Former Topeka Hayden High School great Mark Turgeon and former Kansas football coach Mark Mangino were two of the 12 individuals inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in a ceremony Sunday night at Hotel Topeka City Center.
Turgeon played basketball at the University of Kansas and was an assistant coach at KU and head coach at Wichita State. Mangino also was an assistant coach at K-State.
Others associated with two state schools who were enshrined on Sunday: Dave Bingham, head baseball coach at both KU and Emporia State, and Sean Snyder, an All-America football punter at Kansas State and assistant coach at KSU and KU.
Also representing KU : Canadian Olympic team javelin thrower Scott Russell, baseball and track athlete and Olympic Games track and field starter Kelly Rankin and U.S., Olympic team swimmer Ron Neugent. Also representing K-State: Olympics high jump champion Erik Kynard and international paralympic track standout Kevin Saunders.
Also inducted were Melvin Lister, a national champion in the long jump out of Leavenworth High School, Butler County CC and University of Arkansas; Will Shields, a 14-year veteran with the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL Hall of Famer and Annette Wiles, a basketball All-American out of Fort Hays State.
“I am very fortunate that I was born into a great family and was surrounded by great families,” Turgeon told topsports.news . “Those families helped shape who I am today. My dad grew up in Kansas and he loved basketball, and he instilled that in me and my brothers and sisters. And I grew up in a state where basketball is important. I’ve been in states where basketball is not important. If I’d grown up somewhere else, I might not have turned out to be a coach or to be so passionate about basketball. ...
“I was lucky to be part of three great programs — Hayden, KU and Wichita State — so there’s no doubt that the state really shaped who I am today.”
Mangino, a native of New Castle, Pennsylvania, who worked in the state of Kansas 17 years, told topsports.news : “When we were leaving to go out there (to work at KSU), people were crying in my driveway. I told them, it’s not like I’m going to Vietnam. Then, they’d come and visit us, and they didn’t want to leave. They’d cancel a flight for a couple more days, or even stay another week. They went from asking, ‘What’s the place called? Manhattan? Lawrence?’ And then they’d visit and find out those were great communities. They were awesome places to live, work and raise the kids.”
Shields, who was born at Fort Riley in 1971, spent most of his youth in Lawton, Oklahoma, and also is a member of the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
“Because I live in Kansas and my foundation is here and we do work in the community, that helps for me to feel connected to the Chiefs organization. That gives me a chance to see some of the young guys and a lot of the old guys on a regular basis,” Shields told topsports.news . “It’s really cool to be part of an organization that does great things.”
This year’s class brings the total number of Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductees to 340. The first class in 1961 included Dr. James Naismith, Mike Ahearn, Glenn Cunningham, Walter Johnson and Jess Willard.
Created by the Kansas State legislature in 1961, the Hall has operated for 63 years and is located at the Wichita Boathouse. This year’s ceremony, however, was held in Topeka.
“This is an accomplished group and one the Hall of Fame is extremely proud to recognize,” Kansas Sports Hall of Fame chairman Jim Dunning Jr. said in a release. “They bring a considerable diversity of backgrounds and talents to the Hall. In this Olympic year, I believe it is wonderful to shine a light on seven inductees with Olympic connections.”
There was a special ceremony Sunday at the Hall honoring Billy Mills who Monday celebrates the 60th anniversary of his gold medal victory in the 10,000 at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Mills, a KU graduate, also was honored this past summer in a ceremony at the Paris Olympic Games.
Hall of Fame Class of 2024
Dave Bingham : NAIA national champion baseball coach at Emporia State and head coach for College World Series qualifier Kansas
Erik Kynard : Olympic gold medalist high jumper at Kansas State
Melvin Lister : National champion in the long jump at Leavenworth H.S., Butler County CC, and Arkansas
Mark Mangino : National assistant football coach of the year at Oklahoma and head coach for Orange Bowl champion at Kansas as well as assistant under legend Bill Snyder at K-State
Ron Neugent : Swimming gold medalist in World University Games and American record-holder at Kansas
Kelly Rankin : The only American to be the head track and field starter for two Olympic Games
Scott Russell : NCAA champ and Olympic qualifier for Canada in the javelin at Kansas
Kevin Saunders : Smith Center native who was bronze medalist and record-holder for U.S. in Paralympic Games
Will Shields : Native Kansan, 14-year NFL veteran with Kansas City Chiefs and member of College and NFL Hall of Fame.
Sean Snyder: Consensus All-America punter and national special teams coach of the year at Kansas State
Mark Turgeon : All-State basketball player at Topeka Hayden High, point guard at KU, assistant coach at KU and head coach at Wichita State
Annette Wiles : Two-time NAIA Basketball All-American and NAIA Tournament MVP at Fort Hays State
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