Olympic gold medalist Carla McGhee part of USA women's basketball legacy

Twenty years later and Carla McGhee remains as proud as ever to have been an Olympian.

"The memories are still relevant," she says. "That was a very pivotal point in my life. I think the thing that's the most gratifying is not knowing what kind of legacy we were setting."

The Peoria native was a member of the gold medal-winning 1996 USA women's basketball team in Atlanta. She teamed with likes of Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Rebecca Lobo to give women's basketball its third overall gold, while starting USA's streak of five consecutive golds.

McGhee, a 1986 Manual grad, was not short on Team USA experience entering the summer of '96. She was a member of the gold-winning 1987 William Jones Cup team, the 1994 World Championship bronze squad and selected to the 1995 USA Women's Pan American Games, which were cancelled due to just four teams participating.

"I was very familiar with the commitment and what it meant to play with USA across your chest," McGhee says.

One advantage she had was having head coach Tara VanDerveer for three years prior to the Summer Olympics. This helped McGhee know how she would help the team over. VanDerveer was very clear on what she wanted out of McGhee, who had won a pair of national collegiate titles at Tennessee under legendary coach Pat Head Summitt.

 McGhee says a huge part of being a USA athlete is understanding and embracing your role.

 "What I brought to the team is rebounding and I was a defensive specialist," McGhee says. "I could score, but (VanDerveer) said, 'For us to be successful, you have to do that.' "

 Once in competition, the USA rolled to a 5-0 record in pool play, averaging 101.4 points a game. McGhee scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds as the Americans took care of Zaire, 107-47.

 Team USA beat Japan, 108-93, in the quarterfinals, then took care of Australia, 93-71 in the semifinals. In the gold-medal game, the US pulled away from Brazil, 111-87, as McGhee played three minutes and scored two points.

 "We did it," she says, recalling her initial thoughts when the final buzzer sounded. "Everybody's family was there. Everybody's spouses were there. It was in America. You're on that stage and they're playing your national anthem. It's awesome.

 "It was the epitome of being an American."

 Her gold medal was displayed for many years at the Carver Center in Peoria.

 After spending years as an assistant coach at Temple, Auburn and South Carolina, McGhee now is an adviser and lead coach with Up With Kids Sports in Georgia.

 She also acts as a consultant for college recruiting.

 McGhee views her 1996 team's legacy through the lens of the sport's evolution: "Twenty years later, to see all that has evolved and how the women's game has taken off and it's still growing and still moving at incredible speeds."

 Adam Duvall is a former Journal Star sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall