. Roberts was called the toughest bull rider of all time. He was a pioneer athlete and producer of bull riding and was instrumental in building the sport into national prominence. Roberts rodeo career spanned four decades, starting with a 1936 bull riding victory in Chicago at the age of 18. He repeated that championship in Chicago in 1937 and 38. Thirty years later, Roberts won the national bull riding championship by riding a bull, which had not been ridden in two years. Roberts was the arena director of the first National Rodeo in its first two seasons. Roberts was part of the famous rodeo family of Emmett and Clara Roberts, who were instrumental in forming the Flint Hills Rodeo and turning it into the longest running rodeo in Kansas. Ken Roberts older brother Gerald was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1961 and his sister Marge was also a world champion and inducted into the Nation Cowgirl Hall of Fame posthumously in 1987. Ken was a world champion bull rider in 1943, 44 and 45. He made his last bull ride at the age of 50 when he won the competition at the Denver Stock Show. In addition to being inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs in 1979, Roberts is an original inductee into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Born January 22, 1918 Council Grove, Kansas. Died September 12, 1975 Strong City, Kansas.
Cotton Fitzsimmons' 2015 Arizona Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Video
Lowell Cotton Fitzsimmons (October 7, 1931 – July 24, 2004) was an American college and NBA basketball coach. A native of Hannibal, Missouri, he attended and played basketball at Hannibal-LaGrange Junior College in Hannibal and Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He coached the Phoenix Suns three times, was named the NBA Coach of the Year twice, and is often credited as the architect of the Suns' success of the late 1980s and early to middle 1990s.
Check out his 2015 Arizona Sports Hall of Fame Induction video
John Mason - 2009 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
John Mason enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during the 2009 Induction ceremony. Presenting keynote speaker is Gary Bender, 2008 KSHOF inductee.
Small college, large college NAIA school, NCAA program, it didnt matter to John Mason of Phillipsburg, Kansas. Mason was simply unbeatable as a cross country runner for the Fort Hays State Tigers during his junior and senior seasons in 1967 and 68, and he competed against runners from larger four-year schools on a regular basis. During those two seasons, Mason competed in 21 cross country meets, and won them all 21-0. He claimed the Missouri Valley AAU cross country championship, as well as the NAIA national championship and the Central Intercollegiate Conference title. He also won seven of nine races as a sophomore in 1966 and finished second in the two races he didnt win. Mason was a fourteen-time All-American at Fort Hays State in track and cross country. He was an eight-time NAIA national track champ in addition to his national cross country titles. His school records at 1,500 meters and 3,000 meter steeplechase are the two oldest school records still on the books at FHSU for the outdoor season. He still holds the indoor mile record of 4:03.8 set in 1969 and he was part of the schools record two-mile relay team, whose 1966 record still stands. Mason, who later ran for the Pacific Coast Track Club, ran the mile under four minutes numerous times in his career and was a finalist in the 1968 U.S. Olympic trials. Mason won the 1968 World Games in the 1500 meters in Stockholm, defeating Kip Keino of Kenya who went on to win the event in the Olympics later that year. During his days at Phillipsburg High School, Mason won the Class A mile run at the 1963 State Outdoor and the 880-yard run in 1964. He was also the state indoor champion in the mile in 1963. Born December 29, 1945 Hays, Kansas. Graduated Phillipsburg H.S., 1964; Fort Hays State College, 1968.
Honoring #10, Coach Gene Stephenson - 2019 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
Gene Stephenson, the sole inductee of Wichita State's 2019 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame class, was inducted during halftime of the Wichita State men's basketball game against Southern Miss on December 15 after being honored at a dinner the night before at the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview.
Gene Stephenson
Baseball Head Coach, 1978-2013
Head baseball coach at Wichita State for 36 years…2014 College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee…Three-time NCAA Coach of the Year…11-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year…1989 College World Series champion…Seven College World Series appearances…27 NCAA Regional appearances…Two NCAA Super Regional appearances…20 Valley regular-season titles…17 Valley tournament championships…Directed Wichita State to more wins than any NCAA Division I program in the country eight times…Coached 33 players at Wichita State who played in the Major Leagues…Coached three players named NCAA Player of the Year and one named NCAA Pitcher of the Year…Coached two players named NCAA Academic Player of the Year…Coached 54 players at Wichita State who earned All-America honors…Coached 33 Freshman All-Americans…Coached 20 players who earned Academic All-America honors a total of 27 times…Coached 15 conference Players of the Year…Coached 12 conference Pitchers of the Year…Member of the Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Team…Coached 13 MLB first-round draft picks…Won 60 or more games five times…Collected 50 or more wins 19 times.
Ernie Moore, Alex Harden inducted into Wichita Sports Hall of Fame
Ernie Moore, Alex Harden inducted into Wichita Sports Hall of Fame
Janell (Smith) Carson - 2009 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Janell (Smith) Carson enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during the 2009 Induction ceremony. Presenting keynote speaker is Gary Bender, 2008 KSHOF inductee.
Before there was such a thing as organized high school sports for girls in Kansas, there was a young lady named Janell Smith who set records on cinder tracks of southeast Kansas that still have been rarely topped more than four decades later. As a 17-year-old high school junior from Fredonia High School, Smith represented the United States in the 400-meter dash at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Smith was a two-time National AAU 440 yard and 400 meter champion in 1964 and 1965. Smith was a qualifier for the 1963 Pan American Games at Sao Paulo in the 80 meter hurdles. Her time of 52.3 seconds in the 400 meters still ranks as the best-ever by a high school age girl in Kansas. Coached by her father, Mead Smith, Janell started running when she was 10 years old and competed in her first national meet at age 14. By her late teens, she held several Junior Olympic records, jumping over 19 feet in the long jump, and running just over nine seconds in the 70-yard hurdles. She didnt start competing in the 400 until one year before the Olympics. She qualified for the semifinals at the Tokyo Games with a time of 55.5, but her American record time of 54.5 in the semifinals left her one-tenth of a second short of qualifying for the finals. Smith was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school senior on May 10, 1965. Smith also set the World Record for the indoor 400 meters in 1965. After graduating from Emporia State, Smith spent 35 years as a grade school teacher. Born May 3, 1947 Killeen, Texas. Graduated Fredonia H.S., 1965; Emporia State Teachers College, 1969.
Eddie Sutton Show - 1991-92 Ep 3: Wichita St, at Tulsa, K-State
Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton and host Robbie Robertson look back at OSU's 82-54 win over Wichita State, an 82-76 win at Tulsa, and a 72-34 rout of Kansas State in the 1992 Big Eight opener.
Ken Swenson - 2009 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Ken Swenson enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during the 2009 Induction ceremony. Presenting keynote speaker is Gary Bender, 2008 KSHOF inductee.
In a state known for its great middle-distance runners, Kenneth Lloyd Swenson of Clay Center, Kansas, was one of the best. Swenson was a 1972 Olympian in the 880-yard run and a former American record holder with a time of 1:44.8. A three-time Big Eight champion in the 880, Swenson anchored four K-State relay teams to world records, two NCAA championships, and one American record. While a senior at Clay Center Community High School in 1966, Swenson was undefeated in the 880 both indoors and outdoors. Despite being recruited by just a handful of colleges, Swenson became one of the countrys top half-milers. In 1970, Swenson ranked first at 800 meters among U.S. runners by Track and Field News and 1971 and 1972 he was ranked third both years. Swenson was part of one of the greatest 800-meter races of all-time during the 1972 Olympic Trials when he edged former college rival Jim Ryun at the tape to qualify for the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. While running at Kansas State from 1966-70, Swenson was a three-time 880-yard champion in the Big Eight Conference. He was a four-time All-American, anchored a pair of NCAA champion relay teams and was the 1970 NCAA Outdoor champion at the half-mile. He still holds the Clay Center High School record of 1:55.8. He had the fourth-fastest 880 time in history in 1970 with his 1:44.8 clocking. Swenson was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 1980 and is also a member of the K-State Sports Hall of Fame. Born April 18, 1948 Clay Center, Kansas. Graduated Clay Center Community H.S., 1966; Kansas State University, 1970.