Jul 8, 2023

Nikki McCray-Penson passed away on Friday. The Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, WNBA All-Star and former Mississippi State coach was just 51 years old. She came to MSU after leading Old Dominion to multiple 20 win seasons. In Starkville she led the Bulldogs to a 10-9 record during the pandemic shortened season but she recruited Jerkaila Jordan and Debreasha Powe in 2021 and they play vital roles at MSU today. McCray-Penson, an Olympic gold medalist, was a breast cancer survivor as well after being diagnosed in 2013. She leaves behind a husband and son Thomas and Thomas Jr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6yhDvAqKB0

Nikki McCray-Penson, who helped lead the famed 1996 Olympic team that started the United States' current run of seven consecutive gold medals, has died at the age of 51, it was announced Friday.

McCray-Penson starred for the Lady Vols in the 1990s in her native state of Tennessee before playing in the ABL and WNBA and later becoming a college basketball head coach.

She served as an assistant women's basketball coach last season for Rutgers, which confirmed her death. The cause of death has not been announced. McCray-Penson and her husband, Thomas Penson, have a son, Thomas Jr., who turned 10 in February.

McCray-Penson was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2013, during her tenure with South Carolina, where she was an assistant to her close friend and Olympic teammate Dawn Staley. She was part of Staley's staff as the Gamecocks won the 2017 NCAA championship. Soon after, she took her first head-coaching job, with Old Dominion.

"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 posted to Twitter along with a statement. "... Suffer no more Nik Nik."
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/37974296/women-basketball-star-coach-nikki-mccray-penson-51-dies

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