Texas basketball fans who saw 1986 title team relish watching Final Four in Phoenix
Texas women's basketball fans from all walks of life enjoy a full circle moment in Phoenix watching Longhorns in Final Four.
Marcia Kirkland and Evelyn Barron needed to fill their days with something once they retired from teaching to fight any boredom. “Let’s start following Texas women’s basketball ,” Kirkland recalls. Since they started following the team in 2004, the pair have missed a total of 30 games.
They have traveled to Europe, Hawaii, Canada or “wherever” the Longhorns are playing to support the Longhorns. Now they are in Phoenix for the Final Four to support the Longhorns. Texas Longhorns guard Rori Harmon (3) takes a photo with the NCAA Fort Worth Regional Championship trophy after winning the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Elite 8 game against Michigan at Dickies Arena on Monday, March 30, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas.
(Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman) Kirkland and Barron were traveling with other longstanding Austinites: David Wheeler, who graduated from UT, and Cassie Campbell. The Texas Longhorns take a photo with the NCAA Fort Worth Regional Championship trophy after winning the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Elite 8 game against Michigan at Dickies Arena on Monday, March 30, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas.
(Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman) Wheeler was a member of the Texas pep band and went to all the home games as a student . The band didn’t travel except for the postseason but because Wheeler was a freshman, he couldn’t make the trip to Lexington, Ky.