SPORTS THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ed Press nes rtin ees nt aan did ba- rings. guilty bilege e based rote place S PV 550 2 752 1 672 4 684 3 694 4 690 6 717 7 773 8 727 5 782 9 891 10 1141 11 1424 13 1424 13 1578 15 1559 12 1559 16 1470 14 1479 14 1695 19 2624 21 2658 20 2658 20 2424 22 2473 23 1713 17 1713 1 1333 24 1132 24 owling 556. Florida St. St. 13, 111, N.C. Tulsa 8, Lion 6, AP Team has chance 'Hawks could make tourney BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS mphillips@kansan.com KANSAN STAFF WRITER The Kansas women's basketball team may have been mathematically eliminated from contention for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, but that doesn't mean there won't be a postseason for the team. "They are definitely getting strong consideration right now," said Renee Carlson, assistant director of the WNIT. The Women's National Invitational Tournament, or WNIT, invites the 40 best teams that don't make the NCAA tournament. The fajahws record of 16-10 is good enough for postseason consideration, but a 5-10 conference record is keeping them out of the NCAA tournament. The men's NIT is owned by the NCAA, but that is not the case with the WNIT. It is currently run by Triple Crown Sports, a company based out of Fort Collins, Colo. The NCAA governs the tournament, but does not control the day-to-day operations or have any input into which teams are selected. Another difference is that every game in the WNIT is played with a home-court advantage. Logistical issues play into that selection. The tournament must consider which teams have arenas available during tournament dates, as well as the travel expenses in getting there. "We look at who would be a good host site as far as furthering the excitement of women's basketball," Carlson said. While Carlson said she hadn't seen enough numbers to comment definitively, the Jayhawks appear to have a strong case to host the tournament at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks have averaged almost 3,000 fans a game this season, and that number spiked to more than 5,000 for big games against Texas and Missouri. Both numbers are well above the national average of 1,500 per game, a number that was calculated by the NCAA during the 2003-2004 season. The Big 12 conference as a whole has led the country in attendance for the past six years. If the Jayhawks were to host a first-round WNIT game at Allen Fieldhouse, the earliest possible game date would be March 16, although the team could schedule the game later than that if they wished. The WNIT will announce its field in the hours after the NCAA chooses the 65 teams it wants, which will announced at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 13. — Edited by Vanessa Pearson Hall honors first woman ever HALL OF FAME BY TRAVIS REED THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TAMPA, Fla. — Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the baseball Hall of Fame when the former Newark Eagles co-owner was among 17 people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues chosen Monday by a special committee. "This is a historic day at the Hall of Fame," shrine president Dale Petroskey said. "I hoped that someday there would be a woman in the Hall. It's a pretty proud moment." This year's Hall class — 18, including former reliever Bruce Sutter — is by far the biggest in history, breaking the record of 11 in 1946. There are now 278 Hall members. Mule Suttles and Biz Mackey were among the 12 players selected, along with five executives. Buck O'Neil and Minnie Minoso, the only living members among the 39 candidates on the ballot, were not elected by the 12-person panel. Manley co-owned the New Jersey-based Eagles with her husband, Abe, and ran the business end of the team for more than a decade. The Eagles won the Negro Leagues World Series in 1946 — one year before Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier. "She was very knowledgeable, a very handsome woman," said Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, who played for the Eagles while the Manleys owned the team, as did Don Newcombe and Larry Doby. "She did a lot for the Newark community. She was just a well-rounded influential person," Irvin said. "She tried to organize the owners to build their own parks and have a balanced schedule and to really improve the lot of the Negro League players." Manley was white, but married a black man and passed as a black woman, said Larry Lester, a baseball author and member of the voting committee. Manley used baseball to advance civil rights causes with events such as an Anti-Lynching Day at the ballpark. She died in 1981 at age 84. "She campaigned to get as much money as possible for these ballplayers, and rightfully so." Lester said. "She was a pioneer in so many ways, in terms of integrating the team with the community," said Leslie Heaphy, a Kent State professor on the committee. "She's also one of the owners who pushed very hard to get recognition for Major League Baseball when they started to sign some of their players." HALL OF FAME Chris Cummins/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Buck O'Neil receives a hug from Albertine Morgan of Kansas City after a press conference for the former Kansas City Monarch at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., Monday. O'Neil was not included in a group of 17 former players and executives with the Negro Leagues inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Hall of Fame denies K.C. baseball hero BY DOUG TUCKER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Men and women dabbed at their eyes. People hugged quietly and ducked into little private spaces to speak in hushed tones. The news hit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum like a bomb. What was supposed to be a grand celebration of the life of one of this town's most beloved citizens now had the feel of a funeral. Seventeen people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues eras were voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but not Buck O'Neil. Not Buck? Almost everyone in Kansas City thought the immensely popular 94-year-old would be a shoo-in when a 12-person committee considered a list of 39 candidates. Sure, his statistics during a long career as a player and player/manager were not the greatest. But he did win two Negro League batting titles. He did have a successful career as a player/manager with the Kansas City Monarchs and he did become the first black coach in the major leagues. Most importantly, everyone thought, were the contributions he's made traveling the country keeping the legacy of black baseball alive. He has been the face, voice and inspiration behind Kansas City's Negro Leagues Museum. In the opinion of many, those 17 who got in ahead of him may never have even been considered at all if not for O'Neil's tireless efforts to tell their story at a time when the country was ready to forget all about them. A couple of hundred of O'Neil's friends and supporters gathered at the museum early Monday afternoon to be part of a happy celebration. They could hardly believe the bad news. Finally, it was left to O'Neil to do what he does best and lift everyone spirits. "God's been good to me," he said. "You can see that, can't you? It didn't happen. They didn't think Buck was good enough to be in the Hall of Fame. That's the way they thought about it and that's the way it is, so we're going to live with that. Now, if I'm a hall-of-famer for you, that's all right with me. Just keep loving old Buck. "Don't shed any tears 'cause I'm not going to the Hall of Fame." Everyone broke into applause. "You think about this," he said. "Here I am, the grandson of a slave. And here the whole world was excited about whether I was going into the Hall of Fame or not. We've come a long ways. Before, we never even thought about anything like that. America, you've really grown and you're still growing." A Florida native, O'Neill has made Kansas City his home since moving out of the Deep South to escape racial persecution. --first serve 5200 Clinton Phyx Call now to reserve your court 749-3200 Cut out this ad and bring it in for 1/2 hr. FREE court time! NOW OPEN! Back in Lawrence Tuckaway Hawker Check Us Out At: www.tuckawaymgmt.com 2 Upgrade to a WANG for $1 more $3.50 Come try the famous WANG BURGER (All of Feb., Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. with KUID) Cheeseburger, Fries and a Pop Harper Square Hutton Farms The Tradition of the Wheel has been rolling for over 50 years Tuckaway at Briarwood 838-3377/841-3339 Bagels and Basketball 006 Saturday, March 4th, 2006 Abe and Jake's (6th & New Hampshire) Doors: 2:00pm GAME TIME: 3:00pm FREE LUNCH Contests, prizes, giveaways, and more! Come watch the Jayhawks beat K-State in the last game of the Big 12 season! Pay Heed, All Who Enter: WARE OF THE WOR STAY CONNECTED