Class of 2003 – Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

Marsha Sharp

Has compiled a 508-159 worksheet in 21 seasons at Texas Tech, a mark which ranks her 7th among winningest active coaches with a .762 winning percentage
Guided the Lady Raiders to an NCAA National Championship in 1993
Has directed Texas Tech to the NCAA Tournament 16 times, including 14 straight, reaching the Sweet 16 ten times and the Elite Eight four times
Has won or shared eight conference championships (five in the Southwest Conference, three in the Big 12)
Named National Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in 1994
Has seen the Lady Raiders enjoy tremendous success in the classroom as well as on the hardwood with a 99 percent graduation rate
Guided the USA Basketball World Championship for Young Women’s Qualifying Team to a gold medal in Brazil in 2002
Started her coaching career as a student at Wayland Baptist University, coaching the freshman team during her junior and senior years, then serving as a graduate assistant
Coached six years on the high school level at Lockney, directing the Lady Longhorns to three district titles while going 126-63
Served a two-year term (2001-2003) as president of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)

A seven-time AAU All-American (1963-1969)
Played on eight consecutive AAU National Championship teams (1962-1969) with Nashville Business College, never losing a championship during her tenure with the NBC squad
Helped the USA claim a gold medal in the 1963 Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, averaging 9.6 ppg as the team’s second-leading scorer
Was a member of the USA’s World
Championship Team that competed in Lima, Peru, in 1964
Selected as the United States’ beauty queen representative at the 1964 World Championship, placing second in the contest
Represented the United States in a variety of other international competitions during the 1960s, traveling through Europe (Germany, France, and three former Soviet republics) and Mexico as well as playing against the Russian National Team during a tour of the U.S.
Played on Porter High School’s (Maryville, Tenn.) 1959 state championship team, scoring the final field goal, which provided the winning margin in the state finals

A three-time AAU All-American (1959, 1960, 1965)
Played collegiately at Wayland Baptist College (1956-1960), where she helped the Queens win a pair of AAU national titles in 1957 and 1959 as well as post a second place finish in 1960 and a third place showing in 1958
Helped the USA capture a gold medal at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago
Served as captain of the USA team that competed in the 1964 World Championship in Lima, Peru, finishing fourth
Also played on U.S. teams that competed against a Russian All-Star team in 1959-60, including a game at fabled Madison Square Garden, and toured France, Germany, and Russia in 1965
Won the National Free Throw Title at the 1957 AAU National Tournament, connecting on 48-of-50 free throws
Has authored eight sports-related books

A successful businessman from Plainview, Texas, who made a lasting and unique impression in women’s basketball annals
The owner of his own flying service (Hutcherson Air Service), who began sponsoring the women’s basketball team at Wayland Baptist College in 1950
Not only furnished four Beechcraft Bonanza airplanes to transport the team and coaches to out-of-town games but piloted one of the aircraft as well
Wayland’s women’s basketball team appropriately acquired the moniker “the Hutcherson Flying Queens” as a result
First provided air transportation for the Wayland team to games in Mexico in 1948
During his 25-plus year association with the Queens, Wayland compiled a 712-106 worksheet, a mark which included a collegiate record of 131 consecutive victories, as well as 10 AAU national championships and 10 runner-up finishes
Physical education center on the Wayland campus, which serves as the home for both men’s and women’s basketball teams as well as athletic department offices, is named in his honor
Family legacy endures as his son, Mike, continues to provide transportation for the Wayland Baptist women’s basketball team for road games

A relative fixture at the point guard position on USA basketball teams in 1979 and 1980
Was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, which boycotted the Moscow Olympic Games
Also played on USA teams that competed in the R. William Jones Cup, World Championship, Pan American Games, and World University Games in 1979, garnering three gold medals and one silver medal
Was selected as the Most Popular Player at the 1979 World Championship
Helped the University of Maryland reach the championship game of the AIAW Final Four in 1978
Was tabbed as the Most Valuable Player of the 1978 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, leading Maryland to the championship title in the first-ever ACC tourney
Her No. 44 collegiate jersey was retired and now hangs in the rafters of Cole Field House

Compiled a 576-87 record in 20 seasons as the head coach at Louisiana Tech
Winning percentage of .869 places him No. 1 on the list of all-time winningest collegiate basketball coaches, men’s or women’s
Guided the Lady Techsters to the NCAA tournament in each of those 20 seasons, a mark which includes a national championship in 1988, five appearances in the national championship game, and nine Final Four berths
Registered 30-plus win seasons 13 times, including six in a row (from 1995-96 through 2000-01, the only collegiate coach to have ever achieved that feat), and reached the 20-win plateau 19 times altogether
Clearly dominated the decade of the 1980s with Louisiana Tech placing among the top four in the final poll 12 consecutive years (1979-1990)
Has received numerous Coach of the Year accolades, including Naismith (1988), U.S. Basketball Writers Association (1990, 1996), and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (1996) on the national level as well as conference coach of the year recognition (American South or Sun Belt) nine times
Was also tabbed co-Coach of the Decade by the United States Basketball Writers Association in 1990
Coached 25 years altogether at his alma mater, including five years as an assistant coach and associate head coach