Ann Meyers Drysdale still remembers making her way to Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University. The car consisted of Drysdale and three male basketball players.
This wasn’t an ordinary car ride. Drysdale felt intimidated. This was new territory for the young American.
The Indiana Pacers were holding three-day tryouts to fill roster spots. Drysdale made history simply with her presence, as she was the first woman chosen to participate in tryouts for an NBA team. In 1979, she signed a $50,000, no-cut contract (an agreement that allows for opportunities within the organization for a specified period of time) with the Pacers — another first for a woman.
Drysdale believed she belonged, that she could make the team. When the Pacers informed Drysdale she didn’t make the final roster, she was upset.
As she reminisces more than 40 years later about what happened, Drysdale isn’t one to gloat about accomplishments. She doesn’t like the attention. Drysdale does, however, recognize her place in women’s basketball. She was the first player to make the U.S. national team while still in high school. She was a gold medalist at the 1975 Pan American Games and the 1979 FIBA World Championship, and she helped Team USA win silver at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Drysdale attended UCLA and…
