Friday, April 26, 2024
Leta Andrews
The wait for legendary high school girls basketball coach Leta Andrews of Granbury will have to continue.
Andrews, now a four-time finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, was not part of the Class of 2021, which was announced Sunday in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Andrews, a Hood County native who retired in 2014 after 52 years of coaching, is credited by the UIL with 1,416 career girls basketball victories and only 355 losses. In March, she was among 14 finalists named for the 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame. She was also a Naismith Hall of Fame finalist in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
“I always think, the good Lord teaches that everything works out for good for those that love the Lord,” Andrews told the Hood County News, noting she was notified last Wednesday that she was not selected.
She said she remains “happy as a lark,” and has “heard from so many people that were so upset,” for her, including “colleagues and kiddos that I coached.”
The Basketball Hall of Fame announced nine new members Sunday. They are: Rick Adelman, Chris Bosh, Yolanda Griffith, Lauren Jackson, Paul Pierce, Bill Russell (as a coach), Ben Wallace, Chris Webber, and Jay Wright. Those, along with the nine named in 2020 (but not inducted due to COVID-19) are scheduled to have their official ceremony inducting them into the Hall of Fame later this year.
Andrews, 83, surpassed former Fort Worth Dunbar boys basketball coach Robert Hughes in 2010 to take the top spot in all-time basketball victories (boys or girls), and retired in 2014. Andrews coached 14 of her teams into the UIL state tournament, and led Corpus Christi Calallen’s girls to a Class 4A state championship in 1990.
Asked about the possibility of being selected for the Hall of Fame next year, Andrews joked, “I hope I’m alive when it comes around. If it comes, that’ll be nice.”
In the meantime, Andrews said, “I’m loving and enjoying every day. I just know I live in a wonderful town with a lot of great people.”
Andrews began her girls basketball coaching career at Tolar (1962-65), followed by stints at Gustine (1965-70), Comanche (1970-76), Granbury (1976-80) and Corpus Christi Calallen (1980-92) before returning to coach Granbury’s Lady Pirates a second time (1992-2014).
