GREENSBORO -- North Carolina A&T women's basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs found herself among pretty good company on Wednesday when she was named to the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame. Bibbs joined 14 other legends from the university, including Super Bowl XXII MVP quarterback Doug Williams, who will be inducted on July 16 at Grambling State University's Eddie G. Robinson Museum at 6 p.m.
Bibbs had numerous accomplishments before arriving at N.C. A&T in March of 2005. But her accolades have multiplied in recent years. On November 23, 2007, she became just the second coach of an HBCU women's basketball team to win 400 games, joining Alcorn State's Shirley Walker. Four months later, Bibbs received the 2008 Empowerment Award from the YWCA at its annual Girls & Women in Sports Dinner in Greensboro. Also in 2008, the Black Women in Sports Foundation of Philadelphia honored Bibbs with one of its Legends awards, and she was inducted into Grambling State University's Gallery of Distinction.
Two MEAC Coach of the Year awards and a MEAC Tournament title has also been added to Bibbs' list of accomplishments since her arrival in Aggieland.
"God has truly blessed me. When you look at the list of great athletes and overall great people that are going in with me, it is truly humbling,'' said Bibbs, who is a 1972 graduate of Grambling. "I've always had dreams and goals, and I never let anyone deter from the things I wanted to accomplish. It's the same message I try to pass along to the young ladies in my program."
Bibbs, who started coaching at Grambling in 1984, has won 471 career games. She won six tournament titles at Grambling before being hired at Hampton University in 1997. She won three tournament titles at Hampton before retiring in 2004. After a brief stint away from the game, Bibbs picked up where she left off once she became the Aggies head coach.
Under Bibbs, the Aggies have won three straight MEAC regular-season titles. She led the Aggies to their first NCAA appearance in 15 years after claiming the conference tournament title in 2009. Her coaching legend grew in 2010 when she led the Aggies to two postseason wins in the Women's National Invitational Tournament. It marked the first time an HBCU earned two consecutive wins in a postseason tournament.
In five seasons as the Aggies head coach, Bibbs has won 100 games. The Aggies have also broken the school record for wins in a season twice since she arrived. Over her 25-year career, her teams have won 12 regular-season titles, have been to the postseason eight times and have won 20 or games in a season 13 times.