Sports
Sheryl Swoopes
Brownfield native Sheryl Swoopes led Texas Tech to the 1993 national title, became the first player signed by the WNBA in 1996 and won three league MVP awards and four championships with the Houston Comets.
- Roster rank
- #130
- Category
- Sports
- Subject type
- Person
- Profile source
- Published Texas Icons profile
Texas story
Life and career
Sheryl Swoopes was born in Brownfield, Texas, played at South Plains College and Texas Tech, and produced one of the defining performances in women's college basketball history by scoring 47 points in the 1993 national championship game.
On October 23, 1996, Swoopes became the first player signed by the WNBA. She was assigned to Houston for the league's inaugural 1997 season and became a cornerstone of the Comets' four straight championships. She won three WNBA MVP awards, three Olympic gold medals and entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Defining work
What to know
- 1993 NCAA championship
- 47-point title game
- first player signed by the WNBA
- four WNBA championships
- three WNBA MVP awards
- 2016 Basketball Hall of Fame
Timeline
Key milestones
- 1971Born in Brownfield, Texas.
- 1993Leads Texas Tech to the NCAA championship.
- 1996Becomes the first player signed by the WNBA.
- 1997Begins play with the Houston Comets.
- 1997-2000Wins four straight WNBA championships.
- 2016Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Texas connections
Places in the story
Brownfield
Birthplace.
Lubbock
Texas Tech national-championship career.
Houston
Comets dynasty and WNBA peak.
Legacy
Why the story lasts
Swoopes connected West Texas college basketball directly to the launch and early dominance of the WNBA.
Her career is one of the strongest examples on the roster of a Texas-born athlete whose college and professional peaks also occurred in the state.
Sources
Research trail
Cross-linked profiles