Science Hill High School

Melissa McCray-Dukes

Melissa McCray-Dukes 1985

Melissa McCray-Dukes was quite the Rocky Topper. She led Science Hill to two state tournaments after transferring from Rutledge at the beginning of her junior year, then was part of four straight Final Four teams and Pat Summitt’s first two national championship teams at Tennessee.

Science Hill coach Gary Scheuerman’s first Lady Toppers team had gone 4-24 in 1982-83. Enter McCray-Dukes, who averaged 18.3 points and 11.3 rebounds as a junior while leading Science Hill to a 28-7 record and its first state tournament berth. She beat out Jefferson County's Carolyn Peck for Upper East Tennessee Player of the Year.

Science Hill returned to the state the following year, finishing 28-5. McCray-Dukes averaged 19.9 points and 10 rebounds as a senior, and eventually caught the eyes of the Lady Vols.

It didn’t happen quickly. Summitt attended a Science Hill-Sullivan North game — “Right behind our bench” says Scheuerman — and McCray-Dukes struggled while the Lady Toppers suffered their first loss of the season.

But she redeemed herself with 38 points against Pearl-Cohn in the state tournament — 29 in the second half — and UT assistant Holly Warlick was in attendance.

“I remember getting a call,” Summitt said, “and hearing ‘We’ve got to sign her.’”

Before she was gone, Summitt would have her first two titles. McCray-Dukes was in the first class, women or men, to go to four straight Final Fours, and she played key roles in the 1987 and ’89 national championships. She is known as one of Summitt’s better defenders, but when the Lady Vols were tied with 4 1/2 minutes left in their semifinal against Long Beach State in ‘87, McCray-Dukes started the decisive 9-0 run with consecutive jumpers.

“Melissa left quite a mark on our program,” Summitt said. “She led by example, and she became one who could lead vocally too. I didn’t know if that part was in her when she first came to campus.”

When she first came to Science Hill, McCray-Dukes didn’t plan to play basketball. She wasn’t comfortable with the thought of disrupting a time-woven unit that included Wendy Fox, Dawn Bradshaw and Annette Estes, but Scheuerman and Doug McBee, McCray-Dukes’ former coach at Rutledge, weren’t comfortable with her hanging up her sneakers.

“She was a natural,” Scheuerman said. “She could do things you normally thought of boys doing, some boys anyway, things like dribbling with her off hand and the inside-out versatility she had. I doubt we’d ever been better than a .500 team without Melissa.”

McCray-Dukes counts a home substate atmosphere at Science Hill among her treasures.

“I’ll never forget the support we received from the fans and students at that game," she said. "It makes you want to play a little bit harder when you see a crowd, and you see all of the students in the stands that you go to class with.”

A wife and mother of two, McCray-Dukes works in Knoxville. She’s also Vice-Chair of the Knoxville Tourism & Sports Corporation and president of the Sports Management Board for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

She’s remained close with Summitt. They’ve teamed up on TV commercials to raise money to fight cancer. McCray-Dukes is a breast cancer survivor.

“A lot of people focus on the toughness with Pat, and she is tough, but Pat is one incredibly special person,” McCray-Dukes said. “Now, she doesn’t beat around the bush. But if you listen to her you’ll succeed — in basketball and in life.”

She said Scheuerman had a significant impact, though she’s sometimes wondered if he truly realized how much.

“When I got to Tennessee, Pat told me I was one of the most well-coached players she had ever recruited,” McCray-Dukes said. “Obviously, Coach Scheuerman had a lot to do with that.”