On Jan. 15, rabid basketball fans packed McArthur Court to celebrate 75 years of magic in the Pit, the oldest court in the Pacific-10 Conference. Nearly 50 former Duck basketball legends reunited to honor the building’s birthday. The evening would have been a perfect tribute, save the complete lack of a bevy of former female players from the lineup of Oregon basketball luminaries.
The night was meant to celebrate the magic of Mac Court and honor those players who helped make it famous. All of the honorees were well-deserving of recognition and are, indeed, Pit heroes. But it’s unfair to celebrate the magic of a building without including
all of the players who made
it legendary.
Let’s not forget that through the years, the 29-year-old women’s basketball program has been vastly more successful than the men’s. The men’s team is on a roll right now, breaking into the AP top 25 poll, but the lady Ducks — especially under former head coach Jody Runge — have been a consistently winning team. In Runge’s eight years at Oregon, she amassed the highest winning percentage in the University’s athletic history. The women’s basketball program has consistently proven its worth in the athletics program and should have been recognized as part of Mac Court’s rich history.
Next year, Mac Court will celebrate three decades of Oregon women’s basketball, and some of the honorees should include all-time leading scorer Alison Lang, current head coach and all-time leading rebounder Bev Smith, former players Angelina Wolvert and Brianne Meharry, Debbie Adams, Stefanie Kasperski, Julie Cushing, Staci Wallenborn, Gabi Neuman, and Runge, the controversial coach who did much to further Oregon’s reputation as a contender.