February 22, 2024 - Center's basketball trailblazer, Retha Swindell, will be inducted into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, February 24, 2024 in Dallas. Swindell is a 1975 graduate of Center High School and is a 2014 Center Hall of Honor Award Recipient.
Why is Swindell getting inducted? Swindell was one of the UT women's basketball program's first All-Americans, and the 1,759 career rebounds that she grabbed from 1975-79 are still a school record. Swindell is one of five Longhorns to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career.
Swindell was also the first Black woman to play a sport at Texas. During a 2018 interview with the American-Statesman, the Center native downplayed her significant place in UT's history. "I just did what I needed to do to get a degree and get a job," she said. (Source: Black History Month at Texas: Remembering three Longhorns sports pioneers)
To read the announcement published February 19, 2024 on the University of Texas at Austin Athletics website, click the following link - Swindell to be inducted into Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame (texassports.com).
To read an article published February 20, 2024 on The Daily Texan which interviews Swindell, click the following link - Former Texas women’s basketball star Retha Swindell to be inducted into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame
Related articles on SCT about Retha Swindell:
- Publication Features Retha Swindell as a Trailblazer at UT (2018)
- CHS Alumni Association Announces 2014 Hall of Honor Recipients, Swindell and Braden (2014)
- Center Graduate Retha Swindell to be Honored in UFCU Legends Park (2010)
(Above) Retha Swindell at the 2014 Center Alumni Hall of Honor Induction Ceremony. (Below) Swindell with family, friends, classmates attending the Hall of Honor ceremony.
