A birthplace of women's basketball: Flying Queens Museum celebrates legacy of legendary program

PLAINVIEW — A museum chronicling a historic collegiate women's basketball program is officially open at Wayland Baptist University after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday morning.

The Flying Queens Museum celebrates the monumental basketball program, which was foundational to the development of women's athletics far before Title IX and continues its success today. Nearly a year to the day since breaking ground, many current and former Queens players, coaches and boosters turned out for the museum's grand opening, which was moved indoors due to sleety conditions.

After cutting the ribbon, Wayland President Bobby Hall said it only makes sense for the Flying Queens program to be honored on its home campus.

"This is one of the birthplaces of women's basketball," Hall said, "so we think this is the place, rightfully, that it should be celebrated, and it means the world to us."

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The Flying Queens are perhaps one of the most storied women's basketball teams in history, instrumental to developing the modern women's game. In the mid-1950s, the Queens strung together 131 consecutive wins, the longest streak of any program — men's or women's — in college basketball history. The Flying Queens program was also the first offer athletic scholarships to women, long before it was required.

The program was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019, and a display commemorating that achievement is a focal point of the museum. Surrounding that exhibit are numerous artifacts, including uniforms, shoes and trophies. The museum, located in the Mabee Regional Heritage Center, also features several interactive displays, including one which catalogs biographical information for every Queen in the program's history.

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Among those present at Saturday's event was Alice "Cookie" Barron, a Flying Queen from 1954 to 1957 who never lost a basketball game while on the team.

"You just take one game at a time and hope you don't lose the next one, because you do not want to build a teamthat loses," Barron said of her playing career. "Oh, it was wonderful, but we never got too excited about it. We just kept playing and working hard," Barron said, adding it's "an honor" to be celebrated with the museum.

Others present included Barron's teammate Kaye Garms, who went on to become a successful basketball official, legendary Flying Queens and Levelland coach Dean Weese, and former Texas Tech Lady Raiders coach Marsha Sharp, who launched her coaching career while a student at Wayland.

"I think it was really important for us to capture the history of this program," Sharp said. "The modern day game you see now was impacted unbelievably by the things that went on in this program earlier.

"They were the pioneers, they were the trailblazers, and they really did such a great job of trying to make women's basketball relevant. And I think we want to honor that and we want to make sure that we keep their legacies alive."

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Sharp credits the Flying Queens for laying a foundation that made her career possible, including the Texas Tech Lady Raiders' 1993 NCAA national championship.

"Wayland created opportunities. My career at Tech would not have been anything close to what it was if I had not had the opportunity to come through this program and be around Coach Dean Weese and all the things that he taught me about the game," Sharp said.

"I think it's really important that the younger generations understand their history," Sharp continued. "They have a great chance to do that here. There are so many stories and so many accolades in this facility that they're going to be able to see, and I hope there's kids all over West Texas and all over the country that get to come here and see all of the things that are here, because I think they'll really be proud of their past and where they came from."

"If people don't come see this, they're losing out on part of their life, not seeing this history," Garms added.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Flying Queens Museum celebrates legendary basketball program