@IrememberOurHistory®: Sheila Ford Duncan, from Clarkton, North Carolina, is the women's basketball program’s all-time leader with 2,442 points and 2,200 rebounds, leading UNCAsheville to the 1984 NAIA National Title.

She holds 18 UNC Asheville records and earned first-team All-America honors as a senior. The Clarkton, N.C., native played professionally in Spain and was inducted into the UNC Asheville Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

Sheila Ford Duncan was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 on May 10.
Photograph: Sheila Ford Duncan fb page.
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She had begun to make her path in a male-dominated sport at just six years old. The Clarkton, North Carolina native recalls her father putting up a 10-foot pole with all the neighborhood kids coming to play with her and her siblings. She and her three other siblings played multiple sports, but Duncan stuck with tennis and basketball.

She recalled seeing her parents face the financial hardship of putting her sister through college without a scholarship.

“What really drove me to stick with basketball and tennis was that I wanted to get that scholarship to a college, to take the burden of college tuition off my parents (Harold and Lendora Ford),” Duncan said.

She didn’t begin to play organized basketball until she was a ninth grader at Clarkton High School. And when she finally got the chance, she took it and dribbled it.

“… I knew how to play basketball before I even got to high school,” Ducan said. “It was just fine toonin’ my post moves or working on my free throws or rebounding and learning how to box out the right way, that’s all anyone ever had to teach me. I already knew how to play the sport and play the game.”

She credits her early knowledge of the game to her idol, her older brother Leon, who she says was the best rebounder she ever saw. During her childhood, she says her brother would always pick her to be on his team when playing against his friends.

“I was the only girl on the court and my brother would pick me up on his team for pick-up basketball. They never really wanted to pick any girls but he would always pick me up,” Duncan said. “And I would play against them and I would get in there and battle with them for rebounds. I believe that is what made me really good.”

With all her success in high school, she had no shortage of college offers including Old Dominion and the University of South Carolina. It wasn’t until her coach told her about a tryout opportunity for the University of North Carolina Asheville that she decided to be a bulldog.

“When I went for the tryout, it was something about the mountains that gave me peace about this being my school,” Duncan said.

During her time in the bulldog uniform, she racked up many accolades including the title of 1984 NAIA National Player of the Year, 18 UNC Asheville records, and being the first player in women’s collegiate history to score over 2,000 points to name a few. Though she said her favorite collegiate memory was winning the NAIA 1984 championship with her team.

When remembering all her accolades she never paid it much mind. She always focused on the dream she had since playing outside with the neighborhood kids.

“I knew I had a dream I was trying to achieve and that dream was my driving force to become the best female basketball, I could become,” Duncan said.

After her time in the blue and white uniform came to an end, she would go on to accomplish her dream of playing professional basketball in Spain. At the time there was no WNBA and she had never heard about playing overseas until her coach introduced her to an agent.

“I was very excited because I knew I was going to a different country far away from my parents and my family, but if I didn’t take this opportunity, would there be others? You know those types of things come to your mind, if you don’t take this opportunity who knows when this will come again?” Duncan said.

She says despite the differences in basketball between the two countries, one thing never changed, they could always count on her to dominate the court.

“I was a sure player. They could depend on me for my stats which were 21 points a game and 19 rebounds a game, so they could depend on that if nothing else,” Duncan said.

After her time in Spain, she returned home to North Carolina and coached her high school team. With her degree in business marketing and retail management, she worked many jobs in her career. Her passion for fashion is what ultimately led her to Bowling Green to work for Fruit of the Loom.

Three decades later, Sheila is now a teacher for Warren County Public Schools (Kentucky) where she had the opportunity to coach her children and to help educate students. When reflecting on her time as an athlete, she wants fellow female student-athletes to know they should always work hard to accomplish their dreams.

“I think any female athlete who wants to pursue professional basketball now, all they need to do is work hard, dedicate themselves to the game, and stay in the gym,” Duncan said.
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Source: By Gabrielle Bunton/BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO)- Published: Feb. 8, 2024