Cheyney University’s staff is believed to be the first coaching staff composed entirely of Black women to compete in a women’s national championship game.
As NY 1 reports, the team was selected for enshrinement in this year’s Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class as the “Trailblazer of the Game.” Valerie Walker, one of the star players on the team, questioned what took so long for the team’s induction, telling the outlet, “We are very thankful, but 42 years? When you want to really understand and know about the history of women’s NCAA championships, you have to go back to the first year.”
Powerful message from Cheyney State’s Valerie Walker on her team finally getting recognition for the history they made 42 ago in the first NCAA women’s Final Four pic.twitter.com/LqphFUlQXT— Cora Hall (@corahalll) April 27, 2024
As reported by the Knox News, in another first, Cheyney University’s staff, led by Stringer, is believed to be the first coaching staff composed entirely of Black women to compete in a women’s national championship game. Walker also spoke with the outlet about what being inducted as a trailblazer meant to her. “We’re trailblazers because they told us that we couldn’t do it. You’ve got to always talk about the first,” said Walker before alluding to the exploding popularity of women’s basketball. “You can’t talk about the NCAA Final Four unless you talk about Cheyney. Had they talked about us sooner, who knows, we might be forgotten right now. But I think the moment is now with this weekend and what’s to follow.”
Walker believes that Stringer, who coached Iowa from 1983-1995, may even have brought the school a title if not for the death of her husband. Iowa has received attention over the last few years due to the play of Caitlin Clark, which Walker told Knox News brought renewed attention to Stringer and her tenure at the university. “So then they had to go back and do their research to find out, no, Iowa was really good. Had her husband not passed, I’d say Iowa might have won a Final Four or two.”
Walker continued, “She probably doesn’t get enough recognition. But the thing is, her peers know who she is. And it’s sad to say … I’m sure whenever she leaves this side of earth, she’ll get a whole lot of flowers and people will say, ‘I don’t know.’ And it’s OK.”
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Source: Black Enterprise
