When he signed Kathy Harston out of Southlake, Texas, in 1976, Flying Queens coach Dean Weese said, “We feel we have found a point guard for the future.”  After all, she was a three-time All-State selection and had led Carroll High to the Class A state title game as a junior and played in both the Coaches All-Star and Texas-Oklahoma All-Star games.  As he often was, Coach Weese turned out to be right.  During her four-year career in a Queens uniform, Harston was named to four All-American teams, tied or broke three school records and became one of the top 10 scorers in Wayland history.
 
The Flying Queens went 31-5 during Harston’s freshman year, winning the NWIT Championship.  She averaged 7.4 points, shooting 49 percent from the field and 72 percent from the free throw line.  Harston scored a season-high 20 points in a game against the University of Texas.
 
The 1977-78 basketball season turned out to be a turning point in Harston’s career.  The Queens went 33-5 and finished fourth in the AIAW.  She averaged 13 points, hitting 54 percent of her shots from the field.  She earned Kodak All-American and WBL Honorable Mention All-American honors, and was named to the SWAIAW All-Region team.  Harston also received the Queen’s Leadership Award.
 
A big revenge win against North Caroline State University during that 1978 season particularly stands out in Harston’s mind. “That win in the regional tournament put us in the Final Four.  They had beaten us earlier in the year in Raleigh when we were ranked #1.”
 
A horrible skiing accident during the 1978 off-season severely damaged Harston’s right knee, making her questionable for the 1978-79 season.   She made a miraculous recovery from the surgery, however, coming back 11 games into the season.  The Street & Smith Basketball Magazine’s Preseason All-American scored 222 points during her junior campaign, and the Queens finished 24-10, advancing to the AIAW quarter-finals.
 
A new coach, former Flying Queen Cathy Wilson, was at the helm of the Wayland women for Harston’s senior season.  The Queens finished 20-15 and Harston led the team in scoring, averaging 15.3 points.  The 535 points gave her 1,617 for her career, placing her third in WBU history.  (Currently, she is #8 in Flying Queens career scoring.)  She also passed out a school-record 119 assists, tied a school record for points in a game with 46 against Baylor University, and tied a school record for assists in a game with eight versus Delta State.  She was named the team MVP and was a finalist for the 1980 Wade Trophy, given to the National Player of the Year.
 
After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education in May 1980, Harston took over as head girl’s basketball coach at Hale Center High School.  She led the Owlettes to a co-district championship in her only year there.
 
Harston returned to Plainview in 1984, following a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Texas Tech University, to take over as head basketball coach at Plainview High School.  She was honored as the 1987 TABC 5A Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Dogs to their first-ever state championship.
 
In 1989 Harston left Plainview to join Coach Jody Conradt’s staff at the University of Texas.  She was on the bench as an assistant coach in 2003 when the Lady Longhorns reached the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta. 
 
A member of the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame since her induction in 1996, Harston was named as the top player of the ‘70’s in Texas High School basketball.  In 2006, she was selected as one of the “Top 25 Players of the Pre-NCAA Basketball Era” by ESPN.com.
 
In 2007, Harston left the basketball sidelines to become an Academic Counselor at the University of Texas.  She continues to live in Austin, and enjoys spending her free time reading and going to the beach.