Hall of Honor
Tarra Richardson is not only one of the greatest McM athletes of all time, but is also one of the greatest in the history of NCAA Division III women's basketball.
Coming to McMurry from Fort Worth, Texas, Richardson played from 2004-08 and is the school's all-time leader in career points, career rebounds and career blocks. Furthermore, Richardson is the American Southwest Conference's all-time leading scorer with 2,164 career points.
The Jostens Trophy, awarded to one player each year, was earned by Richardson after the 2007-08 season. The national selection committee made up of college coaches, former athletes, college administrators and select media members chooses the recipient based on three criteria: basketball ability, academic ability and community service. Richardson checked all three boxes.
The Fort Worth native helped McMurry find immense success over her four seasons, with those teams combining for a 94-22 overall record and a 74-12 conference record. McMurry went to the ASC finals all four seasons and won the ASC Championship in 2006.
Two of those squads, the 2005-06 team and the 2006-07 team, will be inducted into the McM Hall of Honor this year after combining for a 51-8 overall record and a 39-4 ASC record.
In her senior season, Richardson and the team made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. In the first round win over Trinity, Richardson had 30 points, nine rebounds and five blocks to mark a signature moment for McMurry Women's Basketball.
Other key moments from Richardson's career include back-to-back ASC Championship tournament wins over cross-town rival Hardin-Simmons. In 2006, Richardson netted 23 points with 16 rebounds and two blocks to defeat HSU in the championship final. As a freshman, she had a near triple double with 24 points, 19 rebounds and seven block to beat HSU in the semifinal round.
Over the years, Richardson has played alongside the likes of Symbri Tuttle, Maigen Sawyer and Carl Englke, who each earned ASC awards throughout their careers. The majority of her career was spent with former head coach Sam Nichols and current head coach Brittany Densman-Roes, who was then an assistant under Nichols.
Richardson has a long list of awards to her name, including all-conference and ASC all-tournament honors in all four seasons. In 2006, she was the ASC tournament MVP, ASC West Division Player of the Year, the TABC Texas Player of the Year and a WBCA/Kodak All-American honorable mention. She was also a back-to-back D3hoops.com All-American in 2006 and 2007 and a three-time All-South Region honoree.
Richardson also had a successful academic career at McMurry, garnering first team Academic All-American honors from ESPN and CoSIDA in 2008. She was named an ASC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete in 2008.
Studying finance while at McMurry, Richardson graduated in May 2008 with a degree in business administration.
Life after college has also been successful, as she became an oil and gas accounting professional following graduation. She has worked in Houston and Irving, Texas throughout her career and currently holds a position at TEP Barnett USA, LLC in her hometown of Fort Worth.
Tarra Richardson-Kersh has been married to Laderris Kersh since 2012, and the couple have one daughter, Jaelyn, and another child on the way, Laela, expected in June 2020. The Kersh family resides in Fort Worth.
