Nikki McCray-Pension, a college basketball star, two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA all-star, died Thursday. She was 51.
McCray-Pension reportedly was battling cancer and a bout of pneumonia, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013.
Her death was announced on Friday by Rutgers University, where she served as an assistant coach last season for the women’s basketball team, according to The New York Times.
Dawn Staley, the head women’s basketball coach at the University of South Carolina, mourned the death of McCray-Penson, who had been her assistant for nine years with the Gamecocks.
“Thank you my little sister, my friend, my foxhole partner, my teammate, my fast food snacker, my basketball junkie, my fellow Olympian, my gold medalist and now my angel,” Staley tweeted.
McCray-Penson was part of Staley’s staff as the Gamecocks won the 2017 NCAA championship, ESPN reported.
McCray-Penson won a pair of Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Awards while playing for Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee, Sports Illustrated. She was an All-America selection in 1994 and 1995.
Moving to the WNBA, McCray-Penson was a three-time All-Star with the Washington Mystics.
She was also an Olympic champion, winning two gold medals with the USA Basketball women’s squad. She starred on the 1996 Olympic team that began the U.S. team’s current streak of seven consecutive gold medals, ESPN reported.
McCray most recently coached at Mississippi State, resigning in 2021 before beginning her second season, the News Sentinel reported. She told the newspaper in 2022 that she resigned to address “health concerns I had hoped were behind me,” adding that it was not related to her breast cancer diagnosis a decade earlier.
“Mississippi State University joins the national college basketball community in mourning the sudden passing of Coach Nikki McCray-Penson last night,” Mississippi State President Mark Keenum said in a statement. “I came to admire Nikki’s courage and her commitment to her players and this university while she endured significant health challenges during her tenure as our women’s basketball coach. While at Mississippi State, Coach McCray-Penson did her absolute best to advance this university and the State of Mississippi. My wife, Rhonda, and I are deeply saddened by her death and are praying for her family and friends.”
McCray was part of Staley’s staff as the Gamecocks won the 2017 NCAA championship.
Before coaching in Starkville, McCray-Penson was the head coach at Old Dominion University. She guided the Monarchs to a 53-40 record over three seasons, including a 24-6 mark in the 2019-20 season, the school said in a news release.
“It’s a challenge to put into words how devastating the news of Nikki McCray-Penson’s death is for all of us associated with ODU,” Wood Selig, the university’s director of athletics, said in a statement. “Nikki had a lasting impact on the game of basketball across the globe as she enjoyed the pinnacle of success on the world’s biggest stages both as an athlete and a coach.”
McCray-Penson was inducted into the National Federation of State High School Associations Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
McCray-Penson was also inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
