Cheryl Miller is, quite simply, a trailblazer in women’s basketball. She was the first two-time national champion in the era of the Women’s NCAA Tournament, which began in 1982. USC won national titles in 1983 and 1984 to become the first two-time winner of the event. Miller and her USC teammates made history. What they also did was plant the seeds for more growth at USC. Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson became part of this story in the 1990s. USC made the Elite Eight in 1994, and the Trojans had not been back in the 30 years since then. JuJu Watkins finally led the Women of Troy to the round of eight in this year’s edition of March Madness, but the Trojans were stopped one win short of the Final Four by UConn and Paige Bueckers. UConn lost to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Final Four on Friday night.
JuJu. Paige. Caitlin. Cheryl Miller was the first super-duperstar in the Women’s NCAA Tournament era 40 years ago. Miller talked about her life and her pioneering career in an extended conversation with Dan Patrick. It’s well worth watching and listening to.
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