Teresa Edwards

Teresa Edwards (born July 19, 1964 in Cairo, Georgia) is a retired American basketball player. In 2000, "Sports Illustrated" magazine placed her as 22nd of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century".

College years

Edwards began her career at the University of Georgia where she was a two time All-American. She also led Georgia Bulldogs, to the Final Four on two occasions and played in her first Olympic Games as a collegian, in 1984. Her college jersey number (#5) was retired, making her one of only three Lady Bulldog players given that honor.

She earned her degree in Leisure Studies in 1989.

ABL career

Edwards was the star player and head coach for the Atlanta Glory of the American Basketball League (ABL). She also played for the Philadelphia Rage.

WNBA career

Edwards did not turn to the WNBA, later claiming that if she had joined, she would be receiving the minimum salary due to her status as an WNBA "rookie".

During the 2003 WNBA Draft, at the urging of Minnesota Lynx head coach Suzie McConnell Serio, the Lynx selected Edwards even though she was 38 years old. Edwards and Serio were teammates on the women's basketball team during the Summer Olympics of 1988 and 1992.

Edwards played for the Lynx during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Afterwards, her contract expired and she became a free agent. But no other WNBA team offered her a contract for the 2005 season.

In December 2006, Edwards returned to Lynx, as an assistant coach.

Edwards will serve as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics. [ [http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/mediumwell/blog/2008/07/your_nbc_olympics_lineup.html Medium Well: Your NBC Olympics lineup - A blog on sports media, news and networks - baltimoresun.com ] ]

International career

After Edwards graduated, she went abroad as there was not a professional basketball league for women in the United States. She played abroad for nine seasons splitting time between Italy, Japan, Spain, and France (Tarbes and Valenciennes). During this time, she also continued to appear in international competition.

After the 1994 season, she stayed in the United States to train for her fourth Olympic appearance at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Edwards was selected to take the competitors' oath at the Opening Ceremonies in Atlanta.

Edwards is the first basketball player -- male or female -- to have played in five Olympics. She competed for the United States in international competition a total of 19 times. Her teams won 14 gold medals.

She also holds the unique distinction of being in the youngest gold medalist in women's basketball (age 20 in 1984) and the oldest gold medalist in women's basketball (age 36 in 2000).

She made a record fifth Olympic basketball team, earning a fourth gold medal to go with her bronze medal. She returned to Europe in 2002.

She also holds the record for points in a women's basketball game in the United States with 46.

Vital statistics

*Position: Guard
*Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
*College: University of Georgia
*Team(s): Minnesota Lynx
*Heroes: Hillary ClintonFact|date=February 2008

References

* [http://www.wnba.com/lynx/news/assistants_061213.html Lynx News article]

External links

* [http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1996 IOC 1996 Summer Olympics]
* [http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/teresa_edwards/?nav=page WNBA Player Profile]
* [http://www.wnba.com/lynx/features/edwards_40_040719.html WNBA trivia page celebrating her 40th birthday]
* [http://www.usabasketball.com/bioswomen/teresa_edwards_bio.html USA Basketball Player Biography]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/22/ Profile from "Sports Illustrated" "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century"]
* [http://www.gshf.org Georgia Sports Hall of Fame]