Margaret Sexton Gleaves, an outstanding basketball player in the 1940’s, requires little introduction for sport historians and students of the game of basketball. The eight time All-American guard played on five national championship teams and was one of the original inductees into the Helms Basketball Hall of Fame in 1966. Her name filled the sports pages nation-wide with the athletic feats she performed on hardwood floors across Tennessee and other parts of the nation.
For a span of 10 years, Gleaves was honored as an AAU All-American while playing for Bellevue High School in 1939, Nashville Business College 1939-42, Vultee Aircraft 1944-45, and Cooks Goldblumes 1946-49.
In 1948, and perhaps her best season, Gleaves was selected the Most Valuable Player in the National AAU Tournament. This Nashville native and legend demonstrated early talent for the game of basketball when she lettered all four of her high school years and was selected captain of the team her senior year. She continued her outstanding basketball career while attending and playing for Nashville Business College; runner-up in the AAU National Tournament in 1940 and 1941.
In 1944 and 1945, she helped lead Vultee Aircraft Bomberettes from Nashville to two consecutive AAU national titles. From 1946 through 1949, she played for Cooks Goldblumes of the same city who won three national AAU championships and was the runner-up in 1947. An ability to balance offensive acumen with defensive tenacity combined to earn her and women’s basketball in Tennessee, national recognition. Gleaves and her teammates were true pioneers for today’s collegiate coaches and athletes.
As a tribute to Gleaves, one of the most exciting basketball players of all time, her uniform now hangs in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. She was inducted to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Margaret Sexton Gleaves was pleased to know she is a member of the TSHF Class of 2008. She passed away on December 31, 2007 at the age of 87.