Sheryl Swoopes Biography

Sheryl Swoopes' earliest basketball memory was travelling to nationals with the Little Dribblers team when she was eight years old, inspired by her mother, Louise, who raised four children on her own. Swoopes has continued to make her imprint on the game of women's professional basketball and women's athletics since then, establishing herself as a household brand in sport. The first woman to have her own Nike shoe named after her, Air Swoopes, the 2003 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year has received several prestigious honors during her career. Swoopes is widely regarded as one of the finest female basketball players of all time. She was also honored and given an ESPY for Female Professional Basketball Player of the Year at the 2000 ESPY Awards Show, and she was nominated for another ESPY in 2003. Swoopes was chosen to the All-WNBA First Team in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002, and to the All-WNBA Second Team in 2003. Swoopes was named the WNBA Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003, as well as Defensive Player of the Year in 2002 and 2000. Sheryl had several double-doubles in her career and was the leading vote getter in WNBA All-Star voting in 2003, 2002, 2000, and 1999. She was also nominated for Female Athlete of the Year by BET in 2003, along with Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Lisa Leslie. Ebony magazine named her a Sister in the Spotlight in 2003. Swoopes is a three-time Olympian, having won gold medals in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics in addition to her professional career with the WNBA. She was also a member of the USA Basketball Women's National Team in 2003, which played 52 games across the world in preparation for the Olympics. Swoopes has represented the United States at the 1994 Goodwill Games, the 1999 Winter European Tour, and the 2002 World Games. Swoopes was sidelined for the 2001-2002 season due to a ruptured ACL, but she returned in 2002 with excellent play and performance, receiving the WNBA league MVP award. Those same qualities of devotion, commitment, determination, and tenacity are mainstays in her pursuits off the basketball court. Swoopes is delighted to have earned the prestigious honors for her on-court presence, but she is also proud of her achievements off the court. She is incredibly engaged in the community and just launched the Sheryl Swoopes Foundation for Young, which is devoted to educating, improving, and empowering our youth (S.S.F.Y.). Swoopes has been on the Advisory Council for the Talbots Foundation and has served on the Advisory Board for M.A.D.D. She has featured as a guest analyst on The Today Show, The Weakest Link, CNN's Paula Zahn Show, and ESPN, and was invited by President George W. Bush to join him for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Swoopes, a native of Brownfield (Lubbock), Texas, attended Texas Tech University. Sheryl was named one of Houston's Living Legends in January 2004, and in October of same year, she was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame by Texas Governor Rick Perry. Swoopes was recently recognized as one of Houston's most notable personalities in an anniversary edition of The Houston Press in March 2005. Swoopes, a single mom, spends her free time with her son, playing volleyball, running camps and clinics, and touring the country to convey inspirational lessons of devotion and tenacity to audiences of all ages and demographic groups.

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