Former Tennessee basketball player Nikki McCray-Penson passed away Friday.
She was 51.
McCray-Penson was a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a two-time SEC Player of the Year. She is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
McCray-Penson served as an assistant coach at Rutgers from 2022-23.
She played for Tennessee from 1991-95 under head coach Pat Summitt.
McCray-Penson appeared in 127 games for the Lady Vols and averaged 12.4 points per game and scored 1,572 career points.
She was a two-time Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Naismith All-American and helped Tennessee win three SEC regular-season titles and two SEC Tournament championships.
McCray-Penson played in the WNBA and was the 1997 ABL MVP.
After her playing career, she served as head coach at Old Dominion (2017-20) and Mississippi State (2020-21). McCray-Penson was the Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2020.
She also served as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky and South Carolina.