Volum.
e 4 Num.
ber 1
Legend s Visit Inspires Sweet Memories
EDITOR S NOTE: Pat McKinzie-Lechault, the
first scholarship women s basketball player at
Illinois State, went to Europe to play professional basketball after graduation in 1979 and
didn t return...
More
Volum.
e 4 Num.
ber 1
Legend s Visit Inspires Sweet Memories
EDITOR S NOTE: Pat McKinzie-Lechault, the
first scholarship women s basketball player at
Illinois State, went to Europe to play professional basketball after graduation in 1979 and
didn t return to illinois State until 2002 to bring
her daughter, Nathalie, to Jenny Yopp s
basketball camp.
Two months later, she emailed
the following essay about her experience.
Twenty-fiveyears after starring at lllinois State
University in the I970s, 1returned to my alma mater for
thefirst time.
When I stepped onto the polished wooden
court of the new JO,OOO-seat
Redbird Arena, 1cried.
A Title IX kid, coming of age in 1972 as a pioneer in
the infancy of woman s basketball, my blood trimmed the
court red as I helped blaze a trail for female athletes.
1
received thefirst women s basketball scholarship at ISU
by trying out with upper class teammates.
1fought for
gender equity in a man s world in a man s game.
.
Overhead, my forme; Olympian
Less
