High School stars dominate Hall List

The second class of inductees into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame is a who's who of prep standouts -- on the field, on the sidelines and in administration.

The 1998 inductees who will be honored Friday night at the Las Vegas Hilton along with former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian established their credentials at an early age of their sporting careers.

Here's a capsule look at the other inductees:

Bill "Wildcat" Morris -- A longtime Nevadan who was a star athlete at Las Vegas High and later Nevada-Reno, he made his mark on and off the field. A 1945 graduate of Las Vegas High, he played for the Wolf Pack through 1948. He became an attorney and dabbled in politics. He was elected to the Board of Regents in 1971 and became active in fundraising for UNLV athletics. He was a driving force in getting a slot tax bill passed which helped fund the construction of the Thomas & Mack Center.

Sheila Tarr-Smith -- A standout athlete at Bonanza High, she made her mark in track and field, winning the heptathlon at the 1984 national championships and finishing second in the inaugural NCAA women's meet in 1995. She holds UNLV records in the shot put (49 feet, 1 1/2 inches), javelin (162 feet, 6 1/4 inches) and the heptahlon (5,865 points). She also was a member of UNLV's volleyball team in 1985. A 1997 inductee into the UNLV Athletic Hall of fame, she has been a firefighter for Clark County for nine years and recently was married.

Lee White -- A 1966 honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press, the one-time Western High star running back was Weber State's career rushing leader, averaging 139 yards a game in 1967. An all-Big Sky selection for three straight years, he was a first-round selection by the New York Jets in 1968. A member of the Jets' Super Bowl championship team in 1969, he had 98 carries in two seasons for 302 yards and averaged 3.1 yards per carry.

Angelo Collis -- A top coach and administrator in Clark County for three decades, "The Little Giant" produced championship football teams at Las Vegas High during the 1950s and '60s. He later branched out as an administrator, first as assistant principal at Western and later at Clark, where he began that school's sports program. He also served as commissioner of officials and as head of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA). Collis died in 1997.

The 1977 UNLV Basketball Team -- Known as "The Hardway Eight," it was the first team in school history to go to the NCAA Division I Final Four. The team averaged 107 points per game, set 14 NCAA records and went 29-3, losing to North Carolina in the semifinals. Members of that team coached by Jerry Tarkanian included NBAers Reggie Theus, Glen Gondrezick, Robert Smith, Eddie Owens and Larry Moffett.

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