Victoria “Vickie” Orr Wiley
Alabama native Victoria “Vickie” Orr Wiley (1967- ) helped the USA Basketball Women’s National Team (Team USA) win a gold medal at the 1990 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Championship for Women (present-day FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup) and a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics. At the collegiate level, she played for the Auburn Tigers women’s basketball team and led the team to two consecutive National Championship appearances in the late 1980s. Orr is known as one of Auburn’s best basketball players of all time and as one of the best basketball players from Alabama of all time.
Orr was born on February 25, 1967, in Hartselle, Morgan County. After starting her basketball career in seventh grade, Orr rose to prominence as a dominant center for the Hartselle High School Tigers. She led the Tigers to 62 straight wins and back-to-back state championships, first as a 3A (low-to-middle tier in enrollment numbers) squad in the 1984 season and then as a 5A (middle-to-high tier in enrollment numbers) squad in the 1985 season. As a result, Orr gained national recruiting attention.
With many offers coming her way, Orr committed to playing for Auburn University, where she became one of the team’s all-time greatest players, along with fellow stars Ruthie Bolton and Carolyn Jones. As a freshman, she averaged 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 55.6 percent. Thanks to her efficient play, the Tigers made it to the regional semifinals, also known as the “Sweet Sixteen,” in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. Throughout her college career, Orr continued to improve as a player and helped the Tigers advance further into the tournament every year. During her sophomore season, Orr recorded a college career high in points per game (16.7) and led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in field goal percentage (60.4 percent), with Auburn claiming the SEC Tournament Championship and advancing to the regional finals, also known as the “Elite Eight.” In her final two seasons with Auburn, Orr maintained similar numbers and led the Tigers to the National Championship game in both seasons.
The Tigers lost both the 1988 and 1989 championships to the Louisiana Tech University Lady Techsters (56-54) and the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers (76-60), respectively. Owing much to Orr’s role on the team, however, the Tigers had never had such a successful run. By the time she graduated from Auburn, Orr had scored more than 2,000 points (2,035) and recorded more than 1,000 rebounds (1,006), the second player in Auburn history to do both. She tied the record for most field goals in team history (864) and scored the second-most points in Auburn history until 2009, when DeWanna Bonner took the lead ahead of Orr and Becky Jackson. Additionally, Auburn won 119 out of 133 games, with only one loss coming to an SEC opponent. Orr earned several accolades as a Tiger. She was named a Kodak All-American during each of her last three seasons, the SEC Tournament Player MVP in 1987, the SEC Player of the Year in 1988, and a member of the All-Final Four team in 1989. In 2001, the Auburn Tigers women’s basketball team retired Orr’s number 50 for her contributions to the team.
Orr then served as a graduate assistant coach for Auburn in the 1989-90 season. The Tigers earned a third straight trip to the National Championship but lost to the Stanford Cardinal 88-81. After leaving Auburn, Orr played for Team USA in the 1990 FIBA World Championship for Women and helped the team go undefeated and win its second consecutive gold medal with a 88-78 win over Yugoslavia. Throughout the tournament’s eight games, Orr averaged 7.9 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 68.6 percent. Orr later played for Team USA in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and helped the team win the bronze medal by defeating Cuba 88-74. Over five Olympic games, Orr averaged 7.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and a 44.4 percent shooting percentage. From 1990 to 1992, Orr also played professionally in Italy. Persistent knee problems forced her to retire in 1992.
Orr married former Auburn men’s basketball player Aubrey Wiley in 1997. Her son, Austin Wiley, also played for the Auburn men’s basketball team from 2016 to 2020 and contributed to the team’s first ever Final Four appearance in 2019. After retiring from basketball, Orr earned a degree in human development and family studies and went on to work as an administrator for the Harris Early Learning Center in Birmingham, Jefferson County.
Orr was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
