Bush-Roddy inducted into TCCAA HOF

By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — It was the sixties, it was rural Roane County and they had never had a Black player on the team until one moment changed everything. When the tall Black 6 foot 2 inch lanky and extremely talented 17-year-old girl ran out on the basketball court at Roane County High School, it was the& beginning of a stellar career for Carolyn Bush-Roddy. It was a career filled with Olympic gold, playing against and coaching with Pat Head Summit, and traveling the world with the USA All-Star teams. Bush-Roddy was ready from the beginning. Not only physically prepared, she had been mentally prepared by a strong grandmother. Alice Martin drilled into her granddaughter that she could do and be anything she wanted to be, all she had to do was not be afraid to fail She wasn’t afraid and over the next few decades she would live out her grandmother’s decree over and over& Bush-Roddy would step up and blaze trails for women’s basketball again and again,& beginning with the fight to play full- court. A guard who started her career playing half-court ball, she would testify before the Tennessee Federal Counsel; successfully winning the right...