Greatest Basketball Player You've Never Heard Of.....

*CORRECTIONS*: As some in the comments have pointed out, SMS played in the Missouri Valley Conference, not Mississippi Valley...I had it right everywhere else, not sure why my brain glitched and said Mississippi. Also JQH arena wasn't built until a few years after Jackie left, that arena was Hammons Student Center. Apologies for the errors. 🙏 If you like the video and want more about Jackie, there is a full Jackie Stiles documentary will be available to stream on these platforms on August 30th!! AppleTV: tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-jackie-stiles-story/umc.… Amazon Prime Video: amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0B8T1H7NY Vimeo: vimeo.com/736924226 For a hard copy DVD order via this link: Link here: geni.us/TheJackieStile

She put her little body through so much. She had the heart but the body could not sustain the constant torment she put it through day in and day out. She was the definition of pure will and determination.

Jackie Stiles knocked out my alma mater in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament in 2001. She was a scoring machine, and she made the Final 4. She was a BEAST.

Jackie never needs to think "What if", Jackie made it. What an Amazing young lady, back then and look at all the young lives she is putting a positive spark of self esteem that so many children need. God Bless you Jackie Stiles!

I went to high school in Claflin but was much younger than her, by the time I was in high school she was already a year out of the WNBA. Having gone to school there I naturally heard all the stories about her as well as walked through the "hall of jackie" every day outside of the gym. She really still is such an inspiration to that town even to this day. And her entire family are some of the nicest, kindest people I have ever known. Her father was one of my favorite teachers and coaches, her mom is always so sweet to talk with, and her brothers and sisters all have gone on to be successful in their own ways as well. This truly is one of americas great families and we are lucky to have them here in the heartland.

I lived in Springfield, Mo. when Jackie played for Southwest Missouri State. She was absolutely unstoppable. Other teams would double and triple team her,,, and she STILL scored regularly. But she was NOT a selfish player,,, she was an excellent passer as well. This helped with the double and triple teaming. She absolutely filled the arena every single game. People were crazy to see her. And one of the most wonderful things was that she was soooo open and kind to the young girls that came to see her. She would talk to them and encourage them. She was as great a human being as she was a player. So glad she is doing well these days.

She had that mamba mentality since high school. If it wasn’t for her injuries, she would definitely be mentioned as one of if not the greats.

To remember Jackie Stiles you would also have to remember the Portland Fire, a name that was ahead of its time.

I’m blessed to have been a part of the Las Vegas Aces broadcast team, behind the camera and I’ve great fun watching Aja, Kelsey, Jackie and this past season Candace Parker, possible HOF’ers all. Yet I’d never heard of Jackie Stiles, very much like THE PISTOL in many ways as I was blessed to see him play a number of times in college and the pro’s. Thank you for putting this together and I’m grateful that you included what Ms. Stiles is doing now and may she continue to work and develop more young ladies in learning about basketball.

Not going to lie I've never heard of her until I opened a few packs of 2002 WNBA Fleer cards last year and noticed she was the featured cover player. What an amazing player she was. Great job covering her story.

I watched her play in high school as our town was rivals. Our girls team was very good and played her competitively but she could turn on the switch at any time. As a man at 6'5" I even played against her in a local 3 on 3 tournament and can tell you how tough she was first hand. A true star!

Man I hadn’t heard her name in a while, glad to see she’s doing well and still involved with basketball. Respect!

This made me tear up! She was extremely talented and passionate!

Anyone who lived in Kansas when she played at Claflin knew all about Jackie Stiles. She was amazing there and at SMS.

I remember seeing her on campus at SMS...not only was she an amazing player but also the nicest person you could meet. I competed in track at SMS and often saw her in the gym and spoke with her. She was always nice to everyone. She never had an ego. I saw her destroy a bunch of men on the outside courts a few times!

An interesting story related to Jackie is that when the game in which she was expected to set the all-time women's NCAA scoring record came, it was a home game at Hammons Center, and the university brought in Patricia Hoskins, the Mississippi Valley State player who held the record Jackie was about to break. When before the game Hoskins was introduced to the 8000+ crowd she was given a standing ovation.

I played basketball on the SMSU women’s team from 87-91. Would’ve been cool to play with Stiles or at least get to see her play in person. Saw my old coach, asst coach and former teammate briefly in the video. Brought back memories of old times.

I always wondered what happen to her, seems like she's doing fine these days. Never forgot of how unstoppable she was in that NCAA tournament, she was something else.

Honestly, she is a player that is honestly in the conversations of one of the best to pick up a basketball. Her game didn't have any flaws. Everyone talks about Diana, Swin, Sue, Candace, Swoopers, Cooper, Thompson, Lisa etc. Ad some of the greats that can play against anyone who steps onto the court, but this young lady is someone who could make defensive specialists beg for help the moment the Fire gained possession of the ball. I wish that her name would come up more often because she's truly a phenomenal player and such a beautiful person. 💯

I had the privilege of being present when she broke the all time NCAA scoring record. As your video noted that record stood for 17 years. It must be noted that when Kelsey Plumb broke the record she played in more games to do it, but Kelsey was a great player as well. Jackie being a class act, called Kelsey to congratulate her and let her know that she was a fan. I remember one game I attended at SMS (now Missouri State University) Jackie scored 51 points. I was just amazed watching her in practice before the game hitting about 25 three pointers in a row. There have been many great basketball players in the women's game, but her story of what she did in a small high school in Kansas and then choosing to play for a one of the top mid major programs and rejecting UConn's offer to play for Geno Auriema (arguably, the greatest women's program in history) . . . and then taking that mid major University team to the Final Four is quite a story. I am glad that a movie was made of her legendary story.