William Cager Jr. (August 24, 1942 – March 19, 2023) was an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the Texas Western Miners (now

UTEP Miners The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...

). He was a member of their 1966 team that won the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship. He was coached by the

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Don Haskins Donald Lee Haskins (March 14, 1930 – September 7, 2008), nicknamed "The Bear", was an American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for three years under coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University). He w ...

. Texas Western started an all-black starting lineup, against the all-white

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. In Texas Western's championship game victory, Cager had eight points and six

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

. The school's website describes him as "A skilled low post player" during his career. Raised in New York City, Cager was nicknamed "Scoops". He suffered from a heart murmur during the 1965–66 season; when he recovered enough to play, Texas Western was forced to use him sparingly, in four-minute shifts. After playing at Texas Western, Cager was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in the 12th round of the 1968 NBA draft. However, partly due to his health, he never played as a professional. Cager resided in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, and had three children: a pair of sons and a daughter. In El Paso, he worked for the Ysleta Independent School District's after school basketball program as a coordinator. He had a charitable foundation, the Willie Cager Foundation, which aims to fund building construction in El Paso. Forty years after Texas Western's 1966 championship, the film '' Glory Road'' was released.

Damaine Radcliff Damaine Anthony Radcliff (born June 7, 1979), is an American film actor who was born in The Bronx, New York City. Founder of Raining Giants, he is most known for his starring roles in the movies ''Glory Road'', '' Step Up'' and as Executive Prod ...

played Cager in the movie. In 2017, Cager sought the position of

Mayor of El Paso The following is a list of people who have served as mayors of the city of El Paso in the U.S state of Texas. List of Mayors of El Paso References {{Reflist, 33em El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, ...

. Cager died in El Paso on the anniversary of the 1966 national championship game on March 19, 2023, at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cager, Willie 1942 births 2023 deaths 21st-century African-American people American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) draft picks Basketball players from New York City UTEP Miners men's basketball players