Olympia Scott
Encyclopedia
Olympia Scott, formerly known under her married name of Olympia Scott-Richardson, is an American professional basketball
player in the WNBA
a former college coach and the co-founder, President & CEO of Super Parenting LLC and A Wonderful Life! Coaching.
She was born Olympia Ranee Scott on August 5, 1976 in Los Angeles, California
.
. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1994, scoring eight points. Olympia was named Parade Magazines Second Team All-America
during her senior year at St. Bernard High School
in Playa del Rey, California. Olympia was also the youngest player to participate in the US Olympic Festival in a team sport in 1994 while playing for the West team. She also posted the single-game shot-block record in the Festival that year, with four blocks. Scott also led St. Bernard High School of Playa del Rey, CA to its first 2 girls' basketball state championships her junior and senior years.
While attending Stanford University
on full scholarship, 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 a Naismith "Player of the Year" finalist and named an Associated Press
honorable mention All-America
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-10
first team in both 1997 and 1998. She competed with USA Basketball
as a member of the 1995 Jones Cup Team that won the Bronze in Taipei
. Scott also led the Stanford Cardinal as a four-year starter to four Pac-10 Conference Championships, including back-to-back undefeated in conference seasons, and only 2 conference losses her entire four years. She also led the Cardinal to 3 NCAA Final Four appearances.
A member of the Delta Sigma Theta
sorority, Scott graduated with a Bachelor's degree
in Sociology
.
, Scott was selected by the Utah Starzz
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 Palmer
were traded on July 29 to the Detroit Shock
, 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 Fever
. 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. Scott was named team captain of the Indiana Fever and awarded the Community Assist award for excellence in community service and leadership by the WNBA and the Fever. Started 31 games in her second season with the Fever, averaging career highs of 9.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg...in her best game ever as a professional, she led the Fever in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocked shots vs. Utah, 7/10...against the Starzz, she scored a career-high 31 points (11-17 FG, 9-11 FT) to accompany nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots in 39 minutes...she finished the season ranked 11th in the WNBA in rebounds per game...she hauled in the 500th rebound of her WNBA career vs. Charlotte, 7/22...she had five games with 10+ rebounds and posted three double-doubles, including consecutive games vs. Miami (14 points, 11 rebounds), 7/12, and vs. L.A. (12 points, 10 rebounds), 7/17...she was eighth in the WNBA in field goal percentage, shooting 48.7 percent from the floor.
After sitting out the 2003 season due to a knee
injury, she signed a free agent
contract with the Charlotte Sting
, for the 2004 season. After that season, she was traded along with her Charlotte teammates Nicole Powell
and Erin Buescher, to the Sacramento Monarchs
in exchange for Tangela Smith and a 2006 WNBA Draft
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 Championship
, defeating the Connecticut Sun
three games to one, in a best-of-five playoff.
On February 3, 2006, Scott, who had been a free agent
after the 2005 season ended, signed a contract to return to the Indiana Fever
. She played one year with the Fever, then was traded again, in March 2007, to the Phoenix Mercury
, where she enjoyed winning a second WNBA Championship.
Olympia Scott is the first woman in WNBA history to win two WNBA Championships with two different teams.
Scott also served several years on the Women's National Basketball Players' Association (WNBPA) Executive Committee as the Secretary/Treasurer as well as an active member of the Negotiating Committee, participating in the last 2 Collective Bargaining Agreements between the WNBA and the WNBPA.
Scott has yet to officially retire from the WNBA where she has played a total of 10 seasons.
Olympia has also played in 6 different European countries for a total of 11 seasons including Russia
for the Dynamo Moscow Region team; in Turkey
for Mersin Buyuksehir, Istanbul University, Erdemir and the Ceyhan clubs; in Ibiza, Spain; Alcamo and Schio, Italy; Thessaloniki, Greece; and Yerevan, Armenia.
in Visalia, California
, and has also coached AAU
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 League
regular season and tournament championships, an appearance in the NCAA
Division III 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, after her Sacramento Monarchs
team won the WNBA championship
by defeating the Connecticut Sun
, Scott resigned from her coaching position to devote herself full-time to her playing career.
Scott also became a life coach in 2007 and founded A Wonderful Life! Coaching.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player in the WNBA
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
a former college coach and the co-founder, President & CEO of Super Parenting LLC and A Wonderful Life! Coaching.
She was born Olympia Ranee Scott on August 5, 1976 in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
High School and Stanford University
Scott was named a Kodak High School All-American by the WBCAWomen's Basketball Coaches Association
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels.The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches.The mission of the WBCA is:...
. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1994, scoring eight points. Olympia was named Parade Magazines Second Team All-America
All-America
An All-America 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 School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Playa del Rey, California. Olympia was also the youngest player to participate in the US Olympic Festival in a team sport in 1994 while playing for the West team. She also posted the single-game shot-block record in the Festival that year, with four blocks. Scott also led St. Bernard High School of Playa del Rey, CA to its first 2 girls' basketball state championships her junior and senior years.
While attending Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
on full scholarship, 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 a Naismith "Player of the Year" finalist and named an Associated Press
Associated Press
The 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-America
All-America
An All-America 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-10
Pacific Ten Conference
The Pacific-12 Conference is a college athletic conference that 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 Basketball
USA Basketball
USA 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 Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
. Scott also led the Stanford Cardinal as a four-year starter to four Pac-10 Conference Championships, including back-to-back undefeated in conference seasons, and only 2 conference losses her entire four years. She also led the Cardinal to 3 NCAA Final Four appearances.
A member of the Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta 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 Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...
sorority, Scott graduated with a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
.
Professional career
In the 1998 WNBA Draft1998 WNBA Draft
1998 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 Starzz
Utah Starzz
The 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 Palmer
Wendy Palmer-Daniel
-External links:***...
were traded on July 29 to the Detroit Shock
Detroit Shock
The Detroit Shock was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006 and 2008 WNBA champion...
, 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 Fever
Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever is a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began...
. 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. Scott was named team captain of the Indiana Fever and awarded the Community Assist award for excellence in community service and leadership by the WNBA and the Fever. Started 31 games in her second season with the Fever, averaging career highs of 9.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg...in her best game ever as a professional, she led the Fever in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocked shots vs. Utah, 7/10...against the Starzz, she scored a career-high 31 points (11-17 FG, 9-11 FT) to accompany nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots in 39 minutes...she finished the season ranked 11th in the WNBA in rebounds per game...she hauled in the 500th rebound of her WNBA career vs. Charlotte, 7/22...she had five games with 10+ rebounds and posted three double-doubles, including consecutive games vs. Miami (14 points, 11 rebounds), 7/12, and vs. L.A. (12 points, 10 rebounds), 7/17...she was eighth in the WNBA in field goal percentage, shooting 48.7 percent from the floor.
After sitting out the 2003 season due to a knee
Knee
The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...
injury, she signed a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
contract with the Charlotte Sting
Charlotte Sting
The 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 Powell
Nicole Powell
Nicole Kristen Powell is a basketball player who was a standout at Stanford University and now plays for the New York Liberty in the WNBA...
and Erin Buescher, to the Sacramento Monarchs
Sacramento Monarchs
The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009...
in exchange for Tangela Smith and a 2006 WNBA Draft
WNBA Draft
The 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...
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 Championship
WNBA Finals
The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association and the conclusion of the sport's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002....
, defeating the Connecticut Sun
Connecticut Sun
The 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 in Orlando, Florida before the 1999 season began; the team moved to Connecticut before the 2003 season...
three games to one, in a best-of-five playoff.
On February 3, 2006, Scott, who had been a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
after the 2005 season ended, signed a contract to return to the Indiana Fever
Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever is a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began...
. She played one year with the Fever, then was traded again, in March 2007, to the Phoenix Mercury
Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; it is one of the eight original franchises...
, where she enjoyed winning a second WNBA Championship.
Olympia Scott is the first woman in WNBA history to win two WNBA Championships with two different teams.
Scott also served several years on the Women's National Basketball Players' Association (WNBPA) Executive Committee as the Secretary/Treasurer as well as an active member of the Negotiating Committee, participating in the last 2 Collective Bargaining Agreements between the WNBA and the WNBPA.
Scott has yet to officially retire from the WNBA where she has played a total of 10 seasons.
Olympia has also played in 6 different European countries for a total of 11 seasons including Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
for the Dynamo Moscow Region team; in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
for Mersin Buyuksehir, Istanbul University, Erdemir and the Ceyhan clubs; in Ibiza, Spain; Alcamo and Schio, Italy; Thessaloniki, Greece; and Yerevan, Armenia.
Coaching career
Scott once served as an assistant coach at the College of the SequoiasCollege of the Sequoias
College 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, California
Visalia, California
Visalia 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...
, and has also coached AAU
Amateur Athletic Union
The 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.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...
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 League
Liberty League
The 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 NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division III 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, after her Sacramento Monarchs
Sacramento Monarchs
The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009...
team won the WNBA championship
WNBA Finals
The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association and the conclusion of the sport's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002....
by defeating the Connecticut Sun
Connecticut Sun
The 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 in Orlando, Florida before the 1999 season began; the team moved to Connecticut before the 2003 season...
, Scott resigned from her coaching position to devote herself full-time to her playing career.
Corporate career
Scott is currently the President & CEO of Super Parenting LLC, the premiere online parenting education company. She co-founded the company with her mother, Jacqueline Parker Scott, Ed.D, MBA.Scott also became a life coach in 2007 and founded A Wonderful Life! Coaching.