For today’s News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE
For Chad Sherwood’s (old school) Bracket Projection – CLICK HERE
For Today’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
With the 2019 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From a comeback win to clinch the 1954 tourney title (65th anniversary) through a last-second loss in the 2014 Final 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We continue our series with Pamela McGee, whose family plays basketball better than your family. Pamela and her sister Paula are arguably the 2 most successful basketball-playing twins of all-time: they won 75 straight games at Flint Northern High School (including a pair of Michigan state titles), scored more than 2000 PTS each and were named All-Americans at USC, and won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1983 and 1984. Pamela continued to win even after graduating: she remained in Los Angeles to win a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, then headed back to Michigan to win a WNBA title as an assistant coach for Detroit in 2003. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Pamela about the 35th anniversary of both her 1984 NCAA title and Olympic gold medal.
At Flint Northern High School you and your sister Paula went 75-0 and won 2 state titles: how were you able to stay focused for 75 straight games? We also won a state title in track and a regional title in volleyball. It was not about staying focused: I have always wanted to win and the wins just kept coming. Once you win 1 title you want to win another title. My sister and I were 6’3”: back in the world of early 1980s high school women’s basketball that was like having a pair of 7-footers so we were pretty dominant.
What made you choose USC? I always wanted to go to UCLA so we went there for a basketball camp during my junior year to check it out in person. In Michigan we grew up in the hood playing against guys where everyone (including us) would talk a lot of smack. At the camp we played against the counselors who were already in college and we talked some smack while beating them. UCLA Coach Billie Moore did not appreciate that and she told other college coaches that we had a bad attitude. I tried to find out who UCLA’s biggest rival was, learned that it was USC, and that was all she wrote!
In the 1983 NCAA tourney title game future Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey missed a shot at the buzzer in a 2-PT loss by Louisiana Tech: what did it mean to you to win a title? We had Cynthia Cooper/Cheryl Miller, whose uniforms are retired along with mine and my sister’s: that was a special team. We had worked so hard to get there and I knew that we were going to win.
In the 1984 NCAA tourney you were named to the all-tourney team after winning your 2nd straight title: was it extra-special to win it at Pauley Pavilion? That was very special because it was my senior year. I won a title on April 1st, graduated with my degree in economics in the spring, and then won a gold medal at the Forum in August.
You were named All-American in 1984 and you still remain in the top-10 in school history in career PTS/REB: how were you able to balance your scoring with your rebounding? When you have 3 other great players around you like Cynthia/Cheryl/Paula it is hard to get your own shots! The only way I could get points was to score after getting some offensive rebounds.
You played for team USA at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles: how did you like playing for Coach Pat Summitt, and what did it mean to you to win a gold medal? I was not 1 of Pat’s favorite players because she did not think that I worked hard enough (even though I scored 25-30 PPG during college) so I did not play a lot at the Olympics. 1 of the things I always look back on is that world-class athletes sometimes have to compete against themselves: I always use (fellow 1984 Olympian from the Pac-12) Jackie Joyner-Kersee as my motivation because she ended up becoming a world-record holder. I can tell my grandkids that there were only 12 women in the world who have a gold medal in basketball from 1984…and I am 1 of the 12.
After college you played pro in several foreign countries: what was the biggest difference between college basketball in the US and pro basketball overseas? Some players did not like it because there was a lot of down time. When you only have 1 game a week you end up spending a lot of time by yourself but I liked it. Women’s basketball is very big in Brazil (almost as big as the NFL) and also in Europe.
In 2003 you won the WNBA title as an assistant to Coach Bill Laimbeer with Detroit: how did you like working for Bill, and how were you able to beat 2-time defending champion LA after losing the 1st game of the best-of-3 series? I remember going into the locker room after Game 1 and reminding the team that LA still had to come to 8 Mile. They might be Hollywood but we were blue-collar workers! It was interesting to work for Bill.
In 2012 you were inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I do not know if I can rank it but it was a wonderful award.
Your twin sister Paula was your teammate at USC, your daughter Imani made the WNBA All-Rookie Team, your son JaVale won 2 straight NBA titles, and your nephew Jarron Gilbert played in the NFL: who is the best athlete in the family? I would say that JaVale has the most athletic ability.
1 of your favorite slogans is, “If it don’t make cents, then it don’t make sense”: what does that mean, and how should people apply it to their own lives? I use that methodology to explain how you need to have discipline in business/finance as well as staying on top of your game. If you cannot make money doing what you love, then it is a hobby instead of a business.
