Nikki McCray-Penson, a former Tennessee women’s basketball star and Mississippi State coach, has died, a Rutgers spokesperson confirmed to Knox News on Friday. She was 51.
A cause of death was not immediately clear for McCray-Penson, who spent last season as an assistant for Rutgers women’s basketball.
McCray-Penson was a two-time SEC Player of the Year at Tennessee in 1994 and 1995 after a decorated career at Collierville High School near Memphis. She spent 16 years coaching after her playing career, which landed her in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Her coaching career included stops at South Carolina as an assistant to Dawn Staley and head coaching jobs at Old Dominion and Mississippi State.
McCray-Penson led Tennessee to three SEC regular-season championships, two SEC Tournament titles and a 1995 Final Four appearance. She was a two-time All-American.
McCray-Penson previously battled breast cancer in 2013. When she resigned at Mississippi State in 2021, she cited “unspecified health concerns she hoped were behind her,” according to ESPN.
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On Friday, Tennessee senior forward Rickea Jackson, who played for McCray-Penson at Mississippi State before transferring, tweeted what McCray-Penson meant to her Friday morning.
“My heart is so heavy,” Jackson wrote. “One of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever met. The one who genuinely went out their way to understand me when I was so misunderstood. The one who was always there. You fought so long and hard and I am grateful to have known you. I love you. Rest easy.”
Spending nine years in the WNBA, McCray-Penson was a three-time WNBA All-Star who scored 2,550 career points. She averaged 14.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. She also played two seasons in the ABL before the WNBA was formed, where she won league MVP and an ABL championship with the Columbus Quest.
McCray-Penson was a part of the historic gold medal-winning 1996 Olympic team, which led to the creation of the WNBA. McCray-Penson was recently featured on the ESPN 30-for-30 documentary about the team. McCray-Penson returned to Team USA in 2000 and added another Olympic gold medal to her resume.
