Then & Now: Volleyball
8/9/2022 11:45:00 AM | Women's Volleyball, My GW: Celebrating our Stories
Ingrid Wicker McCree ('89) talks with grad student Bella Bowman
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, this is the second entry in a GWsports.com series connecting distinguished alumnae with current members of the Buff and Blue to discuss what’s changed and what hasn’t across their program’s history.
An outside hitter via Durham, N.C., Ingrid Wicker McCree used her experience as a GW volleyball student-athlete from 1985-88 as the foundation for a trailblazing career as an athletics administrator.
On the court, Wicker McCree was part of a tremendous run of success under Pat Sullivan and Cindy Laughlin, helping the Buff and Blue total 97 over her four seasons and reach the A-10 Championship semifinals three times.
As a senior in 1988, she ranked third on the squad with a career-high 320 kills, and also tallied 325 digs and 44 service aces, for a group that went 24-17.
Away from competition, Wicker McCree earned a degree in Criminal Justice while gaining real-world experience via multiple internships on Capitol Hill and a part-time job working at the Smith Center that provided her first behind-the-scenes glimpse at the world of collegiate athletics.
Over three decades as a coach and administrator, Wicker McCree established herself among the most influential voices in the field. She spent 28 years in all at North Carolina Central, serving first as a successful head coach of both the volleyball and softball programs and later rising to lead the department.
She held the position of athletic director at NCCU from 2008 through her retirement in May, shepherding the Eagles’ move up to Division I and positioning them for success within the MEAC. Along the way, she served in a variety of leadership roles, including a stint on the NCAA Division I Council, and received numerous awards, including being named Under Armour AD of the Year for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in 2018.
A 2012 inductee into the GW Athletics Hall of Fame, Wicker McCree recently joined Bella Bowman, a libero from Louisville, Ky., who is back as a graduate student for her fifth season in Buff and Blue, to share memories from her time in Foggy Bottom and how the experience shaped her pioneering career path.