By Danny Andrews

Former Wayland Flying Queen All-American Kathy Harston will be inducted in the third class of the Plainview High School Athletic Hall of Honor on Friday, Jan. 17, between games of a PHS basketball doubleheader.

Harston, WBU Class of 1980, posted records of 17-9 and 19-7 in her first two years as coach of the Lady Bulldogs, going 13-3 in district her second year, just missing the playoffs before the 1986-87 team won the state 5A title. The team went 28-6 (14-0 in district), winning the last 17 games, including Austin Lanier, 61-50 for the championship. It was the first UIL team state title in school history.

She was named Texas Coach of the Year. Her last club was 17-7 for an overall mark of 81-29 and 46-14 in district play.
An all-stater at Southlake Carroll High School, Harston had a stellar career at Wayland. She was selected to the Kodak All-America team after her sophomore year and ranks 10th on the all-time Flying Queens scoring list with 1,617 points with WBU going 108-35 in her four years.

Harston was inducted into the Wayland Athletics Hall of Honor in 2008, received the Harley Redin Coach’s Award in 2022 and was named to the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Players of the Pre-NCAA Basketball Era by ESPN.com.

Harston, who underwent heart transplant surgery in 2023, has been at The University of Texas for 32 years where she is a senior associate athletics director, overseeing eight programs. She also does color commentary on UT women’s basketball radio broadcasts.

Other inductees include her state championship team and star player Ramona Black, an all-stater who went on to a stellar career at the University of North Texas.

The PHS Athletic Hall of Honor was established in 2022 with former Wayland Director of Alumni Danny Andrews, Class of ’72, as founding chairman.

####

NOTE: Kathy Harston is the fourth former player or coach to be named to the Plainview ISD Athletic Hall of Honor. She follows former Flying Queens Head Coach Alesha (Robertson) Ellis and former Flying Queen Gay Hemphill in 2022, and former Flying Queen Della Riggins in 2023.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *