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Chattanooga basketball legend Venus Lacy after hard times: ‘Life is turning for the better’

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Former Brainerd High School basketball star Venus Lacy, who led her team to a TSSAA state title in 1984, went on to win an NCAA championship at Louisiana Tech and a gold medal with the U.S. women's team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Her life off the court has included plenty of challenges over the years, but she believes she has turned a corner at age 55.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Former Brainerd High School basketball star Venus Lacy, who led her team to a TSSAA state title in 1984, went on to win an NCAA championship at Louisiana Tech and a gold medal with the U.S. women's team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Her life off the court has included plenty of challenges over the years, but she believes she has turned a corner at age 55.

By Bob Gary 6 min read

Having been a state, national and Olympic champion, Venus Lacy knows how to win.

Now, at 55, her basketball legend long since built and burnished, she’s getting the upper hand on a new foe – one more fearsome than any she faced on the court.

“I’ve had my demons come in,” she said, her voice surprisingly soft for one who stands 6 feet, 4 inches. “I’ve had my battles in life.

“Life is not easy. But I’m not going to let anything stop me. I am taking my life back.”

Nearly four decades have passed since Lacy led Brainerd to a TSSAA state title in 1984. Her coach, Carolyn Jackson, said Lacy was “one of the best to ever play for me” – high praise, given that Jackson had racked up more than 900 wins by the time she retired a decade ago.