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1976 Women's Basketball National Champions
July 19, 2024

Trailblazers


STORY BY Dawn Tolbert

Historic photos courtesy of Berry College Archives

Former Berry All-American Nancy Paris Simpson (77C) couldn’t help but feel a swell of appreciation as she watched University of Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark chase college basketball history last spring. The young superstar’s undeniable skill and relentless pursuit of her goals kindled memories of another group of on-court history-makers who lifted Berry to unprecedented heights in 1976.

The “Berry Sisters,” as they call themselves, were trailblazers in the early days after landmark civil-rights legislation known as Title IX cracked open the door for women’s athletics to flourish on a national scale. They took full advantage of the opportunity, capturing Berry’s first national championship in any sport, as well as the state of Georgia’s first national title in women’s basketball at any level of college play. Their accomplishment would not be matched by another four-year college until Clayton State claimed the NCAA Division II crown more than three decades later.

In January, Simpson and her teammates blazed another trail – this time home – for a weekend reunion celebrating their incredible accomplishment. Joined by beloved coach Kay James, the entire group gathered in one place for the first time since the groovy days of the late 1970s. Laughter rang out and tears fell as they walked the familiar paths where hard work, determination and the sweet bonds of sisterhood once brought them – and Berry – never-before-achieved success.

Opportune times
Berry women’s basketball boasted an established tradition of success even before Simpson and her teammates first arrived on campus as students, winning conference titles in 1967 and 1969 and routinely placing near the top of the standings. Chances to reach even greater heights were limited until a 1972 federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities signaled the beginning of a new era for women in college athletics.

Riding this wave was the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, which offered national championships to parallel those available to men through such organizations as the NCAA and NAIA. In 1975, the AIAW split the field for women’s basketball, making it possible for colleges large and small to compete for top honors among their peers.

Against this backdrop, Berry opened the 1975-76 season with a roster featuring nearly as many newcomers as returnees. James was three years into her first head coaching job, having been hired by Garland Dickey (42C), the man renowned for his role in helping lead the post-World War II rebirth of intercollegiate athletics at Berry. James would go on to a Hall-of-Fame career as head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi; however, in this Bicentennial year, she was just a few years older than her players.

“Back 47 years ago, she was just our coach, and of course, we’d complain about her making us work,” laughed Sharon Adamson Bass (78C), who like Simpson was an All-American on the 1976 team. “But now, we look back at all the things she did for us. She brought in a group of players who didn’t know each other. She allowed us to mesh, which is hard when you’ve been the best player on your team in high school and you’re now around these ladies who are a lot better or at least as good as you. But Kay James had a way to make us love each other and play as a team.”

Simpson, who put together her own successful career as a collegiate head coach and athletic administrator, added, “I’m so excited that women’s sports and athletics have the support, financially and otherwise, that they have now. We didn’t at that time. Coach James was driving the van, doing the laundry and keeping the stats, and we were all just squeezing in this tiny little van going places, but that never seemed a hardship to us. We were just grateful for the opportunity. Every team was like that then.”

1976 Team photo

Win for the ages
With Simpson and Bass leading the charge, the team averaged 83 points per game en route to state and regional championships, punching its ticket to the 16-team, single-elimination AIAW National Small College Basketball Championship at Ashland College in Ohio. It was the organization’s second annual tournament for small colleges and Berry basketball’s first appearance on the national stage.

“I don’t think we ever dreamed we’d win,” Bass recalled. “We wanted to, but we were just so excited to be there.”

The exhilaration grew as Berry defeated George Williams College 88-54 before edging out Union College 84-83. Next, they faced host Ashland, winning again by the same nail-biting score. One very familiar hurdle remained: West Georgia College, located just down Martha Berry Highway in Carrollton.

“They were such a rival for us,” Simpson emphasized. “A lot of people would say, ‘I wish you could have played somebody different’ or ‘You could have done that at home without going to Ohio,’ but that’s just the way it worked out. And it’s a sense of pride that the two finalists were from the same area. That spoke to the strength of women’s basketball in the area and the support we were given.”

Berry emerged victorious, 68-62, beating their in-state foes for the fourth time that season to secure their place in history.

“I didn’t realize we were the first [national champions] at Berry until years later. Our banner was in Ford Gym, and we just knew we had won.” - Sharon Adamson Bass

“I didn’t realize we were the first [national champions] at Berry until years later,” Bass reflected. “Our banner was in Ford Gym, and we just knew we had won.”

While players such as Bass and Simpson earned individual accolades (with the latter claiming national tournament MVP), both stressed that the championship was very much a group effort, with no hint of jealousy to divide the team.

 “I was honored [to be MVP], but I was much happier about the team’s success,” Simpson noted. “One person doesn’t do it; it’s all of us together and the coach that made it happen. The journey is as important as the culminating title because each game, each step matters. That last game in Ashland, Ohio, was pretty huge, but had it not been for the fight all the way through and the sacrifices, we would not have been there.”

Berry (re)connection
Despite their close bond, the teammates rarely saw each other in the decades following their championship run as careers and families took priority. Perhaps not surprisingly, they excelled in those areas too, making names for themselves as business leaders, health care professionals, educators and coaches, all while demonstrating an unwavering commitment to shaping young lives in their families and the communities they called home. 

Fittingly, it was Berry that brought them back together, specifically an invitation to the 2008 opening of the Cage Center as a new on-campus home for basketball and other sports. The group, minus James and three players, watched proudly as their national championship banner made its way from Ford Gym to the new arena.

From that point forward, the team began gathering on a semi-regular basis, meeting for lunches and talking often. They even hatched a plan to surprise James by attending her induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

“We bought tickets, and all but two of us were able to go,” Bass shared. “I went out early but didn’t tell her the rest were coming. They rented a van and hauled out to Mississippi. We had more Berry players there than Southern Mississippi!”

“I always say our common threads are our love of God, our love of each other and our love of Berry College.” - Nancy Paris Simpson

Their closeness has seen these “Berry Sisters” show up for each other in good times and bad, from celebrations to family funerals.

“We always had that bond,” Simpson explained. “We are like family, probably closer than many families. We have a text string, and every time there is any kind of an event or happening where prayer or support is needed, we come together like a magnet. It is just about the most special thing I can imagine. I always say our common threads are our love of God, our love of each other and our love of Berry College.”

Home again
Back at Berry to begin 2024, the women gathered atop Lavender Mountain to relive a moment of spiritual reflection from their championship season.

“We were most excited to start the weekend at the House o’ Dreams where Kay James did a great job with a devotion that hit us right in the heart,” Bass recounted. “Thinking about our sisterhood just gave me chill bumps. We even had some hikers who just happened by who listened in and had tears in their eyes.”

Other reunion highlights included recognition at halftime of a Berry women’s basketball game in the Cage Center, where the team’s championship banner remains on prominent display. Among those looking on with pride and gratitude was Berry’s current athletic director, Dr. Angel Mason, a former NCAA D-I basketball player whose own journey has been shaped in part by those who came before her.

Athletic director Angel Mason meeting basketball player
Dr. Angel Mason, Berry’s current athletic director, greets Kay James, the coach who led her team to Berry’s first national championship in any sport, in this photo by Brant Sanderlin.

“Berry College has had seeds planted by incredible women – beginning with Martha Berry herself – who have been pioneers, trailblazers and change agents,” Mason stated. “These women had a competitive spirit that pushed for greatness, and the 1976 women’s basketball championship team blossomed out of that foundation.

“Theirs are the shoulders our young women compete on today,” she added. “Celebrating our first national championship team was truly an honor for me and an important moment for our current athletes to see.”

Though grateful for the recognition and excited to cheer on a new generation, the championship teammates most enjoyed time spent crammed together in Simpson’s hotel room sharing memories – so many memories – not far from the place where they made history together nearly a half century ago.

 “[The reunion] was special for two reasons: number one, we were all there; and number two, we were on campus,” Simpson reflected. “We were back in our environment, where every corner held memories. Both of those nights, it was as if we were 18 years old again. We all gathered in our sweats and PJs, telling stories. I think all of us would say it was one of the most special times we’ve ever had.”

Blazing a new trail into their retirement years, these “Berry Sisters” can be confident in the love they feel for one another and proud of their place in the history of their school, state and sport.

Champions in Life

Berry was only the beginning for the 1976 AIAW small-college women’s basketball national champions. Here’s a quick glimpse of their subsequent successes:

Sharon Adamson Bass (78C): College and high school coach; registered nurse and recipient of a (post-Berry) Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree; nurse manager and robotic coordinator, AdventHealth Gordon in Calhoun, Georgia; retired.

Kathy Hood Carr (79c, 88G): educator and coach, Madison County, Mississippi, and Cedartown, Georgia; retired.

Paula Dean (78C): played one year of professional basketball in precursor to the WNBA; later retired as senior vice president and director of retirement plan services, Synovus Trust Company.

Margaret Downing (78C): manager, AT&T; retired.

Lynn Clark Lovett (79C): area manager, Georgia Power Company; retired.

Deb Rice Parker (78C): human resources and payroll administrator, Callaway Gardens; retired.

Lisa Lynn Payne (79C): budget director, Georgia Building Authority; retired.

Nancy Paris Simpson (77C): head women’s basketball coach and instructor, University of California Riverside; director of athletics, California State University – San Bernardino and Anderson University; retired.

Barbara Struckhoff (77C): retired educator, head softball coach and director of athletics, Wayne County (Georgia) High School, where the softball field is named in her honor; foster mother to 62 children, including four she adopted.

Pam Pinyan Thompson (78C): physical therapist and coordinator of rehab services, Northside Hospital Cherokee.

Coach Kay James: after five seasons at Berry became head women’s basketball coach at the University of Southern Mississippi; also coached one season with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm; 2016 inductee into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame; retired.

 

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