Former Lady Vols star, Mississippi State head coach Nikki McCray-Penson dead at 51

Rutgers assistant coach and former Tennessee star Nikki McCray-Penson has passed away at the age of 51, according to a report from Cora Hall of Knox News.

McCray-Penson joined the Rutgers staff ahead of the 2022-23 season. She was previously the head coach at Mississippi State, before resigning due to health reasons in the middle of the 2021-22 season.

Nikki McCray-Penson had a legendary career at Tennessee, winning SEC Player of the Year honors twice and helping the Lady Vols reach the Final Four in 1995 while playing for Pat Summit.

McCray-Penson also spent nine seasons in the WNBA and was named an all-star three times. She also won two gold medals with Team USA and is in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

In addition to coaching at Mississippi State and Rutgers, one of her other stops was at South Carolina, where she helped Dawn Staley build up the Gamecocks program. McCray-Penson was on staff when South Carolina won its first national title in 2017 and helped the Gamecocks reach the Final Four on one other occasion, as well.

No cause of death has been announced for McCray-Penson, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. She was honored prior to a Rutgers game in February as a breast cancer survivor, according to NJ.com.

McCray-Penson was working under Rutgers head coach Coquese Washington at the time of her death. Washington said this of McCray-Penson when she hired her:

“Simply put, Nikki is a winner,” Washington said. “She has excelled at the highest levels of our game. Her experience as a college All-American, a WNBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, and her national championship-caliber coaching pedigree provides us with tremendous knowledge and wisdom. She is an incredible competitor, and our players will learn a ton from her as they feel her dedication to excellence on a daily basis.”

McCray-Penson said this about joining Washington and working with the Rutgers program:

“I am excited to join Coquese at Rutgers,” McCray-Penson said. “As former teammates, I know her well, and we are determined to build off the incredible legacy of C. Vivian Stringer at this great academic institution. I look forward to bringing my personal assets and energy to the program and get in the foxhole with Coquese. I am ready to get to work.”

McCray-Penson started her coaching career as an assistant at Western Kentucky, before joining the South Carolina staff. She left the Gamecocks program in 2017 and was hired as the head coach at Old Dominion, prior to landing the head coaching job at Mississippi State and then ultimately being forced to resign due to health reasons.