The 1976-1977 Cheltenham High School girls’ basketball team included Sue Fackler ’77, the first Lady Panther to earn a full athletic scholarship to college.

Wearing number 45 in the rear row, the 6’1″ center matriculated at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, where she was also the first female Boilermaker to receive a full athletic scholarship for any sport.

According to local historian Chuck Langerman, the scholarship was worth $4,500 a year.  

Since Fackler, the Lady Panthers basketball program has sent numerous girls to Division I and Division II schools on athletic scholarships.

Fackler’s younger twin brothers, Bill and the late Chaz, were three-year starters on Coach Ted Weinstein’s football teams from 1977 to 1979.

In related news, the Lady Panthers are 5-6 on the 2023-2024 season and will take on rival Abington tonight at 7:00pm. If you can’t make the game, stream the action at youtube.com/cheltenhamvideo.

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