Middle Tennessee State University

As you learned in the earlier stop, the Nashville Business College was a dominant force in women’s basketball in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) during the 1950s and 60s. Sue Gunter played on the NBC team from 1958 to 1962, winning three national championships with the team while attending George Peabody College. When the dorms closed over winter break in 1960, Gunter stayed with a local family, the Meadors, whose daughter Marynell played basketball at Hillsboro High School. Gunter and Meadors became friends, and when Gunter became the coach at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in 1962, Meadors joined the team as a student-athlete.

MTSU had seen success with women’s basketball before; the 1929 team won the school’s only national championship. But by the 1960s, intercollegiate play for women was no longer an option, so Gunter organized intramurals and tournaments with local schools. When she left in 1964 for Stephen F. Austin State University, Meadors was chosen by her teammates as player-coach. Gunter went on to a 22-year career as head coach at Louisiana State University. 

Meadors also followed in her mentor’s footsteps with her own successful coaching career. She established the women’s basketball team at Tennessee Tech, coached at Florida State, and was the head coach and general manager for several teams in the WNBA (more on that at the next stop). A highlight of Meadors career came in 2012 at the London Olympics where she served as an assistant coach. The women’s national team won the gold medal and included Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus, both of whom played for Gunter at LSU. Sometimes life really does come full circle!

Fun Fact: Former Lady Raiders Amber Holt from 2008, Alysha Clark from 2010, and Cheyenne Parker in 2015 have all played professionally in the WNBA. Next, we’ll take you to Tennessee Tech in Cookeville. 

At Tennessee Technological University, you’ll find plenty of parking by the Hoober Eblen Center located at 1100 McGee Blvd, Cookeville near the softball field and tennis courts.