Hall of Fame Spotlight: Kamesha Hairston

One of the top players in Temple women's basketball history, Kamesha Hairston was named the Atlantic 10 Conference and Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Year and Honorable Mention All-America as a senior in 2007.

Hairston scored 1,573 points, which ranks ninth all-time at Temple, pulled down 757 rebounds (11^th) and made the fifth most steals, 235, in her outstanding career. The Toledo, Ohio native set a then single season school record for points with 625 points (18.9 ppg) in leading Temple to a 25-8 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Temple forward was part of a school-record 98 wins over her four-year career that also included three A10 Championships and the four NCAA tournament appearances.

Selected with the 12th pick of the 2007 WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun, Hairston played two years in the league and three more seasons of professional basketball overseas. She was inducted into the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020. She is currently the head coach of the girls' basketball team at Emmanuel Christian High in Toledo.

Coming out of Bowsher High in Toledo, how did you decide on Temple?
"Going into my senior year in high school I tore my ACL. At the time I had all the big powerhouse schools come to watch me in the NIKE tournament, but when I tore my ACL most of them walked away. I did still have a few scholarship offers available, notably from LSU and Ohio State, but it was Temple who stayed there and said, 'we still want you even on one leg. We believe in you'. That meant a lot to me, their loyalty even through my injury. That was the deciding factor."

What was it like to play under Dawn Staley?
"It was amazing. She is just a fantastic human. I do not think I really appreciated what it meant to play under her while I was at Temple. You hear what she says and see the things that she does, but you really do not understand it until later in life. At this stage in my life a lot of the things that she was teaching us, especially about discipline and hard work, makes so much more sense now.

I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have played under someone like Dawn Staley. She was legendary to me then because she was a fantastic player, but you do not appreciate the human being of Dawn Staley until there has been some time playing under her. Your life then becomes patterned upon the things that she taught.

I see so much of who I am and what I do now based off her teaching, and I am so grateful for that."

You were part of four straight NCAA Tournament teams, a first at Temple. How special was that time?
"My time at Temple was extremely special. I do not think if I went anywhere else, I would have had the opportunities that I have had while playing at Temple. When I arrived, I knew the history of Temple and I knew we needed to win. That was always my goal. To be able to do it at the level we did and to take the program higher was special. I am so happy that I chose to play at Temple."

You teamed with Candace Dupree, one of the top scorers in WNBA history for your first three seasons and then you set the school single season scoring record as a senior and earned A10 and Big 5 Player of the Year honors?   What was it like playing together and then taking over the spotlight on your own?
"It was easy to play with Candace.   You do not have too much. It is always fun to play with another scorer and someone else who wants to win.   So, it was fun playing with her.

I knew that in order to keep that history of success going I would have to take my game up another level my senior year. I knew I was capable of scoring my first three years but a part of being a great teammate and a team player is being able to sacrifice pieces of your game for the greater good of the team. With that said, my senior year I knew I needed to step up and play a much bigger role. That was no problem as I was a scorer in high school so it was an easy task and taking on the challenge was exciting."

After Temple you were selected in the First Round of the WNBA Draft? What was that like to hear your name called?
"It was special and extremely exciting. Honestly it was not something that I always dreamed of or thought about in college. I really did not have my mind set on playing in the WNBA. When people ask me about it, I just don't know why it was the case. I just never really thought about it. I was just having fun at Temple but once I saw Candace get drafted and then the scouts at my games during my senior year I realized I had an opportunity.

To have my name called (at the draft) and being surrounded by my family at the table, it was super special. One of the greatest moments of my life."

Talk about your professional basketball career?
"I played five years professionally, two for the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA and then overseas on teams in Israel, Spain and Italy until I retired in 2012. It was a good career, but I was basically playing on one leg since my senior year due to my knee injury."

You are back home in Ohio and coaching high school basketball at Emmanuel Christian. Talk about your transition from playing to coaching?
"My first year, in 2023-24, I actually canceled our season which may sound crazy to some people, but I did not think our girls were at the level to be able to compete. So, we spent the whole year on skill building. I coached our junior high team and did skill building with them. Our team surprisingly came in third in our conference. So, they did really well and I am excited about the future and being able to build the program the way that I envision it.

I am so thankful that administration supported me, and they were actually excited. Every day our girls came in to practice like we were preparing for a game, but it was just skill work all year long."

Temple University Athletics

Hall of Fame Spotlight: Kamesha Hairston

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