World champion boxer Terence Crawford and a pair of all-state basketball players from the same class are among those to enter the Nebraska Black Sports Hall of Fame on July 30.
Crawford, who?s on the cover of Ring magazine in September, won his two world titles since the hall?s last induction in 2013. He?s an Omaha Bryan graduate.
The basketball standouts are Terrance Badgett of Omaha South and Curtis Marshall of Omaha Creighton Prep, who were on the 1991 All-Nebraska team with past Nebraska Black Sports honorees Erick Strickland of Bellevue West and Andre Woolridge of Omaha Benson. The fifth member of the 1991 honor team was Jason Glock from Wahoo.
Also entering the hall are basketball players Rodney Buford (Creighton) and Alvin Mitchell (Omaha Burke, Nebraska, UNO), wrestler Ray Oliver (Omaha Tech), track athletes Wanda Hartso (Omaha Central) and Dean Williams (Tech), NFL official Darryll Lewis, coach Thomas Lee (Omaha North and Central), football player George Flippin (NU), soccer player Ashley Carter and referee Brenda Council.
Flippin, Williams and Carter are being honored posthumously.
Gene Haynes, the principal at Omaha North, will receive the hall?s Image Award.
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Terrance Badgett, Omaha South, 1991: A two-time All-Nebraska basketball player at Omaha South, he led the Packers to the 1990 state championship and was the state?s 1991 Gatorade player of the year after averaging 24 points a game as a senior. At Nebraska, he was a four-year letterman whose season averages were between 6.7 and 8.6 points per game, and he finished with 953 career points. He was named to the Big Eight all-freshman team, and as a senior was named to the Big Eight All-Bench team. Played professionally for five seasons in the U.S. and overseas.
Rodney Bufordm Creighton: ?The Sheriff,? born in Milwaukee, left Creighton as its career scoring leader with 2,116 points and was one of the first three players in the Missouri Valley Conference to earn all-league honors four times. He was All-Valley first team from 1997 to 1999. Miami took him in the second round in the 1999 NBA draft, and he played for the Heat, Philadelphia, Memphis, Sacramento and New Jersey ? averaging 6.4 points over his five-season career. Kept playing professionally in overseas leagues until a couple years ago.
Ashley Carter, Omaha Marian, 2003: Named one of the top 11 players from the first 25 years of high school soccer in the state, she was a three-time All-Nebraska selection and the state?s Gatorade player of the year as a senior. Scored 70 goals and had 32 assists for her prep career. Played one year on scholarship at NU, where she was third on the team in scoring, then transferred to Bellevue University and made the all-state college team as a senior. She died in an auto accident in 2014.
Brenda Council, Omaha Central, 1971: She was the first female high school football official in the state, working her first game in 1985 between Omaha Holy Name and Omaha Flanagan. She refereed basketball for many years, often with husband Otha as her partner. Played basketball on Forrest Roper?s AAU teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Terence Crawford, Omaha Bryan, 2005: Undefeated as a professional boxer, the Boxing Writers Association of America?s 2014 Fighter of the Year holds the WBO junior welterweight title after stopping Thomas Dulorme of Puerto Rico in six rounds in April and is the former WBO and Ring lightweight champion. Currently is eighth in Ring?s pound-for-pound rankings.
George Flippin, Nebraska: A player-coach and standout of the NU football team from 1892 to 1894, he was the first black athlete at NU. A 6-foot-2, 200-pounder, he set school records in track and field (shot put and hammer throw), won championships as a wrestler and played basketball. Died in 1929 in Stromsburg, Nebraska, 45 years before being chosen for the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.
Wanda Hartso, Omaha Central, 1981: Was a five-time gold medalist in state track and field as she finished her prep career with state record-setting runs in the 400 and 800 at the 1981 meet, helping the Lady Eagles to their third consecutive Class A title. Lettered in 1982 on Nebraska?s AIAW indoor national champion women?s track and field team.
Thomas Lee, Grand Island, 1982: Coached state championship girls basketball teams at Omaha North in 1998 and at Omaha Central in 2012. He has been athletic director at both schools and currently is the principal at Omaha Northwest. At North, his teams were 119-35 with three consecutive finals appearances from 1998 to 2000, and his three Central teams were a combined 75-11. He also was an assistant coach with the UNO women?s basketball team in the 2001-02 season.
Darryll Lewis, Omaha: An NFL official for 17 years, his assignment for 2015 will be as an instant replay official. His start came in boyhood when he was a youth-league football referee at the North Omaha Boys Club. His family moved to Minneapolis while he was in high school, then he graduated from Dartmouth College. He returned to Omaha ? and officiating ? when he entered grad school at Creighton. He was a line judge in the Big Eight Conference for 17 years.
Curtis Marshall, Omaha Creighton Prep, 1991: Prep?s No. 2 all-time career scorer, with 1,559 points, was a three-year starter and two-time All-Nebraska selection who averaged 30.5 points a game as a senior. He was North Carolina State?s starting point guard for four years, averaging 9.1 points a game while tallying 1,055 for his career.
Alvin Mitchell, Omaha Burke, 1995: A three-year starter on state basketball tournament teams at Burke, he was All-Nebraska as a senior when he averaged 20 points a game. His 10 3-pointers in a 1994 state tourney loss to Prep remain the Class A and state-tournament record. He played for Nebraska and Cincinnati before returning home to finish his college career as a starter at UNO.
Ray Oliver, Omaha Tech, 1978: A state wrestling champion as a senior at Tech, where he also was captain of the football team, he was a Big Eight runner-up and NCAA All-American for Nebraska in the 1982-83 season. He had accepted a scholarship to Arizona State, where his two older brothers had wrestled, but transferred to NU. He was a coaching fixture at Omaha wrestling clubs and was co-coach at Creighton Prep while son Chris was winning four state titles.
Tony Veland, Omaha Benson, 1991: Was a starter in the secondary on Nebraska?s 1994 and 1995 national title teams and played two seasons in the NFL ? he was on Denver?s Super Bowl championship team in 1997 ? before retiring because of injuries. He was the All-Nebraska second-team quarterback in 1990 and a starter in basketball for the Bunnies.
Gene Haynes, Omaha: Omaha North?s principal since 2001, he was the first black coach in Class A athletics. He coached Omaha Tech?s boys basketball team from 1971-72 until the school closed after the 1983-84 season. The Trojans went to state four times, losing to Crete in the 1975 Class B final. He was athletic director at Omaha North prior to becoming principal.
Dean Williams, Omaha Tech, 1970: A three-time Big Eight track champion at Kansas State, he was a 1974 NCAA All-American in indoor track. His best 100-yard time of 9.33 still ranks 17th all-time in the nation for wind-aided marks. Williams also lettered in football for the Wildcats in 1973 and 1974. At Tech, Williams won gold medals in the 100-yard dash at the state track meet in 1968 and 1969 and the 220 in 1969. Williams died in August 2014.
