UTEP basketball legend, Willie Cager passed away on Sunday, March 19, 2023.
Cager’s death came on the 57th anniversary of UTEP’s national championship victory against Kentucky when the Miners became the first team with an all-Black starting lineup to win the NCAA championship.
Willie Cager was born in 1942 in The Bronx, New York.
In 1968, Cager graduated from The University of Texas at El Paso, where he played collegiate basketball. He was among the 1966 Texas Western (now UTEP) college basketball team that won the 1966 National Championship.
Cager appeared in 77 contests for the Miners from 1964-1968 and averaged 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds while playing under Hall of Fame coach Haskins.
Following Texas Western, Cager was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in the 12th round of the 1968 NBA Draft, however, partly due to a heart condition, he never competed as a professional.
The Bronx native Cager made a home in El Paso and became a fixture in the community. Cager worked as the coordinator of the Ysleta Independent School District’s After School Basketball Program. He also launched the Willie Cager Foundation, which aims to fund building construction in El Paso.
Forty years after Texas Western’s 1966 championship, the film Glory Road was released in 2016. Damaine Radcliff played Cager in the movie.
In 2017, Cager sought the position of Mayor in El Paso, Texas, however, he was unsuccessful.
In March of 2022, the Willie Cager Endowed Basketball Scholarship was announced by the Miner Athletic Club. The scholarship is funded by donor Don Scott to honor Cager.
Willie Cager is survived by his three children; sons, Kareem and Kenya, and a daughter, Kendeea. His wife Barbara Miller-Cager died in September 2022.