Dougherty County Schools athletic director Lea Henry inducted into Georgia State University Hall of Fame

ATLANTA — Dougherty County Schools athletic director Lea Henry was inducted into the Georgia State University Hall of Fame Tuesday night during a ceremony in Atlanta.

She was one of five inductees alongside Bill Curry, Jacob English, Lora Lischinsky and Anna Popenko.

Henry, who has already been inducted as a player into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, was chosen for her coaching at Georgia State. On Tuesday night, she was described as the winningest women’s basketball coach in Georgia State history with a record 245 wins and earned berths to the NCAA Tournament three years in a row. She won five regular-season championships and had eight consecutive winning seasons for the Lady Panthers.

“What a special night,” Henry said after the event, “and such a reminder of how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to coach such talented and special Lady Panthers, work alongside hardworking, knowledgeable, assistant coaches, have the support and special friendships with the administrators who trusted me with this wonderful profession of helping young women work toward their goals.

“I learned so much from them all — 1994-2010 was such an enjoyable time in my life because of the people mentioned above. Thank you all.”

Henry, who played high school basketball at Georgia Southwestern and college basketball at the University of Tennessee, had been inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 for her playing days when she averaged 23 points per game at SGA and starred for the Lady Vols at Tennessee and earned a gold medal for the USA women’s basketball team in the 1984 Olympics.

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