Booker T. Hoops Standout to Join Father and Sister, Signs with Oral Roberts University

By MIKE MOGUIN
GTR Sports Writer

Booker T. Washington senior point guard Yvette Mayberry recently signed to play college basketball at Oral Roberts.
If the name rings a bell, it should because her family has resonated on the basketball court for the past four decades and continues on. Yvette, 5-8, is the latest Mayberry making noise by leading the Hornets, who were 14-1 overall and ranked No. 1 in the Class 6A girls poll as of Jan. 27.
Her father, Lee, led Will Rogers to a boys state championship in 1988, was a member of a Final Four team at Arkansas two years later and played in the NBA for seven seasons. He is now an assistant coach for the ORU women.
Mayberry also has two older sisters, Kaylan and Maya, who have ties to ORU.
Kaylan Mayberry led BTW to the 2013 state title and went on to play at the program, finishing with nearly 1,000 career points. Maya, who led Fayetteville (Ark.) to two Class 7A state titles while her father was coaching at Arkansas (2015-17), is currently playing with the Golden Eagles.
Those factors, along with being Christian, impacted Yvette Mayberry’s decision to attend ORU.
“I love God,” she said. “And just being able to play for my dad, and with my sister is an experience overall. I can also come in and play right away and get minutes. I just feel like that is the best fit for me.”
Mayberry chose ORU over Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State, UT-Arlington and Tulsa.
Known for her diverse skills, she averages 14.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.8 steals and 0.4 blocks per game for the Lady Hornets.
Growing up in a basketball family carried some motivation, she said.
“Looking up and seeing what my dad had done and what my sisters had done before me, it just motivated me to want to be my best and accomplish more. It was fun. It was always basketball, basketball, basketball.”
Another sister, Taleya, the oldest, is now an assistant coach at TU. She led BTW to state titles in 2008 and 2009 and followed up with a standout career with the Golden Hurricane, leading them to the Conference USA Tournament title into the NCAA Tournament her senior year.
“I know that with her and my dad, it is always back and forth, ‘Oh, we’re going to beat you this time, we’re going to beat you this time,’” Mayberry said. “It is actually pretty funny because they like to make it a big rivalry within the household.”
Mayberry was not around when BTW won 5A state title in 2018. She was in Pine Bluff, Arkansas attending Watson Chapel, helping the program to a Class 5A runner-up finish as a sophomore with her dad being an assistant. Along with sister Maya, Yvette was part of the 7A state championship team at Fayetteville as a freshman.
After transitioning to BTW last season after her dad joined the ORU staff, Yvette is hoping for an Oklahoma state championship with the Lady Hornets. She believes her team is working really well together.
“We’re learning about each other,” Yvette Mayberry said. “What makes it better is, we are all hungry to win our conference, host regionals and win a state title.
“We all want to go out and play, step out of our comfort zone and do what we have to do to win. Everybody is so unselfish and that makes it so much fun to play with,” she added.
To keep the momentum going, it will be imperative for BTW “to know the details and hopefully we don’t start slacking on little things, because little things matter as far as still coming out and working hard in practice everyday and keeping our focus before games. So, I feel like if we keep the little things right, then we should be good.”
Midtown Quick Hit
Booker T. Washington will have a new head football coach next season. Johnathan Brown, a 1994 graduate of the school will be taking over the role after seven seasons as an assistant. Brown had also been defensive coordinator since 2015. He will replace Brad Calip, who had served in the role the past four seasons before leaving to take the assistant coaching job at Owasso late last month. Under Calip, the Hornets won the Class 6AII state championship in 2017.

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