Winthrop McGriff, former women's basketball head coach at Cheyney University, the first and oldest HBCU in the nation, passed away earlier today.

McGriff spent two years as the head coach for Cheyney's women's basketball program. He succeeded former coach Vivian Stringer who is the current head coach of the women's basketball team at Rutgers. Stringer led the Wolves to a 27-win and 28-win season in the back-to-back years of 1982 and 1983. McGriff kept the excellence rolling in 1984 with an appearance in the Final Four. He placed himself in NCAA history as the first Black head coach to lead a team to the Women's Final Four.

 

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Cheyney was ranked No. 19 in the preseason AP Poll going into the 1983-84 season. By the end of the regular season, they finished at No. 9 and were slotted as a 3-seed in the NCAA Women's basketball tournament. In the tournament, the Lady Wolves beat Maryland, North Carolina, and Old Dominion to make it to the Final Four. The team ultimately lost to Tennessee in a close 80-71 contest.

Winthrop McGriff spent another year at the university before moving on. He finished with a 67.2 winning percentage with a record of 39-19.