Playing more than one sport is not uncommon, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Few at Mount Olive enjoyed the success that Valerie Newberne Cox did wearing the green and black.
Cox, known as Valerie Williams while in Mount Olive, was a star for the basketball, softball and volleyball teams. In 1993, she was named the school's Most Outstanding Student-Athlete.
Most of Cox's awards came on the basketball court where won almost every award a player can receive in one season. Her 10 steals against St. Andrews in 1993 is second all-time. She helped the Trojans post a school record 17 wins that season, a 14-game improvement from the previous season. She averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Excelling in yet another sport, Cox was encouraged to try out for the United States Olympic Team Handball Team following her collegiate career. She made the team, but chose not to attend to stay with her family. A few years later, she was invited try out for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. During tryouts, she broke her foot.
She was a terror for the softball and volleyball teams as well, rarely coming off the field of play.
