UTEP basketball legend Willie Cager, reportedly died on Sunday, March 19, 2023. However, the cause of his death is yet to be revealed.
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.
UTEP Men’s Basketball team took to Twitter on Sunday to express their condolence to the bereaved family: “Willie Cager was a beloved member of our 1966 Texas Western NCAA Championship team and a treasured individual within the El Paso Community”.
“Sending our condolences to his family and friends”, the post read.
Born in 1942 in The Bronx, New York, Willie Cager graduated from The University of Texas at El Paso in 1968, where he played college basketball. He was a member of the 1966 Texas Western 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 under the direction of Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins.
Following Texas Western, he 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.
In El Paso, Cager worked for the Ysleta Independent School District’s after school basketball program as a coordinator. He had a charitable foundation, the Willie Cager Foundation, which aims to fund building construction in El Paso.
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 had three children; sons, Kareem and Kenya, and a daughter, Kendeea.
