Gray Leaving Her Own Legacy

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Kiya Gray

Klein Forest Basketball

In 1990, the Aldine Mustangs had a dream football season, winning a Texas state championship as well as being named the national football champions by ESPN.

Directing the Mustangs was all-Everything quarterback Eric Gray, who piled up the accolades resembling a modern-day Trey Williams of Dekaney.

Now it's Eric Gray's children, who have become the headliners for Klein Forest High School. Tyree Gray is junior linebacker, who will be a Division I recruit in the Class of 2013, while sister Kiya is a star of the Lady Eagle basketball team.

"We are a pretty athletic family," she said. "Since the third-grade, I've always been either cheerleading or playing basketball. I used to just play hoops with the boys growing up."

Gray's mom played basketball at Westfield and her grandfather Tom Henderson played nine seasons in the NBA as well as on the 1972 Olympic basketball team.

The 6-footer has honed her game as a scoring small forward, who is averaging 15 points in the city-ranked Eagle squad. But the sophomore sensation knows that her work is not done.

"I'm a pretty good scorer, but I know I have things to improve on if I want to play in college," she said. "I need to work on my left hand and block out better. I hear that all the time."

Gray is leading Klein Forest to one of the Eagles' best starts with a pre-district record of 19-3, and their winning formula is chemistry.

While most college-bound girls are scattered throughout local AAU teams during the summer, most of the Klein Forest athletes play for Eric Gray's team -- the AAU Houston Fast Breakers.

Joining Gray on the Fast Breakers include Ebony Parker, Jeliah Preston, Regina Scott and Elundrea Jones among others.

"It's great that our team plays year round and it gives us a lot of confidence on the high school basketball court," she said. "We know what each other can do and where we like the ball from playing together for the past several years. It comes down to chemistry."

Gray hopes chemistry gets the Golden Eagles past the second-round of the playoffs, where they finished last year as freshmen.