Haleigh Lankster is begining her third season as the Lady Lions assistant coach.
Tulsa, Okla. native, went to Booker T. Washington HS where she helped her team win the first state championship in school history her senior year. She then received a scholarship to play at Wichita State University and earned a starting spot towards the end of her freshman year and continued to start throughout her entire playing career at Wichita.
Some of her accolades include Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year her senior year and she became the 17th Shocker in school history to reach 1,000+ points in her career . During her senior year in the first game of the WNIT, Lankster suffered a slight tear in her bicep and a dislocated elbow. She then went on to graduate with a bachelors in Psychology in 2012.
After graduation and in the process of recovery, she went back home to Booker T. Washington HS to coach as an assistant. In 2013, She helped coach Booker T. Washington to a state championship. Following that championship, Lankster, accepted an offer to play professionally overseas in Montenegro. During the 2013-2014 season, Lankster was the scoring MVP in the Final Four, Player of the year, Guard of the year, and also Defensive Player of the year. After the season she then returned back home to Tulsa, to coach her former AAU team, PWP and also remained on staff at Booker T.
Her second year overseas she played in Slovenia. She was MVP of several tournaments and lead the entire league in scoring . Lankster soon decided to retire from her professional playing career in 2015. She remained the assistant coach at Booker T. and continued to coach PWP. Lankster also became a personal trainer and the head of player development for the girls side of PWP. She also accepted the head coaching position at her former middle school, Carver. In the 2017-2018 season she racked up another state championship with Booker T. HS totaling her state championships as one as a player and two as a coach.
She is the 2nd person in school history to receive championships as a player and a coach. The 2017-2018 also included a 56-0 record and 3 district championship with her 3 year coaching career at Carver Middle School.
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