2021

Athletic Hall of Honor Inductees 2021

LaJeanna Howard

LaJeanna Howard is the first African American head girls basketball coach at Duncanville High School. She is a former Pantherette who played on teams that took four district titles, captured one Area Championship, and played on a State Championship team in 2003.  LaJeanna was also an assistant coach at Duncanville High School in 2016 when the Pantherettes won a state title.  Howard returned home to Duncanville in 2019 as the Head Coach of the Duncanville Pantherettes.  She desired to pour into her home town community and the legendary program that impacted her life.  During LaJeanna’s first year as the Head Coach of the Duncanville Pantherettes, they were crowned the 2020 UIL Texas Girls Basketball State Champions.  She takes great pride in that accomplishment.

Howard was an excellent student during her time at Duncanville High School.  She was a member of the National Honor Society, The National Spanish Honor Society, and a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  As a collegiate player at The University of Louisiana at Monroe, she amassed 1,000 points and played in two conference championships.  She firmly believes that her high school and collegiate experiences have developed her to be the teacher and the coach that she needs to be for the Duncanville Pantherettes. 

 

Kevin Ozee

Kevin Ozee joined Duncanville ISD in 1997 as a biology teacher and assistant football coach,
a position he held until leaving the district in 2000. He returned in 2001 as Athletic Services Coordinator, and later became the Assistant AD under Bob Alpert. In 2004, Kevin was appointed the Duncanville ISD Athletic Director; he succeeded his mentor, the late Bob Alpert.

During his tenure with Duncanville, Ozee continued to build upon longstanding traditions within our community while implementing new initiatives that enhanced those traditions. He is credited for implementing fan-based programs, student-athlete character building initiatives and mentorship programs, and a community-based summer camp program. Ozee also attracted a number of outside athletic events that made use of the district facilities during non-peak times.  This served as an economic generator for the community; it brought the 2008 USA Track and Field Southwest Regional Meet to Duncanville.  Since that time, the City of Champions has hosted many a contest. He has had many accomplishments in his career including sixteen years of interscholastic athletic administration in 5A/6A Texas school districts (13 as an Athletic Director and 3 as an Assistant Athletic Director/Coordinator).  He was also named the National Athletic Director of the Year in 2013 by the National Association of Sports and Physical Education.

 

Glenda Goldman Douglas

Glenda was a Duncanville Pantherette from 1952 to 1956.  She lettered all 4 years of her high school career. Her sophomore year she was awarded 1st team All-District and averaged 27.8 points in each of her 25 games.  As a junior, her accomplishments grew. 
She made the All-Tournament team in the SWAAU (now known as the Sandra Meadows Classic), averaged 29 points per game that year, and earned All District Honors.  That
same year, the Pantherettes were Co-Champions with Plano High School.  Her senior year
she was named Co-Captain with teammate Sarah Walker.  She made the All-Tournament team at the SWAAU once more.  She scored an unbelievable 61 points in one game against Morton High School.  During this same 3 game tournament, Glenda scored a total of 150 points.  She was bestowed All-District Honors once more, averaging 34.2 points in district play, while making 85% of her free throws.

Glenda went on to play the next 2 years at Paris Jr. College and scored 83% of her field goals attempts.  She returned home to Duncanville with her Paris teammates and participated the March of Dimes fundraiser.

 

Ariel Atkins

Ariel’s basketball journey is a success story. As a Duncanville Pantherette, her team won two state championship in 2012 and 2013 and won 105 straight games from December of 2011 through February of 2014. During her time at the University of Texas, she led the women’s basketball team to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 three out of her four years in college. In 2016, the Longhorns made it all the way to the Elite Eight. In the 2018 WNBA Draft, Ariel was selected number seven by the Washington Mystics. That year, she was named to both the WNBA All-Rookie Team and the All-Defensive Second Team. The Mystics made it to the WNBA Finals in 2018. In 2019, they won the WNBA Championship.  She was named a WNBA All-Star in 2021.  She has also had an impressive career playing basketball overseas in
Poland, Australia, and Turkey. 

In June of 2021, Ariel was selected to represent the United States in the Tokyo Olympics as a member of the USA National Women’s Basketball Team. This honor came after more than a year of competing in the USA National Team’s qualifying camps around the country.  Team USA captured its seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal.  Ariel said it was an honor to represent the U.S. in the Olympics, and that she’s grateful for the women who went before her to forge a path in women’s basketball.   She is thankful for the relationships she built during her time at Duncanville High School and will always be grateful for the love and support they bestowed upon her.

 

Stephanie Wilson

Stephanie is a 1992 graduate of Duncanville High School.  She had an impressive run on the Duncanville High School soccer team: a 3 year letterman, All-District and All-Regional
honors, and a member of the State All Star Team.  She earned the MVP Defensive Player Award of the Year Award her junior year.  In 1990, Stephanie was a valuable member of the State Championship Soccer Team at Duncanville High School.  She was awarded the prestigious Popeye’s Chicken Soccer Scholarship upon her high school graduation. 

Stephanie went on to play soccer at the University of North Texas in Denton.  Once more,
she played an important role in the UNT Women’s Soccer Program as they became
National Champions in 1992.  Her honors continued to grow as she was awarded All Conference Awards and the MVP Defensive Player of the Year Award.  While her role on athletic teams were impressive, she also excelled in the classroom. Stephanie was granted 2 scholastic scholarships and was a member of the Golden Key Honor Society at UNT.  She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Science.  Being in education was not a new thing in her family, as both her parents were educators.  They taught and retired from Duncanville ISD.  She followed in their footsteps and became a Physical Education/Health teacher.  She served in that capacity for over 23 years.  She also walked down the same path as her father and spent 5 years coaching.  Stephanie is currently a part-time P.E./Health teacher at a private Christian school in Western North Carolina.