By Joshua Koch
Public Communications
As Plenette Pierson walked into the gym of Kingwood High School, the feeling overcame her of being home.
Pierson admitted with a smile that the gym hadn’t changed much since playing for the Mustangs from 1997-1999. Everything had pretty much remained the same except for a recent addition of a banner to the wall – her No. 54 jersey.
Pierson, now an associate coach with Texas Tech women’s basketball, returned to her alma mater on Friday, to officially have her high school jersey retired.
“I can’t put it into words,” Pierson said. “I hope it just means that I’m an inspiration to others that want to play a sport to just give their all. I couldn’t have imagined 15-20 years ago that I was going to have my jersey retired. I was striving to be the best player and person that I could be.”
Pierson is the first women’s basketball player in Humble ISD history to have this honor bestowed upon. She is the third basketball player in Humble ISD to have their jersey retired joining Rodney Odom (Kingwood High School) and Carsen Edwards (Atascocita High School).
As Pierson made her way out to centercourt during Friday’s pep rally, she was met by her high school coach Angela (Gober) Bell and her college coach Marsha Sharp of Texas Tech.
“I had chills,” Pierson said. “It was surreal. Two women who have played major parts in my life in different phases that got me to be the person I am today along with my mother. It was just great to have them passing my jersey back to me.”
Bell came to Kingwood in 1995 as a junior varsity coach before taking over the program in 1996. Bell coached Pierson in her two seasons at Kingwood before she signed to play for Sharp and the Lady Raiders.
"I'm so proud of Plenette," Bell said. "She has accomplished so much in her basketball career! It was a great day for Plenette, her family, and Kingwood High School. It was a wonderful presentation by Humble Athletic Department and Kingwood High School! The pep rally was amazing!"
Sharp, who led the Lady Raiders to the 1993 National Championship, coached Pierson from 1999 through 2003 at Texas Tech and presented her the framed jersey.
“I’m just so happy for her today,” Sharp said. “What a great day for her and for Kingwood High School. She’s done so many great things in her life and I’m so proud of her, her journey and all the things that she did for her family and for women’s basketball.”
At Texas Tech, Pierson was a part of four Sweet Sixteen appearances and two trips to the Elite Eight with the Lady Raiders. Pierson earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors in the 2000 season. That same season, the Lady Raiders captured the regular season Big 12 Conference Championship. Texas Tech went 102-30 in her four seasons.
“It’s a real joy for me to know her and be able to coach her,” Sharp said. “I think we were able to do some special things at Tech together. It was really a great experience.”
The Kingwood High School alum is the sixth leading scorer in Lady Raider history. Pierson scored 1602 points in her Texas Tech career. She is also top 10 in program history in points per game (15.4), field goals made (602), free throws made (398) and blocked shots (116).
In the 2003 WNBA Draft, Pierson was selected fourth overall by the Phoenix Mercury.
Pierson spent 17 seasons in the WNBA playing for the Phoenix Mercury, Detroit Shock/Tulsa Shock, New York Liberty, and Dallas Wings. Pierson won three WNBA Championships as a player. Pierson was the inaugural WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year award winner in 2007.
After concluding her playing career, Pierson got into coaching. First in the WNBA before returning to her alma mater at Texas Tech in June of 2022.
Entering this season, Pierson is the associate coach for Lady Raider coach Krista Gerlich.
“I’m so happy that she’s impacting those kids at Tech now,” Sharp said. “Krista’s done such a great job with her trying to mentor her as a coach because it was new to Plenette. But she’s doing a great job I think and there’s a lot of kids that are benefiting from her experiences.
“I think the fact that she’s been there and done it I think always makes a difference for kids you’re trying to coach.”
Photo Caption: Humble ISD Assistant Athletic Director Carlesa Dixon, former Texas Tech women’s basketball coach Marsha Sharp, Kingwood alum and Texas Tech women’s basketball associate coach Plenette Pierson and former Kingwood coach Angela Bell pose for a photo following Pierson’s jersey retirement.