HOUSTON – Houston is known for its women’s basketball history.
The Houston Comets became one of the WNBA’s first dynasties after the league launched in 1997, winning its first four championships and cementing the city’s place in the sport.
But long before the Comets, another Houston team made history.
The Houston Angels were the first champions of the Women’s Professional Basketball League in 1979, a groundbreaking team that helped lay the foundation for women’s sports in Houston and across the country.
“It’s a shame that they have been neglected this long,” former Angels coach Don Knodel said.
Knodel said the early days of women’s professional basketball came with major sacrifices.
“We went the first year and never got paid. We wanted to make sure they got paid,” he said.
At the time, opportunities for women in sports were limited.
Former Angels guard Karen Aulenbacher Heintz said the game looked very different in the late 1970s.
In high school, she played 6-on-6 half-court basketball, and after college, there were few places for women to continue their careers.
Still, she said the team was built on discipline, commitment and passion.
“He conveyed to us that we had to work hard and nothing would be given to us,” Heintz said.
She said the players were deeply committed to the game and to what the team represented.
“Just like I said, the sacrifice and commitment to the sport, to the game, to the people we were playing for,” she said.
Team owner Hugh Sweeney held tryouts, and many players and coaches worked day jobs while building the league.
Pay was low, and some players even relied on food stamps while chasing the dream of professional basketball.
Despite those challenges, the Angels found success.
The team won the inaugural league championship in 1979, becoming the first title team in league history and giving Houston another important chapter in women’s basketball.
Knodel said he and his staff made a conscious decision to coach the players as athletes first.
“We never coached women before. We said, ‘Alright, from now on we’re coaching them like men,’” he said. “That’s when things changed. We treated them like a basketball player, not a woman or a man, but as a basketball player.”
The women even practiced against men from Knodel’s day job, helping sharpen their physicality and competitiveness.
Looking back, both Knodel and Heintz say the experience remains one of the most meaningful parts of their lives.
“What did I love about it? It’s because they wanted it,” Knodel said.
“I would do it again. It doesn’t get any better than that,” Heintz said.
The Angels’ impact can still be felt today.
As women’s basketball continues to grow and Houston looks toward the possibility of landing another women’s professional team, the former Angels say they are proud of the role they played in helping move the sport forward.
“As it relates to the WNBA, I am thrilled,” Heintz said. “We were really blessed to contribute that, and to kickstart that.”
Knodel said it is finally time for the players on that team to get the recognition they deserve.
“It’s time that these young pioneers get their credit,” he said.
Heintz still plays basketball with three other women from her time in the league, and Knodel, now nearly 96 years old, still closely follows the game.
For them, the rise of women’s basketball today is not just exciting. It is personal.
It is also proof that the Houston Angels’ legacy never truly faded.