Margaret Wade
From Hoopedia
No one person has had a larger impact on a sport than Lily Margaret Wade (December 30, 1912 - February 16, 1995). Coach Wade retired following the 1978-79 season with a career record of 465-85. The “Mother of modern women’s college basketball” guided the Delta State University Lady Statesmen to three consecutive AIAW National Championships in 1975, 1976, and 1977. Her winning percentage (.789) remains one of the greatest of all-time.
Wade began her odyssey with basketball as a forward on the Lady Statesmen basketball team in 1929. In 1932, DSU disbanded the program and ended a beautiful career for Wade. Quoting a statement released by DSU officials in 1932, “Intercollegiate basketball could not be defended on sound grounds.”
Coach Wade stated, “We really didn’t have a choice, and it was especially tough on me since I had another year remaining.” Wade added, “Administration thought the game was too tough for young ladies, so we burned our uniforms.”
Coach Wade would go on to graduate from Delta State and later earned a postgraduate degree from the University of Alabama and further studied at Duke University and Columbia University of New York.
She continued her basketball career playing semi-pro with the Tupelo Red Wings where she served as team captain and ultimately led the team to the Southern Championship. An unfortunate knee injury ended her playing career after only two seasons. Margaret Wade knew she would never be separated from the game; she would just have to engage herself in a different capacity. From this revelation, "Coach Wade" emerged.
She coached high school basketball from 1933 to 1954. She coached Cleveland High School's girls basketball team for 25 seasons with a 453-89-6 record. Her teams won the Bolivar County Championships and entered the North Mississippi tournament fourteen out of her last fifteen years, and came in second in the state championships three consecutive years by a cumulative total of four points. She retired from coaching in 1954 for five years.
Coach Wade returned to Delta State College in 1959 as Director of Women's Physical Education. In 1973 the women's basketball program was reinstated at Delta State and Coach Wade was appointed head coach by President Aubrey Lucas.
"I was stunned,” stated Wade. The legend added, “I had been away from coaching for 14 years.” Wade admitted that reinstating the program brought back a lot of great memories, Losing the program "was hard since basketball had been a major part of my life during my youth.” What Wade did not realize that it would also be a major point in her future as well.
Under the direction and leadership of Coach Wade, or "Aunt Maggie" as she is often referred to, along with a starting lineup that included the likes of Lusia Harris (MS Sports Hall of Fame), Debbie Brock, Ramona Von Boeckman, Wanda Hairston, and Cornelia Ward, the Lady Statesmen won three consecutive AIAW National Championships breaking the previous record set by DSU's ultimate rival Immaculata.
According to former Delta State sports information director, Langston Rogers, “Her first four years back in coaching have been called one of the most amazing accomplishments in sports history.” Under Coach Wade’s leadership, the Lady Statesmen zoomed into the national spotlight, winning four Mississippi state championships, three regional titles, and three national championships. Her record during the first four years was a jaw-dropping 109-6. That is an astonishing (.947) winning percentage.
Wade received numerous awards during her career, including AIAW National Coach of the Year, “Kellogg’s Mississippi Coach of the Year,” and she was elected chairman of the Mississippi Association of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.
Lily Margaret Wade left this world on February 16, 1995. However, her dedication to DSU as a 20-year instructor and her legacy as possibly the greatest coach women’s college basketball has ever seen, will never be forgotten.
In addition to being the most recognizable name in women’s college basketball in Mississippi, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association named its player of the year award after the Mississippi Delta legend. The “Lily Margaret Wade Trophy” is annually awarded to the nation’s top women’s basketball player. In 1978, Wade awarded the first-ever trophy to Montclair State guard, Carol Blazejowski.
Coach Wade retired to Cleveland, following the 1979 season. In 1986, Margaret Wade became the first woman and first women’s coach to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. She was part of the inaugural class of inductees to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the Delta State University Sports Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
