When Claude Hutcherson agreed to fly the Wayland Baptist College Harvest Queens to international games in Mexico in 1948, little did he know that the trip would develop into a lifelong sponsorship of the most prominent team in women’s collegiate basketball.
            A 1926 Wayland graduate and owner of Hutcherson Air Service in Plainview, Hutcherson agreed to sponsor the Queens after WBU President J.W. Marshall announced that the program could not continue without an external sponsor. The nickname changed to Flying Queens because Hutcherson provided air transportation to road games in his fleet of Beechcraft Barons and Bonanzas. He also provided funds for meals, lodging, uniforms, equipment, and other needed items. Later in 1971, the Gail native led Wayland’s capital campaign to build a new gymnasium, which was aptly named Hutcherson Physical Education Center by Wayland’s Board of Trustees.
            Prior to his death in 1977, Hutcherson rarely missed a Flying Queens game. At the time of his induction in 1992, Hutcherson’s team had built women’s basketball’s richest tradition, including 10 national championships, 11 national runner-up finishes, a winning percentage of .817, 65 All-Americans, and more wins than any team in Women’s collegiate history. For his many contributions to women’s basketball, Hutcherson was inducted into the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame.
            His legacy continues through the sponsorship efforts of wife Wilda, son Mike, and daughter Marsha, who also established a trio of endowed scholarships for the Flying Queens.