Southeastern Oklahoma State University Athletics

Basketball (1978-81)

Kathy Cotton was widely recognized as one of Southeastern’s most outstanding women athletes. She was a four sport athlete at Southeastern during the period when women’s athletics were exploding in popularity on America’s college campuses.

Kathy was born in Oklahoma City on July 21, 1959. She graduated from Kingston High School in 1977 after a stellar athletic career which included All-State and All-American honors in basketball.

She attended Murray State College her freshman year and quickly became the university’s top woman athlete. She twice led Coach Vicki Hudson’s Savagettes to the AIAW national basketball playoffs. She was also an All-Conference volleyball player and was a member of the tennis and track teams. In recognition of her athletic successes, she was named Southeastern’s Most Valuable Athlete in 1979, 1980, and 1981.

Following her collegiate basketball career, she was a high draft selection by the Dallas Diamonds of the women’s professional basketball league. The league failed to materialize because of financial problems, depriving Cotton of an opportunity to play at the nation’s highest level of women’s basketball.

Kathy Cotton had an outstanding athletic career at Southeastern. She was most deserving of the honor of being the first woman to be named to the Southeastern Athletic Hall of Fame—an honor bestowed on her on February 7, 1998.