Stacey Smalls, a Cheltenham resident, 1999 Cheltenham High School graduate and former Temple University guard, (second from left above) was enshrined in the Philadelphia Big 5 Basketball Hall of Fame at a ceremony held at the storied University of Pennsylvania Palestra on January 21, 2011.
According to local historian Chuck Langerman, Smalls is the only former Cheltenham High basketball player, male or female, in the Big 5 Basketball Hall of Fame. The point guard played at Temple University from 1999-2003, scoring 1,258 points to become the only Temple Owl player ever to score 1,000 points and lead the team in assists for four straight seasons.
In 2002, Smalls was named tournament MVP when the Owls captured their first Atlantic 10 title. At Cheltenham, she was named The Philadelphia Inquirer Player of the Year for Montgomery and Bucks Counties in 1999, and she scored 29 points in a 62-54 state semi-final victory over Council Rock to put the Lady Panthers in the state final title game for the first time in school history.
From Temple University’s announcement:
Smalls, who played from 1999-2003, finished her four-year career with the Temple women’s team as the program’s sixth all-time leading scorer, amassing 1,258 points. She also connected on a still-standing school-record 154 career three-pointers.
The Cheltenham, Pa. native (Cheltenham HS) is the only Owl to score more than 1000 points and lead the team in assists in four straight seasons. Smalls dished out 359 assists, fifth on the TU all-time list, and made187 steals, ninth all-time. As a junior in the 2001-02 season, she led the Owls to their first Atlantic 10 title and was named the tournament’s MVP.
Smalls was a three-time first team All-Big 5 selection and a three-time second team all-Atlantic 10 Conference honoree. She also was a two-time A-10 all-Defensive team selection.
Smalls went on to become the assistant coach for the La Salle University Explorers. You can read her biography here.
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Photos: La Salle University, Temple University