1. Nera White was born in Macon County, Tennessee, to Horace Nera White, a teacher, coach and farmer, and his wife, the former Lois Birdean.
17 Facts About Nera White
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Nera White attended the George Peabody College for Teachers, along with Sue Gunter and Doris Rogers, both of whom went on to play for the United States women's national basketball team.
3.
Nera White completed all of the undergraduate requirements for a degree in education except for the student teaching requirement, which she was unable to complete due to shyness.
4.
Nera White was named AAU All-American for 15 years in a row from 1955 to 1969, and she led the Nashville Business College team to ten AAU national championships during that period.
5.
Nera White was named the MVP of the AAU National Tournament nine times.
6.
Nera White was "widely acknowledged as the greatest woman ever to play the game".
7.
Hall of Fame player and coach Sue Gunter said that Nera White was the best of the best.
8.
Nera White was honored as All-World in 1959 and 1965 for the ASA Fast Pitch softball team.
9.
Nera White was the first woman to ever circle the bases in ten seconds.
10.
In 1957 Nera White led the US national team to winning the World Championship.
11.
Nera White was the leading scorer on the USA team, averaging 14.1 points per game.
12.
Nera White was named the MVP of the tournament, and voted the Best Woman Player in the World.
13.
Nera White was referred to as the "best female basketball player in the world that year".
14.
Nera White was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
15.
Nera White is one of only two players inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame based on AAU accomplishments, the other being Joan Crawford.
16.
Nera White was named 51st on the list of all sports, and is the sixth highest basketball player on the list, behind Cheryl Miller, Teresa Edwards, Ann Meyers, Nancy Lieberman and Anne Donovan.
17.
Nera White died on April 13,2016, at a hospital in Gallatin, Tennessee, from complications of pneumonia, at the age of 80.