South Carolina HC Dawn Staley mourns the loss of Nikki McCray on her death anniversary: "I love you deeply Nik Nik"

Former Rutgers Scarlet Knights assistant coach Nikki McCray died on July 7, 2023, after suffering from pneumonia and breast cancer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 when she was an assistant coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley, who was also a close friend.

McCray served as Staley's assistant from 2008 when she was appointed South Carolina coach until 2017 before departing to be the coach of Old Dominion followed by a stint at Mississippi State.

Staley tweeted a heartfelt message on X on her friend's death anniversary:

"On this day a year ago, our basketball community lost a great soul @NikkiMccray15 not a day goes by I don’t think of you. It makes me knowing you’re not here to share in life’s most precious thing….TIME. I love you deeply Nik Nik! Say hi to the big fella and my mom! We got U!" Staley tweeted.

Dawn Staley's Gamecocks played an exhibition game against Coquese Washington's Rutgers Scarlet Knights in October 2023 to honor the memory of their former teammate Nikki McCray.

“When Nikki passed, (Rutgers coach) Coquese (Washington) and I knew we wanted to bring our teams together to honor her for what she meant to our sport,” Staley said in a release at the time.

“There’s no better way to honor Nikki than to bring people together around the sport she loved and giving them an opportunity to support families going through what hers did in her battle with breast cancer.”

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Nikki McCray shared a unique relationship with Dawn Staley

Nikki McCray was a part of the first batch of players to play in the WNBA season in 1998 after playing in the ABL. She formed a professional relationship with Dawn Staley both in the league and for Team USA.

During an interview with NBC Sport, the outgoing Staley revealed why she hired McCray to her staff in 2008 when she took the South Carolina job.

“I knew hard work. I knew the type of coach, player (and) person Nikki was and I was like, ‘I got to get Nik.’

"Because we’d been through it, we’d been in the foxhole together, we accomplished incredible feats. There’s no one other person besides Nikki who can help us get this done," Staley said.

After McCray's death, the philanthropic Staley started a scholarship fund for her son, 10-year-old Thomas, which will mature once he turns 18.

When she died in 2023, the tributes from her former teams and colleagues poured in for Nikki McCray. But perhaps the person who knew her best was charismatic Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley.