Olympia Scott, formerly known under her married name of
Olympia Scott-Richardson, is an American professional
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
player in the
WNBAThe Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of thirteen teams. The league was founded in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the NBA...
and a college coach.
She was born
Olympia Ranee Scott on August 5, 1976 in
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
.
High School and Stanford University
Olympia was named
Parade Magazines Second Team All-AmericaAn All-American "team" is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific All-America and typically referred to as All-American athletes, or simply...
during her senior year at St. Bernard High SchoolHigh school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America and Oceania, to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education...
in Playa del Rey, California.
While attending Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
, Scott played on their women's basketball team (known as the Cardinal) for four years (1994 to 1998). She averaged 12.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game during her four-year Stanford career. As a senior, she was named an
Associated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
honorable mention
All-AmericaAn All-American "team" is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific All-America and typically referred to as All-American athletes, or simply...
n and was a Kodak All-Region selection. She also was selected to participate in the inaugural Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game after leading the Cardinal in steals (48) and blocked shots (14) in 1998. She was named to the All-
Pac-10The Pacific-10 Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I; its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition...
first team in both 1997 and 1998. She competed with
USA BasketballUSA Basketball is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympic Committee...
as a member of the 1995 Jones Cup Team that won the Bronze in
TaipeiTaipei is the largest city in Taiwan and has served as the de facto capital of the Republic of China since the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It is situated on the Danshui River, almost at the northern tip of the island, about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
.
A member of the
Delta Sigma ThetaDelta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta was founded on January 13, 1913, at Howard University by twenty-two young women. Today, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority...
sorority, Scott graduated with a
Bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in
SociologySociology is the scientific or systematic study of human societies. It is a branch of social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity, often with the goal of applying such...
.
Professional career
In the
1998 WNBA Draft1998 WNBA Draft - 27 January 1998*On January 27, 1998 a total of 4 players were assigned to two teams in no particular order.*On February 18, 1998 a WNBA expansion draft took place*On April 28, 1998 the regular WNBA draft took place....
, Scott was selected by the
Utah StarzzThe Utah Starzz were a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They began play in the 1997 WNBA season as one of the league's eight original teams. The Starzz relocated, in 2003, to San Antonio, Texas where the team became the San Antonio Silver Stars...
in the second round (#11 overall).
She missed most of the following season, due to the birth of her daughter on April 7, 1999. She returned to play in four games for the Starzz before she and teammate
Wendy PalmerWendy Palmer , is a former professional basketball player in the WNBA, most recently with the Seattle Storm. Her primary position is forward.-College years:...
were traded on July 29 to the
Detroit ShockThe Detroit Shock was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Detroit, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006 and 2008 WNBA champions....
, in exchange for Korie Hlede and Cindy Brown.
She played for the Shock until just prior to the 2001 season, when she was traded to the
Indiana FeverThe Indiana Fever is a professional women's basketball team that plays in the Women's National Basketball Association . The Fever are based in Indiana's capital and largest city, Indianapolis. Their first season of play in the league was in 2000. The Fever play at Conseco Fieldhouse, located in...
. Having been being used as a utility player since her WNBA debut, Scott became a member of the Fever's starting lineup for the 2001 and 2002 seasons.
After sitting out the 2003 season due to a
kneeThe knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the femur and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest and most complicated joint in the human body. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as well...
injury, she signed a
free agentIn professional sports, a free agent is a player, whose contract with a team has expired, who's eligible to sign with another franchise. The term came into wide use in North America after sports leagues stopped using a "reserve clause" after much acrimonious collective bargaining, which provided a...
contract with the
Charlotte StingThe Charlotte Sting was a Women's National Basketball Association franchise based in Charlotte, North Carolina and it was one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007....
, for the 2004 season. After that season, she was traded along with her Charlotte teammates
Nicole PowellNicole Kristen Powell is a basketball player who was a standout at Stanford University and now plays for the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA. She will play again for Fenerbahçe Istanbul for next season in Europe....
and
Erin BuescherErin Perperoglou is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Silver Stars of the Women's National Basketball Association...
, to the
Sacramento MonarchsThe Sacramento Monarchs is a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Sacramento, California. The team is one of the WNBA's eight original franchises and was noted early on for standout players Ticha Penicheiro, Ruthie Bolton and Yolanda Griffith.While the Monarchs have been one of...
in exchange for Tangela Smith and a 2006
WNBA DraftThe WNBA Draft is an annual draft held by the WNBA through which WNBA teams can select new players from a talent pool of college and professional women's basketball players. The first WNBA draft was held in 1997.-Structure:...
second-round pick.
She spent the 2005 season with the Monarchs in a reserve role, but enjoyed the team's success as they went on to win the
WNBA ChampionshipThe WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association , held in late September and early October, and played under a best-of-five playoff format. The team winning the Eastern Conference Finals earns one of the two seeds in the championship round, with the other...
, defeating the
Connecticut SunThe Connecticut Sun is a professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2003 WNBA season began. The Sun was the first WNBA franchise not to be owned by an NBA owner;...
three games to one, in a best-of-five playoff.
On February 3, 2006, Scott, who had been a
free agentIn professional sports, a free agent is a player, whose contract with a team has expired, who's eligible to sign with another franchise. The term came into wide use in North America after sports leagues stopped using a "reserve clause" after much acrimonious collective bargaining, which provided a...
after the 2005 season ended, signed a contract to return to the
Indiana FeverThe Indiana Fever is a professional women's basketball team that plays in the Women's National Basketball Association . The Fever are based in Indiana's capital and largest city, Indianapolis. Their first season of play in the league was in 2000. The Fever play at Conseco Fieldhouse, located in...
. She played one year with the Fever, then was traded again, in March 2007, to the
Phoenix MercuryThe Phoenix Mercury is a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury began in 1997 as one of the league's original eight teams. The Mercury are so named because Mercury is the closest planet to the sun...
.
Scott has also played in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
for the Dynamo Moscow Region team and in
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
for the Ceyhan club.
Coaching career
Scott once served as an assistant coach at the
College of the SequoiasCollege of the Sequoias is a public two-year community college located in Visalia in Tulare County, in California's San Joaquin Valley. The current enrollment of COS is 13,000 students, and the college offers a variety of transfer, vocational, and community-based classes, including the fire/police...
in
Visalia, CaliforniaVisalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately southeast of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles. As of 2007, the city is estimated to have a population of 121,792 people and a metropolitan area of 429,006...
, and has also coached
AAUThe Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest, non-profit, volunteer, sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs...
basketball, as well as numerous camps and clinics.
In October 2004, she was named the head coach of the women's basketball team at William Smith College. Scott led her team to the
Liberty LeagueThe Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Originally founded in 1995 as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association, was renamed during the summer of 2004 to the current name...
regular season and tournament championships, an appearance in the
NCAAThe National Collegiate Athletic Association is a voluntary association of about 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada...
regional semifinals, and the program's first 20-win season (20 wins against eight losses) since the 1999-2000 season. The team's efforts resulted in Scott and her coaching staff being voted by the conference as the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year.
However, only two weeks after her
Sacramento MonarchsThe Sacramento Monarchs is a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Sacramento, California. The team is one of the WNBA's eight original franchises and was noted early on for standout players Ticha Penicheiro, Ruthie Bolton and Yolanda Griffith.While the Monarchs have been one of...
team won the
WNBA championshipThe WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association , held in late September and early October, and played under a best-of-five playoff format. The team winning the Eastern Conference Finals earns one of the two seeds in the championship round, with the other...
by defeating the
Connecticut SunThe Connecticut Sun is a professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2003 WNBA season began. The Sun was the first WNBA franchise not to be owned by an NBA owner;...
, Scott resigned from her coaching position to devote herself fulltime to her playing career.
External links