Sheryl Swoopes: Basketball

Swoopes was the first athlete to sign with the WNBA and is a 3-time Olympic gold metalist.

Checking in on Tulsa Shock and Sheryl Swoopes

Swoopes started her college career at the University of Texas but transfered to South Plains College. After a few years at South Plains, she transfered again to Texas Tech. She was part of the Texas Tech team that in 1999 won the NCAA Championship title. She is in the Texas Tech record books under many categories, including single-game championship scoring performance and highest Championship Tournament scoring average. She was the first player to be signed to the WNBA, when she was drafted by the Houston Comets in the 1997. She gave birth to her son and came back to play the last part of the inaugural seaosn. She was a three time WNBA MVP (2000, 2002, and 2005). Swoops is the second player in history to receive the All-Star Game MVP and the WNBA MVP in the same season. She was part of USA Basketball and received gold metals in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympic games. In 2005, after a marriage and a child, Swoopes publicly announced that she was gay. She is the first female basketball player to have a shoe named after her, made by Nike, called "Air Swoopes". After 11 years with the Houston Comets, she signed with the Seattle Storm in 2008. In 2009 she left the WNBA but returned to the Tulsa Shock in 2011 at the age of 40.

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