Inductees
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Alana Beard
- Kodak All-American, AP All-American, and Women’s Basketball News Service All-American at Duke in 2002,2003 and 2004
- ACC Female Athlete of the Year 2003, and 2004
- ESPN.com National Player of the Year 2003, 2004
- 2004 John R. Wooden Award-Women’s Basketball National Player of the Year, State Farm Wade Trophy-National Player of the Year, United States, Associated Press-National Player of the Year, and USBWA-National Player of the Year
- 2004 WNBA 2nd overall pick by the Washington Mystics
- 3x WNBA All-Star (2005, 2006, 2007)
- WNBA Champion (2016)
- 2x WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (2017, 2018)
- Played internationally in Poland, South Korea, Israel, and Spain from 2005-2016
- FIBA Americas Championship – USA Women’s U 18 Gold medal
- Founded the Alana Beard Foundation in 2014, a nonprofit organization working with AAU Basketball to provide resources to young women to achieve success on and off the court.
Alana Beard
Kodak All-American, AP All-American, and Women’s Basketball News Service All-American...
Alice “Cookie” Barron
- Barron played for Wayland Baptist College (now University) from 1954-57, she played her first year on a full scholarship at Cisco Junior College
- A member of the Flying Queens basketball team, as they were called, the team had a record of 104-0. Barron made free throws at the end of the third overtime to win against Iowa, keeping the win streak going (1957)
- Barron won three National AAU Championships during her collegiate career, was a first-team All-American and named co-caption during her Senior year
- Named as the 1956-57 Wayland’s Outstanding Woman Athlete
- A member of the USA National Team in 1957, where she helped to win the World Tournament in Rio de Janeiro beating Russia in the finals before 35,000 fans
- After graduating, “Cookie” taught and coached for the Clear Creek school district in Texas for eight years, where she coached and taught several of the original seven astronauts’ daughters.
- Was the first female administrator inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1992
- Inducted to the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association inaugural class Hall of Fame
- She was the first woman to serve on the Colorado High School Activities Association Board of Control and served on the executive board of the Colorado Athletic Directors Association for ten years
- Served on the NIAAA membership committee for five years and on the NIAAA Board of Directors for four years
- Barron retired in 1991 from the Jefferson County schools in Colorado, whereby that time the school district offered equal facility usage, equal sports, and levels of competition for girls and boys, along with equal pay for officials.
Alice “Cookie” Barron
Barron played for Wayland Baptist College (now University) from 1954-57,...
Alline Banks Sprouse
- Garnered AAU All-America honors 11 consecutive years (1940-1950) and was tabbed as the Most Valuable Player at the AAU National Tournament nine times
- Earned national acclaim as an honorable mention All-American in 1939, playing in her first AAU national tournament as a 16-year old high schooler
- Played with four different teams during her basketball career including Nashville Business College (1939-42, 1949-50), Vultee Aircraft (1943-45), Nashville Goldblumes (1946), and Atlanta Sports Arena Blues (1947-48)
- Played on five AAU national championship teams (1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, and 1950)
- Turned in a legendary performance with a 56-point showing in a single game, shooting left-handed due to an injured right shoulder
Alline Banks Sprouse
Garnered AAU All-America honors 11 consecutive years (1940-1950) and was...
Amy Ruley
- Has posted a 605-158 worksheet in 25 seasons as the head coach at North Dakota State University
- Has directed the Bison to five NCAA Division II national championships, including four straight (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996)
- Has led NDSU to 20 national playoff appearances, including nine berths in the NCAA Final Four
- Under her direction, Bison have won or shared 10 North Central Conference championships
- Has received Coach of the Year accolades 28 times on the state, regional, or national level from eight different media, coaching, or national organizations
- Accolades include being named as the first recipient of the C. Vivian Stringer Women’s Coaching Award from the United States Sports Academy and as the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year by the American Women’s Sports Federation in 1986 and 1991 and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in 1993
- Was the head coach of the gold medalist South squad at the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival and an assistant coach for the USA squad that claimed the silver medal at the R. William Jones Cup in Taiwan in 1995
- Has served on USA Basketball’s Select Team Committee, the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee, and the WBCA Board of Directors
- Played collegiately at Purdue University where she was the starting point guard on the Boilermakers’ first intercollegiate team in 1975-76
Amy Ruley
Has posted a 605-158 worksheet in 25 seasons as the...
Andrea Lloyd Curry
- Four-year starter at the University of Texas; led the Longhorns to the No. 1 ranking in the final women’s basketball poll each year, with an overall career record of 125-8, winning the National Championship in 1986 and becoming the first team to ever finish a season undefeated (34-0) that year
- Averaged 12.6 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the floor in 127 games at Texas .
- 1987 Kodak All-America; 1985, 1986, 1987 Naismith All-America; 1987 Basketball Writers Association All-America; 1983-84 SWC Newcomer of the Year at Texas
- Five-time member of USA Basketball’s Senior National Team, winning the gold medal in the 1988 Olympics
- Played nine years in the Italian Professional League, where she was named an All-Star eight times
- Played three seasons in the American Basketball League (Columbus Quest), winning two ABL Championships; two seasons in the WNBA (Minnesota Lynx)
- Enshrined as a member of the Idaho High School Basketball Hall of Fame, Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame, Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame and University of Texas Hall of Honor
- Listed 14 th of Sports Illustrated “ Idaho 50 Greatest 20 th-Century Athletes”
- North Idaho Female High School Athlete of the Year 1981, 1982, 1983 ( Moscow HS)
- Idaho Girl’s A-2 Basketball Player of the Year in 1982 and 1983 ( Moscow HS)
- Won back-to-back state championships at Moscow HS (1980-81, 1981-82)
- Played in two Elite 8s (1984, 1985) and one Final Four (1987), in addition to the 1986 National Championship run at Texas.
- Won championships at the high school, college, professional and Olympic levels
Andrea Lloyd Curry
Four-year starter at the University of Texas; led the Longhorns...