Mike Leach, Kliff Kingsbury among eight set for Texas Tech Hall inductions
Mike Leach and Kliff Kingsbury brought an exciting style of play to Texas Tech football in the first decade of the 21st century. Leach pushed the limits of the passing game with his Air Raid offense, and Kingsbury was Leach's starting quarterback in his first opportunity as an FBS head coach.
Tech athletics will honor them and six others during its annual Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor inductions.
The enshrinements are scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at the Overton Hotel & Conference Center. The class also will receive on-field recognition during the Red Raiders' home game against Houston at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Leach will be posthumously inducted into the Hall of Honor, which is for non-athletes who have provided outstanding contributions to Tech athletics. Leach died on Dec. 12, 2022, at age 61. He was 158-107 in 21 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State.
With an 84-43 record at Tech, Leach is the Red Raiders' top football coach by victories and second to Pete Cawthon in winning percentage. Tech fired Leach in late December 2009 over mistreatment of a player. In firing Leach for cause, Tech used sworn statements from four medical professionals, including Dr. Robert Cantu, a concussion expert consulted by the NFL and other professional sports teams.
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Houston coach Dana Holgorsen, who played and coached under Leach, said Leach had as much influence on football as "potentially anybody in the history of our game."
"He left that kind of a legacy," Holgorsen said. "I was glad to hear that Texas Tech is putting him in the (Hall of Honor). Sad that he can't be there to be a part of that mending of a relationship, because it's sad how that ended. But you look back at what he did for his 10 years at Tech, it's pretty remarkable."
Leach family members and Kingsbury are scheduled to attend Friday's event, Tech officials said. Kingsbury, the former head coach of the Red Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals, is now on staff at Southern California, which has a game Saturday at Colorado. Kingsbury is second in Tech history in career passing yards (12,429) and passing touchdowns (95).
Kingsbury is one the seven Tech Hall of Fame honorees.
Tennis players Gonzalo Escobar and Cathy Carlson set Tech records for career victories. Carlson (1984-88) won 111 matches in singles and 113 in doubles. Escobar (2008-12) won 99 matches in singles and 82 in doubles.
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Kim Kaufman, a Tech women's golfer from 2009-13, achieved some level of all-America recognition all four years and was ranked No. 1 in the nation during her senior season.
Basketball player Greg Lowery, who played three seasons from 1969-72, still holds the program record for single-season scoring average: 24.5 points per game during the 1971-72 season. The 6-foot-2 guard from West Palm Beach, Florida, averaged 19.7 points per game for his career, earning first-team all-Southwest Conference in 1970 and 1972 and second-team honors in 1971.
Lowery and 2022 inductee Gene Knolle were the Red Raiders' first Black basketball players. Knolle died in 2004 at age 56, and Lowery died in 2016 at age 65. They were Tech teammates, Knolle averaging 20.9 points in 1969-70 and 22.0 in 1970-71.
Discus thrower Jason Young (1999-2004) was runner-up at the NCAA outdoor championships in 2004 and at the U.S. outdoor championships in 2010 and 2011. He competed for the U.S. in the 2012 Olympics.
Matt Wingo, a Red Raiders linebacker from 1987-91, earned all-SWC recognition twice. The Pasadena Dobie graduate was credited with 385 tackles in four seasons at Tech.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Mike Leach, Kliff Kingsbury among 8 set for Texas Tech Hall inductions
