| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | USA |
| Born | November 15, 1935 Macon County, Tennessee |
| Height | 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Club | Nashville Business College |
Nera D. White (born November 15, 1935) is a retired American basketball player. She is considered one of the most outstanding female players in history.
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White was born in Macon County, Tennessee and attended the George Peabody College for Teachers (now part of Vanderbilt University), along with Sue Gunter and Doris Rogers,[1] both of whom went on to play for the United States women's national basketball team. She completed all of the undergraduate requirements for a degree in education except for the student teaching requirement, which she was unable to complete due to shyness.[2] George Peabody did not have a women's basketball team, so she played for the AAU team in Nashville sponsored by Nashville Business College.[3]
She was named AAU All-American for 15 years in a row from 1955 to 1969,[4] and she led the Nashville Business College team to ten AAU national championships during that period. White was named the MVP of the AAU National Tournament nine times.[4] While she played for Nashville Business college, the team once had a stretch of 92 games where they won 91.[5] White was "widely acknowledged as the greatest woman ever to play the game".[6] In 1966, Harley Redin (head coach of the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens, the dominant team of the 1950s) called her the "greatest woman basketball player in history".[7]
In 1957 she led the US National Team to winning the World Championship.[8] She was named the MVP of the tournament, and voted the Best Woman Player in the World.[5] She was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992[9] and in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.[10] White is one of only two players inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame based on AAU accomplishments, the other being Joan Crawford.[2] At the turn of the century, Sports Illustrated for Women identified the century's greatest sportswomen. Nera White is #51 on the listlist of all sports, and is the sixth highest basketball player on the list, behind Cheryl Miller, Teresa Edwards, Ann Meyers, Nancy Lieberman and Anne Donovan.[3]
| “ | I've coached two Olympic teams and I've seen the best players in the world. Nera White is the best of them all. | ” |
Hall of Fame player and coach Sue Gunter said that White was the best of the best.
In addition to her basketball prowess, White was also an accomplished softball player. She was honored as All-World in 1959 and 1965 for the ASA Fast Pitch softball team. She played centerfield, shortstop and pitcher. White was the first woman to ever circle the bases in ten seconds.[5]
The high school gym in her hometown, Lafayette, Tennessee is named after her.[11][12] A local highway (State Route 10 North) has been renamed Nera White Highway.[13]
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