Kate Mastin Limbaugh

Katherine Petree Mastin Limbaugh, also known as Kate, is considered by many to be the best girls' basketball player to ever play at Boaz High School. Kate was born on June 1, 1984, in Birmingham to Frank and Margaret Mastin of Boaz. Kate attended Boaz Elementary and Corley Elementary and began her competitive career when she was at Boaz Middle School in the 7th grade. Her 8th grade team went 18-1 and won the Marshall County Middle School Tournament. Kate entered Boaz High School the following fall and started all but one game as a freshman on the varsity squad. The next three years were the most successful run in the history of Marshall County basketball by any one school. Kate's sophomore year was highlighted by a Marshall County Championship and an Area Championship. She was named Marshall County Player of the Year and first-team All-State for Class 5A. Boaz finished as a runner-up to Buckhorn in the Northeast Regional Tournament at Jacksonville State. Kate's junior year was one for the ages. The Lady Pirates finished an incredible 33-2 and defeated B.C. Rain to take the Class 5A State Championship. In that game, Kate scored 29 points and was named Final Four MVP. Additionally, Boaz won their second consecutive Marshall County Tournament, and again Kate was the county Most Valuable Player. After the season, Kate was again named first-team All-State, plus she was the Class 5A Player of the Year. She was placed on the Alabama Sportswriters Association "Super 5" for all classifications. Kate's senior season at BHS brought more success. A third Marshall County Championship, an Area title, and a Northeast Regional Tournament championship were preludes to another trip to Birmingham to the State Tournament. The Lady Pirates finished runner-up to Athens in 2002. At the close of that season, the individual accolades began to pour in for Kate. She was again the Marshall County, Area, and Northeast Regional Most Valuable Player, and was on the Final Four All-Tournament Team. Kate repeated as the Class 5A Player of the Year and was again named to the "Super 5" Team. She also played in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game. The crowning achievement for Kate's senior season was being selected as "Miss Basketball" for the entire state of Alabama, the only player from Marshall County to win the award. She was also the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship winner. When she graduated from Boaz High School, Kate was the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,085 points. She also had led her team to an incredible four-year overall record of 117-13. After her Boaz High career was over, Kate chose to further her career at the University of Alabama. In her first two Southeastern Conference games, she caught the attention of the entire conference when she sealed the first two SEC wins over South Carolina and Ole Miss with game-winning plays over both opponents. As a result of her stellar play, Kate was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team. As a senior at the Capstone, Kate put her name throughout the 'Bama record book. She tied a school record by hitting eight three-pointers in a game in a win over Cal State Northridge. She saved her best for last. In her final game at Coleman Coliseum, Kate scored her career high with 32 points. She also led the conference in free throw shooting percentage and was named her team's MVP. Kate ended her playing career at Alabama ranked fifth in free throw shooting percentage, seventh in three-point shooting percentage, sixth in assists, and eighth in three-pointers made. Kate graduated in 2007 with a Master's degree in marketing. She worked for two years with Crimson Tide Sports Marketing, and in 2009, she married Scott Limbaugh, an assistant golf coach at the University of Alabama. In 2012, the Limbaughs moved to Nashville as Scott became the head golf coach at Vanderbilt University. Kate and Scott have two daughters, Malley and Annie.