Tonya Edwards (born March 13, 1968 in
Flint, MichiganFlint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, 66 miles northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the Flint/Tri-Cities...
) is a former 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 and is currently a college coach.
Edwards attended Northwestern High School in
Flint, MichiganFlint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, 66 miles northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the Flint/Tri-Cities...
, and led the girls' basketball team to two state
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...
championship teams in 1983 and 1984. After graduating from high school, she attended college at
University of TennesseeThe University of Tennessee , sometimes called the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville...
and played for their team nicknamed the
Lady Vols. She helped lead them to two
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball ChampionshipThe NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981-82 season...
s in 1987 and 1989.
During her collegiate career, she scored 1,309 points for a 10.5 per game average and was named the Most Valuable Performer in the 1987 NCAA Tournament.
Tonya Edwards (born March 13, 1968 in
Flint, MichiganFlint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, 66 miles northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the Flint/Tri-Cities...
) is a former 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 and is currently a college coach.
High school and University of Tennessee
Edwards attended Northwestern High School in
Flint, MichiganFlint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, 66 miles northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the Flint/Tri-Cities...
, and led the girls' basketball team to two state
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...
championship teams in 1983 and 1984. After graduating from high school, she attended college at
University of TennesseeThe University of Tennessee , sometimes called the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville...
and played for their team nicknamed the
Lady Vols. She helped lead them to two
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball ChampionshipThe NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981-82 season...
s in 1987 and 1989.
During her collegiate career, she scored 1,309 points for a 10.5 per game average and was named the Most Valuable Performer in the 1987 NCAA Tournament. She graduated from University of Tennessee in 1990.
Professional career
After graduating from college, there were no opportunities to play professional basketball in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, so Edwards played professionally in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
from 1991-1992,
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...
in 1994, and
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
from 1995-1996. In the Autumn of 1996, she played for the
Columbus QuestThe Columbus Quest was a professional women's basketball franchise in the now-defunct American Basketball League . They were one of the league's original eight teams that started play in 1996...
in the
American Basketball LeagueThe American Basketball League of 1996 was an independent professional basketball league for women in the United States. At the same time the ABL was being formed, the National Basketball Association was creating the Women's National Basketball Association...
(ABL), and won two championship titles with them. In 1998, Edwards became the interim head coach for the Quest after coach Brian Agler resigned.
After the ABL folded due to financial difficulties, Edwards was selected by the
Minnesota LynxThe Minnesota Lynx are a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and play their home games at the Target Center. They are currently coached by Jennifer Gillom, who began coaching on June 3, 2009....
in the
1999 WNBA Draft1999 WNBA Draft - 6 April 1999*On September 15, 1998, two more players were assigned prior to the expansion draft.*On April 6, 1999 a WNBA expansion draft took place.*On May 3, 1999 another round of player allocation took place....
. She also played for 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...
and
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....
.
Coaching career
Edwards began her coaching career by returning to her
alma materAlma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother". It was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity for the Virgin Mary. In modern times it is ordinarily used to refer to the university or college a person attended...
, Northwestern Community High School in
Flint, MichiganFlint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, 66 miles northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the Flint/Tri-Cities...
, for five seasons (1990-1995). She guided her team to the 1993 state championship with perfect 28-0 record, a 1992 state champion runner-up finish, and compiled a 78-23 overall record (.772). She was named 1993 "High School Coach of the Year" in the state of
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
In 2004, she became a radio commentator for the Phoenix Mercury games, and later became an assistant coach in the
National Women's Basketball LeagueThe National Women's Basketball League or NWBL was an organization governing basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and began play in the Fall of that year. The league used to have its own season during the off-season of the WNBA. During the off-season,...
.
In 2006, she was inducted to the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame. That same year, she was named as an assistant coach to the women's basketball team at
University of Detroit MercyUniversity of Detroit Mercy is a comprehensive university in Detroit, Michigan, United States, created in 1990. With origins dating from 1877, it is the largest Roman Catholic university in Michigan. UDM is one of the twenty-eight member Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the...
.
She also resides in a small village called West End in Surrey from time to time now when staying in Britain.
Vital statistics
- Position: Guard
- Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
- College: University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee , sometimes called the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville...
- Team(s): Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and play their home games at the Target Center. They are currently coached by Jennifer Gillom, who began coaching on June 3, 2009....
(1999)
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...
(2000-2001)
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....
(2002)
External links