Quick Facts
- NAME: Sheryl Swoopes
- OCCUPATION: Basketball Player
- BIRTH DATE: March 25, 1971 (Age: 42)
- EDUCATION: University of Texas
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Brownfield, Texas
- Full Name: Sheryl Denis Swoopes
- ZODIAC SIGN: Aries
Best Known For
Sheryl Swoopes is an American professional basketball player who was the first player to be signed in the WNBA. She has won three Olympic Gold Medals.
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Play NowSheryl Swoopes. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:30, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/sheryl-swoopes-9542142.
Sheryl Swoopes. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/sheryl-swoopes-9542142 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Sheryl Swoopes." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 11:30 http://www.biography.com/people/sheryl-swoopes-9542142.
"Sheryl Swoopes," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/sheryl-swoopes-9542142 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Sheryl Swoopes," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/sheryl-swoopes-9542142 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Sheryl Swoopes [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/sheryl-swoopes-9542142.
Sheryl Swoopes, http://www.biography.com/people/sheryl-swoopes-9542142 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Sheryl Swoopes. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/sheryl-swoopes-9542142. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Synopsis
Profile
Professional basketball player. A native of Lubbock, Texas, Swoopes transferred to Texas Tech University from South Plains Junior College after being named the Junior College Player of the Year in 1991. At Texas Tech, she quickly gained more national recognition, scoring 1,000 points in forty-six games--a shorter period than anyone else in school history-- while going on to set more than ten school records, including most points per game and best free throw percentage. In 1993, she was named Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Final Four Championships and scored forty-seven points in the final game to lead her team to the national championship.
After graduating from Texas Tech in 1994, Swoopes continued to play for the USA national women's basketball team, helping the team to a bronze medal in the 1994 World Championships and contributing to the team's undefeated record (52-0) in 1995-96. In 1996, she won a gold medal as a member of the USA Olympic team. The next year, she was signed by the WNBA and assigned to play for the Houston Comets, where she helped lead the team to back-to-back WNBA championships. In 1998, she was named to the All-WNBA first team.
Swoopes was the first woman to have a basketball shoe named after her (the Nike Air SwoopesSHe has one son, Jordan Eric, who was born on June 25, 1997.
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View groupShaquille O'Neal, Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James are just a few of the most well-known basketball players to have competed in the Olympic Games. The men's and women's national teams, often comprised of some of the top American professional and college players, have proven to be two of the most successful teams from the U.S. Since their first Olympic appearance in 1936, the men's team has taken home a total of 13 gold medals, with the women not far behind, claiming six since their start in 1976. From legendary figures like Michael Jordan to female powerhouses like Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes, Biography looks at the most famous names who have dominated the Olympic courts.
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