NORFOLK, Va. – As part of the year-long commemoration of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's (MEAC) 50th Anniversary, the conference concludes the International Women's Month Celebration by honoring 27 individuals and one team as Pioneers in Women's Sports, Presented by Academy Sports+Outdoors.
The individuals and team being honored were trailblazers and groundbreakers who were nominated by administrators and staffs of MEAC member institutions, MEAC office staff members and members of the MEAC 50th Anniversary Committee and voted on by the conference's Senior Woman Administrators.
Four of the honorees have Coppin State ties and include NBA Broadcaster and Analyst
Stephanie Ready, former athletic administrator
Alecia Shields-Gadson, current Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator
Nichole Person and former Director of Athletics
Mary Wanza.
Nichole Person (Coppin State) – The Eagles' current Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator, she has helped to make career opportunities possible for students through her work with the NBA All-Star Weekend, the New York Urban League Football Classic, the Senior Professional Golf Association and the Summer Paralympic Games.
Stephanie Ready (Coppin State) – Was the second woman in NCAA history (first in the MEAC) to serve as a men's basketball coach in Division I when she served as an assistant at CSU in 1999. In 2002 as an assistant for the G-League's Greenville Groove, she was the first woman to coach a men's pro sports team. In 2015, she became the first full-time female NBA game analyst.
Alecia Shields-Gadson (Delaware State/Coppin State) – Serves as Deputy Athletics Director and Senior Woman Coordinator at DSU, overseeing Title IX compliance among other duties. She has twice served as Interim Director of Athletics at DSU after previously being an administrator at CSU.
Mary Wanza (Coppin State) – Became Coppin State's first female Director of Athletics in 2006 and was one of the first women to hold that distinction in MEAC history. In 2007, she was one of only six African-American women to hold the title of athletics director on the NCAA Division I level and one of only 27 women overall. While AD, CSU broke ground on a new Physical Education Complex.
