Ole Miss Basketball Legend Peggie Gillom-Granderson To Retire

OXFORD, Miss. - Peggie Gillom-Granderson, a basketball legend at Ole Miss who shares a building's name on campus with her sister, Jennifer, announced her retirement as associate head women's basketball coach here Friday.

"It is with a myriad of emotions that I announce my retirement from the University of Mississippi, effective Aug. 1," Gillom-Granderson said. "I have had the pleasure of traveling across this country and around the world as a basketball coach on the collegiate level as well as with the WNBA -- and I can honestly say that no experience has been more rewarding than my Ole Miss experience.

"From driving hundreds of miles to recruit some of the best players in the sport to spending countless late nights in the office closing the deals, I consider myself so blessed and so fortunate to have had this opportunity. I am grateful for the opportunity to touch and be touched by so many young lives, the opportunity to learn, grow and succeed under some of the greatest leaders in the sport, the opportunity to share in victory and to agonize in defeat, and the opportunity to leave a legacy of professionalism, determination and hope.
"The memories on and off the Tad Smith Coliseum court are too numerous to name, but not too numerous to remember," she added. "It is these memories that I take with me to hold and cherish. I look forward to watching the Lady Rebels succeed and supporting my alma mater. I wish to thank Chancellor (Robert) Khayat, Athletics Director Pete Boone, Senior Associate Athletics Director Lynnette Johnson and Coach Renee Ladner for allowing me to return to my first love ... The University of Mississippi."
Counting her time as a player and two stints on the women's basketball coaching staff, Gillom-Granderson has been associated with the University of Mississippi for over 25 years. As a player, she became Ole Miss' all-time leading scorer and rebounder in women's basketball, and then spent 16 seasons as an assistant coach on Van Chancellor's Rebel coaching staff from 1981-1997.
"We are fortunate to have been associated with Peggie and the Gillom family for so many years," Boone said. "The relationship that we have built with Peggie will not change because of her retirement. We expect her to remain a major part of the Ole Miss athletics family and our women's basketball program."
"The impact that Peggie Gillom has made on the Ole Miss family and the countless women's basketball players she has coached is immeasurable," Johnson said. "Retirement will not slow Peggie down; she will continue to touch all the lives of the people she surrounds. We wish her all the best and look forward to seeing her in the Tad Pad cheering on the Rebels."
Prior to returning to Ole Miss in 2003 as associate head coach for Carol Ross and then maintaining that same position when Ladner became head coach in 2007, Gillom-Granderson was the head coach at Texas A&M University.
"Peggie has been a part of the success of Ole Miss women's basketball as both a player and a coach," Ladner said. "She will always be a Lady Rebel and we wish her all the best in retirement."
After returning, Gillom-Granderson and the Ole Miss staff wasted little time in getting the Rebel team back to the NCAA Tournament, a feat she accomplished many times in her days as an Ole Miss assistant. Gillom-Granderson has been instrumental in guiding Ole Miss back to some of the glory days she encountered during her Rebel career.
As a four-year starting forward for the Rebels from 1976-80, Gillom-Granderson scored 2,486 points and grabbed 1,271 rebounds, establishing school records in both categories which still stand today. She is the only Rebel to ever score more than 2,000 points and grab more than 1,000 rebounds in her career. In her senior season, she earned Southeastern Conference All-Tournament Team honors and was a finalist for the Wade Trophy. Gillom-Granderson also holds nine other Lady Rebel game, season and career records.
Drafted as the first pick in the second round by the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Professional Basketball League after the 1979-80 Rebel season, Gillom-Granderson played one year of professional ball. She then entered the coaching ranks at Ole Miss on Chancellor's staff. She helped lead the Rebels to 14 NCAA Tournaments, including five Sweet 16 and four Elite Eight appearances.
A native of Abbeville, Miss., Gillom-Granderson played two seasons (1978-79 and 1979-80) on teams coached by Chancellor, and while an assistant at Ole Miss, she coached her sister, Jennifer, who played for the Rebels from 1982-86. As a Lady Rebel, Jennifer scored 2,186 points, ranking second to Peggie on the all-time scoring list. The sisters are two of the three Rebels to ever score more than 2,000 points in a career. Jennifer was a member of the 1988 United States Olympic Team that captured the gold medal.
After coaching for 16 years at Ole Miss, Gillom-Granderson moved to the WNBA, where she served as an assistant coach with Chancellor for the 1997 season and part of the 1998 season with the Houston Comets. The Comets won WNBA Championships both seasons. In June of 1998, Gillom-Granderson was hired as the head coach at Texas A&M University, where she compiled a record of 53-86 over five seasons. While at Texas A&M, Gillom-Granderson served as an assistant coach for the 2000 USA Basketball Olympic Team in Sydney, Australia, helping guide the team to a gold medal.
Gillom-Granderson earned her bachelor's degree in Social Work from Ole Miss in 1980. In 1996, she was inducted into the Ole Miss Athletics Hall of Fame, and she is a 1997 inductee of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. In the spring of 2000, Ole Miss named the soccer, softball and volleyball complex after the Gillom sisters and is now called the Gillom Sports Center.
The Cellular South Gillom Trophy, which is presented each year to Mississippi's best collegiate women's basketball player, is named in her honor. Part of the Cellular South Outstanding Player Award Series, the first trophy was presented March 31, 2008. Media voters from across Mississippi determine the finalists and eventual winner.
Gillom-Granderson, who has served on the Board of Directors for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame for the last five years, was married on July 2, 2005, to Anthony Granderson. The couple resides in Abbeville.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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