Stenson Conley, former WSSU women’s basketball coach, dies – Greensboro News & Record

Conley, 69, died earlier this week, and his death shocked WSSU “Ramily.”

Conley came to Winston-Salem to play basketball for Big House Gaines in the mid-1970s and never left. He was hired in August 1981 by Gaines as an assistant coach in the men’s program, after which Conley became the most successful women’s coach in school history. He was also a beloved teacher in two departments at WSSU for nearly 30 years.

“Stenson and I were hired at the same time by coach Gaines,” said Tim Grant, who like Conley was a former player under Gaines.

Grant, who would go on to coach other sports at WSSU, likes to tell the story of how he used Conley basketball players to win three CIAA softball championships in the mid-1980s.

“He was a great recruiter and brought in so many good athletes during that time, and I wasn’t ashamed of those basketball players who were helping me on the softball team in the spring,” said Grant, who coached the softball team that won the 1984 CIAA titles. ’85 and ’86.

Conley, who was recently inducted into the McDowell High School Hall of Fame, played for the Rams on Gaines’ final CIAA championship team in 1977. He was a 6-foot-6 center known for his defense and shot-blocking ability, according to Grant.

“He started his sophomore, junior and senior years,” Grant said. “I was actually a freshman when Stenson was last and I liked him right away because he didn’t make us freshmen sad. He was just an even-keeled guy and I think he was when he was coaching.”

During that time at Division II schools in the 1980s, all the coaches worked together, and while Conley was an assistant to Gaines, he was also the head coach of the women’s team from 1981 to 1994, where he won 128 games.

He is the only coach in WSSU history to lead the women’s team to the CIAA championship game. The women have never won the CIAA title, but Conley’s closest came in 1985 when they lost to Hampton in the title game.

That 1984-85 season, the Rams went just 14-12 and finished third in the South Division at 9-7, but heated up to reach the championship game for the only time in school history.

“I didn’t know he was the winningest coach in women’s basketball, but I’d say his coaching era was one of the best in history,” Grant said.

Conley coached three of the six leading scorers in women’s history, starting with Carolyn Huntley (1983-87), who is the leading scorer with 1,617 points. Kenan Menefee (1983-86) is the fifth leading scorer in school history and Angela Courtney (1988-92) is sixth.

What struck Grant as one of Conley’s traits was how much he loved WSSU. He coached track and field and cross country for several years, worked in the physical education department and worked with Dennis Felder in the sports management department.

“The students loved him 110 percent and he treated them with respect,” Felder said of Conley’s second career, in which he taught and lectured for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2021. “He told the students what expected and that was it. You knew what you were getting with it and I think the students appreciated that.”

Grant said Conley has been a fixture throughout the university for a long time.

“He was at all the games, even though he wasn’t the coach, and he would lend a hand if you needed him,” Grant said. “He was just a guy who loved the university and would do anything to promote it.”

After graduating from WSSU in 1977, he earned a master’s degree in sports administration in 1984 from the United States Sports Academy in Alabama.

Corey Thompson, who was hired as the men’s coach at WSSU last summer, played for the Rams in the late 1990s and had Conley for the class.

“I’ve known the coach since one class and had a chance to run into him at games every now and then,” said Thompson, a 2002 graduate and the first alumnus to coach the men’s program.

Conley was the first alumnus to teach a core program at WSSU, and Thompson said he has done a lot for the school.

“He was a selfless person and willing to help whatever sport there was, and he did so much after his coaching days ended with the women’s program,” Thompson said. “He definitely left his mark on the school.”

Al Roseborough, who became athletic director in 1990, said Conley was calm in his coaching demeanor.

“He was super knowledgeable about the game and knew how to get the best out of the women he coached,” Roseborough said. “Those were some very good teams that he coached that had a lot of talent.”

Chelia “Church” Nelson, who is the fourth leading scorer in school history with 1,434 points, never played for Conley. But she was tutored by Conley during her time in the sports management department.

“Coach Conley was a great man of character and integrity,” said Nelson, who played for Debra Clark during his four seasons on the court. “He held the best for his students, especially if you were in the sports management program. Even though we were young at the time, we had to show and give respect to everyone and dress appropriately.

Nelson said he was glad Conley was there during his time at WSSU.

“We will miss him dearly,” she said. “He taught me so many life lessons.”

Shonda McSwain said Conley changed her life after she arrived from Atlanta in the early 1990s. She said college wasn’t in her plans because even though she was raised by her mother, she didn’t have enough money.

“That scholarship got me to Winston-Salem State, and without it I probably wouldn’t have even gone to college,” McSwain said. “My mom dropped me off my freshman year at midnight because she had to go back to Atlanta for her job and Coach Conley was there taking care of me. I will never forget what you did for me because it changed my life.”

McSwain recalled the time Conley punished her for not doing what she was supposed to do in the classroom.

“I’m sitting on the bench crying and we lost the game and it hurt,” she said. “But that was a lesson he taught me, and all these years later I understand what he was doing. It was a pleasure to play for him and I say that even after he left me on the bench.”

One omission in how much Conley loved WSSU is that he is not in the Big House Gaines Hall of Fame. As a three-year starter on the CIAA title-winning basketball team and the all-time wins leader as the women’s coach, he certainly deserves attention.

A member of Gaines’ Big House Hall of Fame committee said one of the reasons he’s not there is because he’s never been nominated.

Conley is survived by his mother, Eula Jean Conley; wife, Phyllis B. Conley and son, Jamal Conley.

A memorial service will be held at Beam Celebration Center in Marion on Monday at 2:00 PM with the Rev. Walter Pegus officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at 1 p.m