Former Gamecock assistant and Hall-of-Famer Nikki McCray has died

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Nikki McCray-Penson, the Hall-of-Fame player and two-time Olympic gold medalist who later played an integral role in turning South Carolina into a championship program, has passed away.

McCray-Penson was 51. She is survived by her husband Thomas and son, also Thomas. No cause of death was announced. 

A native of Collierville, TN, McCray starred at Tennessee for legendary coach Pat Summitt. She was named SEC Player of the Year as a junior and senior in 1994 and 1995 and was an All-American. McCray was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Following her collegiate career, McCray was a member of the legendary 1996 USA women’s basketball team, joining up with Dawn Staley for the first time. That team, formed following a disappointing bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics, spent a grueling 14 months barnstorming the world (McCray even got engaged to husband Thomas Penson during one of the games). They not only were responsible for returning the United States to the top of the podium but as a trial balloon for a potential women’s professional league. 

They were successful on both counts. The United States hasn’t lost an Olympic game since and in the wake of the 1996 Olympics two professional leagues formed. The ABL began play first, and McCray and Staley joined up. 

McCray was named MVP during the first season and led her Columbus Quest to both championships before the league folded. She then moved to the WNBA where she was a three-time All-Star. McCray won another gold medal in 2000, again alongside Staley.

McCray retired in 2006 and joined the staff at Western Kentucky. But soon her old friend came calling. Staley had taken the job at South Carolina and wanted McCray on her staff.

In those early years, McCray and Staley, the recently retired Hall of Famers, would sometimes scrimmage against their players when they wanted to demonstrate how they wanted things done. As they got further removed from their playing careers – and the players McCray brought in as recruiting coordinator got better – that stopped.

In 2013, McCray was diagnosed with breast cancer. She continued to coach, and her battle became a rallying point that remains a part of the program to this day. South Carolina made its first Final Four in 2015. Two years later the Gamecocks won their first championship, giving McCray and Staley the title that had eluded each of them during their playing careers.

Following the season, McCray took the head coaching job at Old Dominion, a traditional power fallen on hard times. In three seasons, she took the Monarchs from 8-23 to 24-6, a turnaround that earned McCray Conference USA Coach of the Year honors. 

McCray then took over at Mississippi State for the 202-21 season. It was a challenging season as the Bulldogs were hit hard by covid and managed to play just 19 games. Just weeks before the 2021-22 season, McCray resigned. She cited health concerns but insisted it was not cancer-related. After a year off, McCray joined Rutgers as an assistant last season. 

Staley released a statement about McCray’s passing it read:

“It’s hard to think about Nikki’s passing because all I can see is how fully she lived. From her days as a brash rookie in USA Basketball to becoming my friend and colleague to the way she mentored young players, Nikki did everything with her whole heart. Every teammate, every coach, every player who spent time with her knew first that she cared about them as a person, and everything else came from that place. Her presence was something you could feel before you saw her because she had such light, such positive energy inside her no matter what was going on. I am heartbroken that cancer has taken that light from us, but I know that she would want us to be the ones to carry it on in her absence. I pray we all have the strength to do that for her and her son Lil Thomas.”

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