Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Mangino cherishes being part of KU, K-State football turnarounds
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By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Much has happened since Mark Mangino last coached a college football team.
The game still hinges on the punt, pass and kick. And for that matter, run, cover and tackle.
Former Kansas head football coach and former Kansas State assistant Mark Mangino (left) will join K-State coaching legend Bill Snyder in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday. [Submitted photo]
However, oversight for a program, which Mangino managed as a winning coach and Orange Bowl champion in eight seasons at Kansas, can be far more turbulent. Among today’s issues:
- The onset of NIL collectives:
“I haven't talked to a college coach yet who didn't tell me it was a real pain,” said Mangino, who will be enshrined into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony Sunday at Topeka Hotel.
“It's really changed the way they operate. It's almost like a 24-hour job throughout the year just to pay attention to everything.”
- Robust activity within the transfer portal:
“I think a player should have the opportunity to transfer at least once if he sees a better opportunity,’’ Mangino said. “But this constant transfer thing … I don’t know if it’s healthy for the game. Guys who have played at three schools and played six to seven years, I mean, that’s not the spirit of college football.”
- Alterations caused by conference realignment:
“If I were in charge for a day,’’ said Mangino, “I'd put everybody back in the conferences they were in back in 1995.”
That year marked the end of Big Eight football. All members joined the Big 12, but four eventually left the conference. Colorado has since returned from the tattered Pac-12, but Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma are with the FBS power brokers, the Big Ten and SEC.
“People want to watch Oklahoma and Nebraska play, and some other old rivalries,’’ Mangino added. “I understand the economy and I don't know what the answer is. But I do know this: If things keep going the way they are, I believe there will be about a 40-team super league that is run NFL style.”
That arrangement would potentially leave both FBS programs in Kansas in precarious positions.
However, in his 17 years working in the state and raising a family here, Mangino engaged in one of college football’s greatest turnarounds at K-State and then proved KU could field a competitive program. The Jayhawks went 50-48 under Mangino and 3-1 in bowl games.
Although KU has surprisingly struggled to begin this season, that program still seems in good hands with Lance Leipold, while K-State remains consistently solid under Chris Klieman.
“To be part of that (K-State) turnaround was something else. That was special,” Mangino said. “And then to go to KU, that was another hard job. Kansas has got two hard jobs, boy. Really hard jobs. … You're in a place where there's probably more cattle than people.”
Yet during his time here, Mangino drove past much of that livestock along many backroads while either recruiting or following his son Tommy’s baseball exploits. Now, Mark and his wife, Mary Jane, travel occasionally to Texas to watch Tommy coordinate the offense for the heralded Lake Travis High School program, which produced Todd Reesing, Mangino’s record-setting quarterback at KU. The couple’s daughter, Samantha, and six grandchildren, will also celebrate Mangino’s KSHOF induction on Sunday.
Considering the response from family and friends when Mangino’s coaching path brought him to the state of Kansas, going into the state’s sports hall almost seems surreal.
“When we were leaving to go out there, people were crying in my driveway. I told them, it’s not like I'm going to Vietnam,” Mangino remembered. “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.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball was picked ninth in the MIAA Preseason Media Poll and 10th in the Coaches Poll, released Tuesday morning by the conference.
Washburn women's basketball was tabbed for ninth and 10th-place MIAA finishes in the upcoming season by the media and coaches. [File photo/TSN]
In 2023-24 Washburn finished 13-16 with an 8-14 record in the MIAA to end the season 10th in the regular-season standings. The Ichabods qualified for the first round of the MIAA Tournament, where they fell 72-65 to No. 7 seed Nebraska Kearney.
Pittsburg State tops the Coaches Poll after winning the 2023-24 MIAA Tournament Championship. PSU recieved 164 total points with 10 of 14 first-place votes.
Fort Hays State was picked second with two first place votes and Northwest Missouri was tabbed third with the remaining two first-place votes.
The Ichabods received 68 points in the coaches poll, just behind Northeastern State, which came in ninth with 80 points and ahead of Central Oklahoma with 50 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team was picked as the team to beat in the 2024-2025 team by the MIAA Coaches at the MIAA Preseason Media Day held Tuesday at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Mo.
Washburn men's basketball has been picked No. 1 by the MIAA coaches in the 2024-2025 preseason poll. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods will take the court on Oct. 29 when they will face the Kansas Jayhawks in an exhibition game in Allen Fieldhouse.
The Ichabods received eight first-place votes, tallying 161 total points, topping Fort Hays State, which had three first-place votes and 156 points.
Pittsburg State followed with two first-place votes and 149 points and Northwest Missouri had one first-place vote and 125 total points.
In the media poll, the Ichabods were picked fourth with one first-place vote and 212 points, trailing Fort Hays State with 247 points, Pittsburg State with 229 points and Northwest Missouri with 217 points.
The Ichabods return four players who started at least half of last season's 30 games that saw the Ichabods go 19-11 overall while reaching the MIAA Tournament semifinals. In all, eight players return who saw action last year for the Ichabods.
Andrew Orr was a second-team All-MIAA pick after averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds last season while Sam Ungashick received honorable mention selection after averaging 12.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Good things come to those who wait. High jumper Erik Kynard, a 2024 inductee to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, can attest to this truth.
Erik Kynard
Kynard earned a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. With another year of eligibility at Kansas State, he returned to Kansas to claim his second consecutive NCAA outdoor championship.
Upon graduation, he remained at Kansas State as a volunteer coach and launched into a professional career, aiming at the 2016 Olympics, still in pursuit of gold.
The 2012 Olympics were a closed chapter of his life.
Kynard finished sixth at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, then failed to make the Olympic team for the 2021 games in Tokyo. His days as a competitor winding down, Kynard transitioned to coaching and administration with USA Track and Field.
But an unexpected chance to return to the spotlight came in 2021. In November of that year, the International Olympic Committee announced Kynard’s silver medal would be upgraded to gold after the winner of the 2012 high jump competition was disqualified.
Former Kansas State star Erik Kynard received his gold medal for the 2012 Olympics earlier this summer after a 12-year wait. [Kansas Sports Hall of Fame]
Twelve years after the London games, Kynard was invited to Paris to accept the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Games.
“It feels great for it to be over,” Kynard said of the long wait. “I think I’m better because of the way it happened. I don’t lament over that loss.”
In the same year that he finally received his gold medal, Kynard will be enshrined in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. The 2024 class of inductees includes seven individuals who have ties to Olympic competition, including a paralympic medalist and the only American to be named a head track and field starter for two Olympic Games, in addition to Kynard, the lone gold medalist.
“It’s great to receive this honor, particularly in the way they chose to put special emphasis on the Olympics with this being an Olympic year,” Kynard said.” I definitely hold this in the same regard as other awards I’ve received. Especially anything that bears the moniker ‘Hall of Fame.’ ”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn volleyball will finish its first homestand of the season with the Turnpike Tussle on Tuesday against Emporia State in Lee Arena, with first serve set for 6 p.m.
Washburn volleyball will close out its three-game homestand with a Tuesday night MIAA match against Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods are 11-3 on the year and 2-2 in the MIAA after winning their first two home matches last week.
Last weekend Washburn began the current homestand with a 3Se-1 win over Pittsburg State and a sweep over Newman.
Senior Jalyn Stevenson is the team leader with 153 kills (2.94 per set) while hititng .229 across 14 starts. She is also second on the squad in digs with 157 and in aces with 13.
Stevenson is 10th in the MIAA in kills and 16th in kills per set while ranking 20th in total digs. The senior has five double-doubles on the year and nine matches with 10-plus kills.
She ranks 21st in program history with 1,144 career kills. She needs five more to crack the top 20. She is also 14th on the program charts in aces and 22nd in digs. She needs 59 digs to reach the top 20 in that category as well.
Junior Alex Dvorak is third on the team with 110 kills while hitting .389. She has started all 14 matches and also leads the team with 68 total blocks. Dvorak is 29th in the nation and fourth in the MIAA in hitting percentage and she is 20th in the nation and second among MIAA players in blocks per set. She has hit over .300 in 11 of 14 matches.
