KU’s Bob Davis joins 2016 Kansas Sports Hall class
Bob Davis approached the podium at Crown Uptown Theatre and pointed at a plaque of himself, along with the years he broadcast sporting events on the radio.
“I love this picture over here,” Davis said as he looked over. “Look how thin I was, isn’t that great? I think that’s going in the living room for everyone to see it.”
Davis, most notably known as the voice of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball and football from 1984 through last season, was one of 12 inductees into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday.
“It’s hard to believe that I spent 48 years doing what I loved,” said Davis, who spent his first 16 years of broadcasting at KAYS-AM in Hays. “I sent out about 500 recordings of myself to radio stations across the state. I finally was contacted by KAYS and went out to Hays to meet with the station director and was hired then and there.”
Davis began his career in Hays calling Hays Larks baseball games, as well as Fort Hays State Tigers games.
“I grew up listening to the CBS baseball game of the week and things like that,” Davis said. “I began to realize how much I wanted to be a sportscaster and quickly fell in love with it.”
Davis told a story about being in New York with KU radio analyst Max Falkenstien. The two were waiting for a taxi to go get dinner. They couldn’t flag a taxi down, so Falkenstien found a car and asked the guy if he’d take him to dinner. The driver obliged.
“I sure as heck wouldn’t do that again,” Davis said, laughing. “Max can and I’m sure he will do that again.”
Inductee Jerry Kill, a Cheney native, gave an emotional speech. Kill, who had spent time coaching football at numerous schools, most recently at Minnesota. Kill was diagnosed with epilepsy and kidney cancer and retired from there during last season.
“It was a tough job,” Kill said. “My family has always been my biggest supporters. They made sure that I got through the week healthy enough to coach a game on Saturday.”
Kill returned to Kansas as associate athletic director at Kansas State.
“It’s great to be back in Kansas,” Kill said. “When I was coaching and was on TV, I always said ‘Cheney, Kan.’ I wanted people to know where I was from.”
Other inductees in the 2016 class were Washburn baseball coach Steve Anson, KU basketball players Bill Bridges and Tamecka Dixon, KU track athletes Bill Dotson and Scott Huffman, Emporia State runner Deandra Doubrava-McBride, K-State safety Jaime Mendez, basketball coach Lafayette Norwood, K-State runner Austra Skujyte and former Negro Leagues baseball player George Sweatt.
This story was originally published October 2, 2016 at 8:34 PM with the headline "KU’s Bob Davis joins 2016 Kansas Sports Hall class."