Knoxville, Tenn. — It is a big deal whenever an individual is inducted into the Hall of Fame. I try to attend the induction ceremony whenever possible.
This longtime reporter did last weekend in Knoxville, Tenn., at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (WBHOF).
I was going to see three players I covered throughout their careers go into the WBHOF, the NBA’s first Black female official, and, more notably, the first and only Black college team to play for a national championship over four decades ago, go in as well. Only the Black Press and this Minnesota media member were there to document the occasion.
Deb Walker and several of her teammates were awfully glad to see me. She adopted me into the Cheyney State family a couple of years ago. Walker was a key member of the 1982 Cheyney State (now University) Lady Wovlves NCAA runners-up team, who lost to Louisiana Tech in the first-ever NCAA women’s title game. It was then, and still is today, the only HBCU that has reached the final contest to decide a national championship.
The Lady Wolves as a team are now enshrined in the WBHOF as Trailblazers of the Game. “We are the trailblazers, but … we are still on the side and not the forefront of attention,” as the seven individuals of the 2024 WBHOF induction class are, Carlotta “Bunny” Scheffer duly pointed out. She was a member of an all-Black female coaching staff led by C. Vivian Stringer on an all-Black squad that featured eight high school All-Americans.
Scheffer told us earlier in the day before everything started, including a 90-minute autograph session, a private rooftop reception, the ceremony with pomp and circumstance, and a dessert reception open to all afterward. “We never did get our (Hall) recognition — we are just being mentioned as a passing-by.”
“I know our team did great things and contributed to the game,” added Val Walker, who was the designated spokeswoman for the team on stage that night after each member received a special WBHOF ring and formally presented to the audience last Saturday at the Tennessee Theatre as part of the Hall’s 25th anniversary. “I’m happy we are getting what we deserve.”
Cheyney State won 28 of 31 games in the 1981-82 season, the final campaign in the old AIAW, which was being taken over by the NCAA. They finished 28-3, number two in the nation, and overcame several circumstances.
“It was quite an experience,” recalled Schafer, “because the rules were being made as we entered the tournament. Initially, we weren’t supposed to be (in the NCAA Final Four). It was a prejudiced thing.
“That (also) was the year Vivian and Bill’s daughter was stricken with spinal meningitis. She was not with the team for half of the season.”
“She taught us how to endure through battles,” explained Val Walker on Coach Stringer, who later became the winningest Black female college coach and herself a HOFer.
Walker proudly pointed out that Stringer was more than a teacher, which was the primary reason why Cheyney hired her and later wanted her to volunteer her time as a coach as well. “She prepared us for the things we are going to face, “she continued.
“She had a huge impact on all of us,” said Yolanda Laney. “The impact for myself was not just playing basketball … We left out of Cheyney not only to be able to be great players as well as to be great coaches if we chose to go in that field.” Laney did as an AAU and college coach for several years.
Said teammate Ann Strong on Stringer, “She taught us to be ladies first and basketball players second.”
After the Cheyney team was inducted, three former Minnesota Lynx players were individually introduced as WBHOF inductees. We chatted before the ceremony. “It’s amazing. This is a tribute to the work we put in,” said Seimone Augustus.
Taj McWilliams-Franklin said, “It’s a full circle moment. I’m just blessed to be here … that the Hall thought I was worthy to be in the Hall of Fame.”
“I had so much support,” added Maya Moore-Irons. “It’s just overwhelming to play with great players and the opportunity I’ve been given to be the best I can.”
“I’m so proud of them. I love them all,” former teammate Lindsay Whalen, a 2023 WBHOF inductee, said of the three Lynx players who have joined her.
Tonyus Chavers, who entered the Hall in 2018 when the WBL, America’s first women’s pro basketball league, was honored, and is an unabashed Lynx fan: “These three women—I watched them from a really good seat, I’m really proud of them and so glad they all come in together.”
“This [seven-person] class is so amazing, and a Lynx thread throughout it,” noted WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who sat behind me during the ceremony. “To see Taj, Seimone, and Maya up there, it was amazing for women’s basketball.”
Violet Palmer, the fourth Black woman in this year’s class, is now a supervisor of officials. “I am just overwhelmed to have worked as hard as I worked and to be able to stand here totally under the watchful eyes of legends and mentors,” she summed. “I am thankful and blessed.”
“Tonight is a culmination of legacy, history of the beautiful success of individuals who have made their mark on women’s basketball,” concluded Andrea Willaims, a WBHOF board member, and former Big Ten associate commissioner, and first Black commissioner of the Big Sky conference—she now works in the Utah Jazz organization.
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