Lynette Woodard

Lynette Woodard

Lynette Woodard (born August 12, 1959, in Wichita, Kansas) is a retired American basketball player who made history by becoming the first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters and who tasted success abroad before finally reaching, at age 38, her dream of playing in an American women's professional basketball league.

As a junior at Wichita North High School, Woodard was asked by the school's basketball head coach to join the school's varsity team. She declined, but she kept practicing her game, and, at age sixteen, the five foot eleven inch teenager joined the team.

Woodard went on to play college basketball with the University of Kansas (KU) in 1978, playing there until 1981. She was a four time All-American at KU, and she averaged 26 points per game and scored 3,649 points in total during her four years there, and was the first KU woman to be honored by having her jersey retired. She is major college basketball's career women's scoring leader.

In 1984, she was a member of the United States' women's basketball team that won the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

In 1985, Woodard made headlines when she became the first woman ever to play with the Globetrotters. The news coverage of this event gave her much attention, and the fact that she travelled to many countries worldwide with the Globetrotters, helped women's professional teams from many different parts of the world take notice.

Incidentally, Woodard's cousin, Hubert "Geese" Ausbie, also played for the Globetrotters from 1961 to 1985.

In 1987, she was signed by an Italian team to participate in their league. In 1989, she was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame. In 1990, she was signed by a Japanese women's team to play in their Asian country. She played there until 1993.

In 1997, she was signed by the Cleveland Rockers of the newly-founded Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The following year, she was selected in an expansion draft by the Detroit Shock. During the WNBA's off-season, she began working as a stockbroker in New York City.

She retired from playing in 1999, and returned to the University of Kansas serving as the Assistant Coach of the women's basketball team. In late January 2004, she was named Interim Head Coach filling for the regular coach Marian Washington, who had retired due to medical reasons.

She also served as Athletics Director for the Kansas City, Missouri School District from 1992 to 1994.

In September 2004, she was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. And in June 2005, she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Woodard now works as a financial consultant for A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., in her hometown of Wichita, Kansas.

External links

* [http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Woodard.htm Basketball Hall of Fame biography]
* [http://kuathletics.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/ University of Kansas Women's Basketball]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lynette Woodard — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Woodard. Lynette Woodard …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lynette — may refer to:* Lynette (Arthurian character), a woman in Arthurian legend * Lynette (shopkeeper), a shopkeeper in the video game series Soul * Lynette Scavo, a fictional character on the television series Desperate Housewives People with the… …   Wikipedia

  • Woodard — may refer to:* Alfre Woodard * Frederick Augustus Woodard * George Woodard * Isaac Woodard * Lynette Woodard * Mike Woodard (baseball) * Milt Woodard * Nathaniel Woodard * Steve Woodard * Woodard Schoolsee also* Woodward …   Wikipedia

  • Woodard — Cet article possède un paronyme, voir : Woodward. Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Woodard est un nom de famille notamment porté par  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lynette Scavo — Seriendaten Deutscher Titel: Desperate Housewives Originaltitel: Desperate Housewives Produktionsland: USA …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Cleveland Rockers — This article is about the defunct WNBA team; for the American Basketball Association (2000) team, see Cleveland Rockers (ABA). Cleveland Rockers Conference Eastern Founded …   Wikipedia

  • Liste der Mitglieder der Basketball Hall of Fame — Dies ist eine Liste der Mitglieder der Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Nähere Informationen siehe Basketball Hall of Fame. Inklusive der Nominierungsrunde 2011 hat die Hall of Fame 316 Mitglieder. Davon wurden 151 als Spieler und 88… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nancy Lieberman — Medal record Women s Basketball Pan American Games Gold 1975 Mexico Team Competition Olympic Games Silver 1976 Montreal T …   Wikipedia

  • Anexo:Miembros del Basketball Hall of Fame — El Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, ubicado en Springfield (Massachusetts), honra a los jugadores que han demostrado una habilidad excepcional en el baloncesto, a los grandes entrenadores, árbitros y otros importantes contribuyentes en… …   Wikipedia Español

  • AIAW Champions — The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women’s athletics and to administer national championships. During its existence, the AIAW and its predecessor, the Division for Girls and Women s… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”