- Penny Toler
Penny Toler (born
March 24 ,1966 ) was aWomen's National Basketball Association basketball player. She is currently the general manager of theLos Angeles Sparks .College years
Toler began her college career at San Diego State, sat out a year, and then transferred to
Long Beach State , where she became anAll-America n basketball player. She was also a member of two Final Four teams in 1987 and 1988. She was also considered one of the best ever collegiate players under future hall of fame coachJoan Bonvicini . In 1995 she was inducted into theLong Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame.WNBA career
Toler was a point guard allocated to the
Los Angeles Sparks during the player initiation round in the1997 WNBA draft . She is most commonly remembered as the first player to score a basket in the WNBA. She did so against theNew York Liberty on June 21, 1997 19:01 hourFact|date=April 2007 at the Los AngelesGreat Western Forum . Her shot was a side jumper. Toler also made the first free throw in the WNBA history.In November 1999 she retired as a player to become the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks. Immediately after taking on a management role, she would assemble the Los Angeles Sparks roster that would become the championship team in 2001.
Among all professional men or women sports league, Toler would become the fastest person to go from a player to general manager status to winning a championship in the short span of just 2 years.Fact|date=April 2007
International career
By the time the WNBA launched, Toler had already spent 8 years playing basketball overseas. She has played five seasons in
Italy , two seasons inGreece , and a season inIsrael . While in Italy, she won a scoring title, two assist titles, and was MVP of the Italian all-star game.She was named to the United States Olympic basketball committee in 2004.
Career Statistics
WNBA Career Totals
WNBA Career Playoff Averages
External links
* [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketba/2002-05-01-all-usa-girls-toler.htm USATODAY Recognition]
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