Harley Redin turning 100!

Legendary Wayland Baptist basketball coach Harley Redin turns 100 years old this week, and WBU is marking the occasion with a number of gestures.

Plainview Mayor Wendell Dunlap proclaimed Thursday, Aug. 29 as "Harley Redin Day" in Plainview, and WBU students sent video wishes to Coach Redin. Members of the Flying Queens will deliver the good wishes to Harley on this historic occasion.

Congratulations, Coach Redin! You're the best!

Last year, Coach Redin was presented with the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. The Bunn Award is the highest honor given to an individual outside of enshrinement into the Hall.

Coach Redin also was instrumental in the Flying Queens programs from 1948-82 being elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies are scheduled for Sept. 5-7.
 
A 1942 graduate of North Texas State, Harley Redin has long been a progressive pioneer in the game of basketball, serving as a legendary coach at Wayland Baptist University. He coached the men's program from 1948-57, before finding immense success with the women's team from 1955-73.

Long before women's college basketball became an NCAA sport in 1982, he captured six AAU national championships (1956, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1970, 1971) while compiling a win streak of 76 games from 1955-58 to start his career. (The 76 games were part of the record 131-game winning streak that started in 1953).

Redin led Wayland Baptist to five straight WNIT championships from 1969-73 and, from 1955-73, amassed an overall women's coaching record of 431-66 (.867).

Redin coached the women's U.S. National Team in 1959 and 1971 at the Pan-American Games, and in 1963 at the World Tournament in Peru. He also served as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the AAU Rules Committee, which suggested the unlimited dribble, 30-second shot clock, and the full-court game. Based on his experiences, he authored The Queens Fly High and A Basketball Guide for Girls.
 
Above all, Redin is known for his progressive thinking and tremendous impact on women's basketball.

His list of accomplishments includes the Jostens-Berenson Service Award presented by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association for his lifetime of service to women's basketball (1992), the Naismith Award for Outstanding Contribution to the game of women's basketball (2000), and inductee of many halls of fame including the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (inaugural class of 1999) and Texas Sports Hall of Fame (2004).