Sept. 14, 2008
Six individuals--Marty Crawford (baseball), Ray Crockett (football), Sally Geis (women's track and field), Matt Knoll (men's tennis head coach), Roy Lee Smalley (men's track and field) and Tom Stanton (men's basketball, baseball and athletics director), comprise the Baylor University Athletic Hall of Fame's Class of 2008 and will participate in on-campus enshrinement activities Friday, Nov. 7. In addition, former Baylor men's basketball standout Jim Turner will join the Hall of Fame's Wall of Honor.
Tickets to the 2008 Hall of Fame banquet, which will be held on Friday, Nov. 7, in the Galloway Suite at Floyd Casey Stadium starting at 7 p.m., are $45 each ($35 for Baylor letterwinners). Tickets may be purchased by contacting the "B" Association's Tammy Hardin by phone at 254.710.3045 or e-mail at tammy_hardin@baylor.edu. Table sponsorships (seating for 10) are available for $450 each and corporate sponsorships are available for $500.
Baylor's Athletic Hall of Fame, organized in 1960, recognizes and honors individuals whose participation and contributions enriched and strengthened the university's athletics program. Athletes are required to wait 10 years after completing their eligibility before being eligible to be considered for this honor. Since coach Floyd "Uncle Jim" Crow and baseball's Teddy Lyons comprised the hall's first class in 1960 through this year's class, 168 former Baylor student-athletes have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The Wall of Honor, established in 2000, boasts 12 total honorees.
Crawford, a four-year letterman for the Bears' baseball team from 1993 through 1996, is the only player in Baylor history to lead the team in batting average four consecutive seasons and his career .368 average still ranks second all-time. He also ranks among Baylor's career leaders in games played (T-No. 9, 225), at bats (No. 5, 864), runs (No. 6, 172), hits (No. 4, 318), doubles (No. 4, 63), triples (T-No. 5, 15), RBI (T-No. 6, 169), extra base hits (No. 8, 91), total bases (No. 5, 450) and sacrifices (No. 4, 25). Crawford earned All-SWC honors at second base as a senior in 1996 and captained the Bears as a junior and senior.
Selected as the second baseman on Dave Campbell's all-time Baylor baseball honor squad, Crawford played for Baylor Hall of Fame coaches Mickey Sullivan as a freshman and sophomore, then spent his final two seasons playing for current Bears' skipper Steve Smith. He earned second-team All-America honors as a senior from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America. As a freshman, he helped the Bears to a 41-19 record, an SWC Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament. The two-time Larry Isbell Baylor MVP winner was selected in the 23rd round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Crawford currently lives in Dallas with his wife, Alanna, and works as an administrator for Dallas ISD.
A four-year letterman as a defensive back for the Bears from 1985 through 1988, Crockett helped Baylor to victories over LSU in the 1985 Liberty Bowl and Colorado in the 1986 Bluebonnet Bowl. The 1987 All-SWC selection played in both the 1989 Hula Bowl and the Senior Bowl following his senior season. The fourth-round selection of the Detroit Lions in the 1989 NFL Draft, Crockett spent 14 years in pro football with three teams--the Lions (1989-93), Denver Broncos (1994-2000) and Kansas City Chiefs (2001-02). He was a member of Broncos' squads which captured Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII. Since leaving pro football, Crockett has appeared on the NBC game show Identity and in an episode of the TV show 30 Days. In his 30 Days appearance, Crockett spent 30 days confined to a wheelchair. He currently lives in Southlake, Texas.
One of Baylor's finest distance runners ever, Geis helped the BU women's cross country team to four consecutive SWC championships from 1990 through 1993. She finished among the top 10 every year at the SWC Championships and captured individual league titles in both 1992 and 1993. Geis was the first individual in school history to run in four NCAA Cross Country Championship meets and helped Baylor to a program-best 10th-place finish at the 1991 NCAA meet. Her best finish at nationals was 64th as a senior in 1993.
On the track, Geis won five SWC gold medals during her brilliant career, the most-ever by a Baylor female track and field student-athlete (Jennifer Jordan and Natalie Nalepa also won five gold medals during their Baylor careers). At the 1992 SWC Outdoor meet, she was the meet's high-point scorer with 26 points after winning both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs and placing third in the 3,000 meters. Geis was also tabbed as the 1992 SWC Outdoor Most Outstanding Female Performer. The following year, she tallied 28 points to help Baylor to a second-place team finish, by again taking gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 and silver in the 3,000. As a senior in 1995, Geis won the SWC Indoor 5,000-meter crown.
In 12 seasons at the helm of the Baylor tennis program, Knoll has produced phenomenal results. Since arriving at Baylor in 1997, he has amassed a 286-70 (.803) overall, while winning eight Big 12 Conference regular season titles, including seven straight crowns from 2002 through 2008 as the Bears compiled a 45-2 (.957) league record and six Big 12 Tournament championships; the 2004 NCAA team championship (Baylor's first-ever national team title in any sport), the 2005 National Team Indoor crown, an NCAA runner-up finish in 2005 and NCAA semifinal appearances in 2006 and 2007. All-told, his program has made 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
A two-time National Coach of the Year selection (1999 and 2005) and five-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, Knoll's program has registered a 198-27 (.880) record over the last seven seasons while winning at least 25 matches and finishing the year ranked among the nation's top 10 every season. Under Knoll's direction, the Bears have produced a pair of NCAA singles champions in Benjamin Becker (2004) and Benedikt Dorsch (2005), two ITA Players of the Year (Dorsch, twice), one Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winner (Lars Poerschke) and nine players have earned All-America status (20 times). In addition, the program has produced five Big 12 Players of the Year. He resides in Waco with his wife, Greta, and their twin sons, Erik and Karch.
Smalley was a standout sprinter for Jack Patterson's Bears from 1960 through 1962, helping Baylor to its first-ever SWC Outdoor Track & Field team titles in 1960 and 1962. As a sophomore in 1960, he was a member of Baylor's first-place 440-yard and mile-relay teams at the SWC Outdoor meet, while finishing second in the 440-yard dash. The following year, Baylor finished second at the 1961 SWC Outdoor Championships, but Smalley helped the Bears to a gold medal in the 440-yard relay and finished third in both the 100- and 220-yard dashes. He went on to finish sixth in the 220-yard dash at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the first point scored by Baylor at the national meet since 1947.
At the 1962 SWC Outdoor Championships in Waco, Smalley played a key role in the Bears' second team title in three seasons. He ran on Baylor's championship 440-yard and mile relay teams while also winning the only individual gold medal of his career with a first-place finish in the 440-yard dash. Smalley held the Baylor school record in the 440-yard dash for a decade and was a member of four different relay squads which established school records in his standout career. He resides in Campbell, Texas, with his wife, Ann.
Stanton earned five varsity letters during his Green & Gold career, three in basketball (1970-72) as a guard and two more as an outfielder in baseball (1972-73). On the hardwood, he was named the All-SWC Freshman honor squad and then went on to start three seasons for coach Bill Menefee's Bears, helping Baylor to a 47-29 (.618) record. As a junior, Stanton averaged 12.1 points and shot a team-best 76.4 percent at the free throw line for a Baylor team which went 18-8 overall and finished second in the SWC at 10-4. He averaged 12.3 points over his senior season (1971-72) and hit a then-school-record 85.0 percent at the free throw line, a mark that stood for some eight seasons. His career free throw percentage (.805) still ranks ninth in school history. A two-year starter as an outfielder for Dutch Schroeder's baseball team in 1972 and 1973, he hit .212 and .232, respectively, helping the Bears to a pair of winning records in the process.
After a successful 22-year career in private business, Stanton joined the Baylor staff in July 1995 as director of athletic marketing and promotions. He was named Baylor's Director of Athletics on June 1, 1996, and served in that position for seven years. Under Stanton's leadership, the Julie and Jim Turner Riverfront Athletic Complex, which includes the 5,000-seat Baylor Ballpark (baseball), the 1,230-seat Getterman Stadium (softball), the 1,500-seat Baylor Tennis Center and the 1,000-seat Betty Lou Mays Soccer Complex along the banks of the Brazos River, was developed. The Bill and Roberta Bailey Golf Center, which serves as the home to the Baylor men's and women's golf teams, was also built, and improvements at Floyd Casey Stadium, the Ferrell Center and Hart-Patterson Track were also made. Baylor teams captured nine Big 12 Conference titles in five sports on his watch, led the Big 12 Conference four times in graduation rates and finished among the nation's top 40 in the final Directors' Cup rankings in both 1998-99 (39th) and 2001-02 (40th). He currently serves as executive director of the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation and resides in Waco with his wife, Kathleen.
Turner, the 2008 Hall of Fame's Wall of Honor recipient, was inducted into the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. He was a three-year letterman for the Baylor basketball team from 1966 through 1968. A first-team All-SWC performer as a junior in 1966-67, Turner's career scoring average of 16.5 points per game ranked second at the end of his standout career and still ranks 10th all-time at Baylor.
A highly successful businessman, he served as the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dr Pepper Bottling Holdings, Inc., and Dr Pepper Bottling Company of Texas for several years. Turner currently serves as Principal of JLT Beverages. He is a past chairman of Baylor's Board of Regents and still serves as a board member.
The Hall of Fame selection committee includes three members from both the Baylor "B" Association and the Baylor Alumni Association, as well as one athletic department representative. Per Hall of Fame bylaws, only selection committee members are eligible to nominate individuals for the Hall of Fame and all nominees stay in the selection pool for three years.
For further information on the Hall of Fame, contact the "B" Association at 254.710.8150.
