Story by Thomas Corhern
Cookeville Herald-Citizen

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COOKEVILLE — It's been a long time, but next Sunday, legendary former Tennessee Tech women's basketball coach Marynell Meadors is coming back to her old stomping grounds.

It may be just for one game as the WNBA's Atlanta Dream takes on the Washington Mystics at Tech's Hooper Eblen Center this upcoming Sunday, but it's an exciting opportunity, and one that brings back a lot of memories.

Meadors hasn't coached a full season in Cookeville since 1986, but the Cookeville and Tech communities still remain dear to Meadors' heart.

"There's no question about that," said Meadors, who coached the Golden Eaglettes for 16 seasons from 1970-71 through 1985-86 said. "I still consider Cookeville to be one of my homes. I was there for about 20 years and I loved every minute of it."

While Sunday's game may just be an exhibition, things are still looking pretty promising for the Atlanta Dream. Meadors, the general manager and head coach since the team's expansion season, has a veritable collegiate all-star team at her command, including Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw, Louisville's Angel McCoughtry — the 2009 WNBA Rookie of the Year, who also played against the Golden Eagles in the Eblen Center during her senior campaign — as well as rookies Brittainey Raven from Texas and Brigitte Ardossi from Georgia Tech.

"The WNBA has a lot of great players in it," Meadors said. "They're all Olympic-caliber and we've got our fair share of them on our team. Some of them will not be with us because they're still playing in the European championships, but we will have many of our others with us.

"I have to look at the 2009 WNBA Rookie of the Year Angel McCoughtry. She's a star waiting to happen. I can kind of compare her to Sheryl Swoopes, who's played in our league for some time and several Olympic teams. Angel's a lot like her, except I think Angel's going to be better."