Who was Nikki McCray's college basketball coach? Taking a closer look at how the Olympic gold medalist secured a position in the all-time greats list

Nikki McCray, legendary Tennessee, Team USA and Washington Mystics player in the 1990s and early 2000s, passed away during the night on Thursday, July 7. She was 51.

Myriads of condolences and anecdotes about her career flooded social media when the news broke.

McCray's career can be broken down into two parts: her time as a college basketball, ABL (American Basketball League) and WNBA star, and her 17-year coaching career afterward.

Nikki McCray played under several legendary coaches on her way to numerous trophies during her career. The most impactful was Pat Summitt, who was the head coach during her time at the Lady Vols in Tennessee.

Together, they won three SEC (Southeastern Conference) regular season titles and two SEC tournament titles, while McCray won the SEC Player of the Year in 1994 and 1995. The duo fell short of winning the national championship in 1995 as the Tennessee Volunteers lost 70-64 to the UConn Huskies.

Summitt led the USA women's team to their first Olympics gold medal in 1984. This feat, combined with her career for the Lady Vols, was instrumental in Summitt being inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Pat Summitt retired in 2011 as one of the most winningest coaches in NCAA history with 1,098 wins.

Nikki McCray's success for the Lady Vols, where she went on to score 1,572 points, helped act as a springboard to the USA national team. Alongside Dawn Staley, they led that team to the 1996 Olympic gold medal, starting a series of seven consecutive wins since then.

Their performance is also credited with the formation of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), although McCray opted to join the ABL first. There, she won the league title in 1997 with the Columbus Quest, winning the MVP award as well.

Nikki McCray was lured into the WNBA by the Washington Mystics and was one of the designated marquee star names in the league. McCray was named an All-Star thrice in a row from 1999 to 2001. She won her second Olympic gold in 2000.

McCray completed eight seasons in the WNBA before retiring and immediately transitioning to coaching. McCray's legendary career led to her being named in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

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Basketball coaching career of Nikki McCray

Nikki McCray immediately transitioned into coaching after retiring from the WNBA with the Chicago Sky.

She was an assistant coach at Western Kentucky for two years before being poached by friend and ex-teammate Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Coach McCray - Basketball

McCray was in charge of recruiting during her time there and is credited with recruiting the nation's No. 1 class in 2014, including recruiting No. 1 prospect, A'ja Wilson.

Nikki McCray won the national championship in 2017 with the Gamecocks before leaving for her first head coaching job at Old Dominion.

Her next job as head coach was at Mississippi, where she had to step down after one season to focus on her health.

McCray's last post was as an assistant coach at Rutgers under ex-teammate and friend Coquese Washington.

During her coaching career, she was considered one of the most astute recruiters in the country. A combination of a legendary playing career and a coaching career that brought its own success made Nikki McCray one of the all-time greats of women's basketball.