Winningest Basketball Coach (Texas Country Reporter)

Leta Andrews has won more basketball games than any other coach on the entire planet.

Leta Andrews
Granbury, TX

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[Music] these young ladies come from all around the Fort Worth area their parents drive them in and some of them come miles and I really appreciate that they are wanting to learn the basic thing that's what they're going to get good job young ladies line it up here we go if you were to ask coach Lita Andrews what it takes to become a great basketball player she'd tell you the answer is quite simple it's all about the fundamentals and here at her skills camp and Fort Worth that's exactly what she's teaching her girls the game of basketball is very simple it's very vanilla but you got to learn those fundamentals and you got to know them inside out you won't see a Lita Andrews camp screaming and playing games you won't ever see that we're working on the skills right now [Music] now leader retired from coaching high school basketball just a few years ago but now the camp she runs with her family are the only way to hear her patented advice these rigorous routines were the bedrock of her lifelong career good job way to feel alive take it to the bucket one that put her alongside some other legendary basketball coaches [Music] you know I was fortunate enough to study with John Wooten of UCLA Dean Smith of North Carolina and Pat had summit it was quite an experience to listen to them know you might say Lida learned from the best except it's her record not theirs that might never be broken starting in 1962 she won her first game as a high school coach and over the next five decades she would go on to win more games than any basketball coach at any level in the history of the sport [Music] how many total wins do you have it's 1416 your teams that you have coached have won 1416 games yes sir do you realize people say that your record will probably never be I've heard that say it yes because they won't work hard enough to do it or stay with it long enough to do it who's gonna stay with it 52 years now over the last fifty two years Lida Andrews accomplishments have gone unmatched she's won 37 district titles made 15 appearances at the state tournament and won the class 4a state championship in 1990 she's a member of the Texas high school Basketball Hall of Fame the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the National Women's Basketball Hall of Fame not bad for a girl from Granberry who grew up on a farm I grew up here my daddy owned close to 500 acres but he also leased a lot of property and we farmed all of that I would get up to a lot of mornings at 4 o'clock and go and plow till about 7:00 come home and eat breakfast and catch the bus and go to grand jury schools I bet you had quite a chore list when you were growing up didn't you I did it was a it was called wor K work and there was one word those girls could never tell me that they retired don't ever use that word you don't know you have no clue what being tired is all that's right I said you don't know what tired is and I'm sure those were a lot of the the driving force that made me so successful in the game of basketball [Music] [Applause] clad in a dress high heels and always her iconic pearls Lita Andrews coached generations of women to countless victories with the exception of her coveted basketball camps she since retired from coaching but she'll be quick to tell you that it's not the trophies and awards she's received that mean the most to her it's that she's been able to shape the lives of so many women who called her coach have you ever thought about what you gave them and how you equipped them for the rest of their lives with what you taught them on that basketball court well they were lifetime lessons that they could carry with them because basketball is very vanilla but there's a lot more to it than just basketball and I wanted them to taste the fruits of success somewhere on this path they're traveling and they did many of them being and I don't think there's any better gift in life and helping others you've been doing that a long time you just didn't call it that oh well I've had a joyride in doing it I'll tell you I can put my head on my pillow at night time in and go to sleep and know that I I tried to do my very best this day and the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise I'll get up and do them tomorrow [Music] over the course of an unbelievable career leta andrews has accomplished feats never before seen by a basketball coach and quite possibly never will be again documentaries have been made about her and there's even talk of a movie but she's never let it go to her head she simply looks at the game of life like she does the game of basketball work hard play with your heart and in the end you'll find success the thing about basketball it's not it's not measured in size it's this heart right here it's all about heart how much you want to give and how hard you want to work [Music] [Applause] I've had tall girls small girls and their own fire to be successful and to play hard and win did you in every year wildest dreams when you were out working on the farm growing up think someday people are gonna want to make a movie about my life I've never ever that never crossed my memory bank but you know it crossed me being a good basketball player being a good wife and mother those things crossed my memory day check check check check you get all those I hope so I tried I loved it I enjoyed it ain't no days over if it makes a memory I've got a truckload of memories [Music] you