Athletes

Nikki McCray is a member of the gold medal winning 2000 U.S Olympic women's basketball team and the 1998 USA women's world championship team. McCray began her professional basketball career as a member of the American Basketball League's (ABL) Columbia Quest in 1996. She was the league's Most Valuable Player (1996-1997), while averaging 19.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. She helped lead Columbus to the 1997 ABL Championship. After the league folded, McCray joined the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1998 when she was signed by the Washington Mystics. She was traded to the Indiana Fever before the start of the 2002 season. With the Fever, McCray was one of two players to start every game, averaging 33 minutes and 11.5 points per game. In her fourth season in the league (2001), she averaged 11.0 points per game, the second highest on the team. She has made three WNBA All-Star Game appearances (2001, 2000, 1999) for the Eastern Conference and was the leading vote-getter for guards in 2000. McCray ranked 12th in the WNBA for scoring with a 15.5 points per game average that same year. She led the Mystics in scoring average in 1999 and 1998. Collegiately, McCray played for University of Tennessee Lady Vols, one of the college game's most prestigious basketball powerhouses. During her four seasons (1992-1995), the Lady Vols compiled a 122-11 record, made four NCAA Tournament appearances -- including a Final Four appearance in 1995 -- and won three Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular-season titles. In both her junior and senior seasons, McCray was named the SEC Player of the Year, All-SEC first team and All-SEC Tournament team. She is ranked as Tennessee's second all-time career leader for steals (292); sixth for points scored (1,566); sixth for field goals made (626); seventh for field goals attempted (1,273); and eighth for free throws made (316) and attempted (448). (02/03)