The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded prior to the 1998 season, and is owned by Ted Leonsis through Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the Mystics' NBA counterpart, the Washington Wizards. The team plays in the Entertainment and Sports Arena in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Washington DC. Sheila C. Johnson, co-founder of BET and ex-wife of Charlotte Sting owner Robert L. Johnson, is the managing partner.
Frederick U. Conard High School is a public high school in West Hartford, in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It opened in 1957, and was named after Frederick Underwood Conard, president of Niles-Bement-Pond Company and chairman of the local Board of Education when plans for the school were approved. Conard is one of two West Hartford public high schools, the other being Hall High School.
The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2006 season. The Sky experienced a period of success from 2013 to 2016, making four playoff appearances and playing in the 2014 WNBA Finals. They experienced a second period of success from 2019 to 2022 and won their first championship in the 2021 WNBA Finals.
Elena Delle Donne is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Delle Donne played college basketball for the Delaware Blue Hens from 2009 to 2013. She was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the second overall pick of the 2013 WNBA draft, and led the Sky to the 2014 WNBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Phoenix Mercury. Delle Donne was traded to the Washington Mystics in 2017 and led them to their first WNBA championship in 2019.
The McDonald's All American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the high-school basketball season, in an East vs. West format. As part of the annual event, boys and girls compete in a slam dunk contest and a three-point shooting competition, and compete alongside All-American Game alumni in a timed team shootout. The last of these competitions replaced separate overall timed skills competitions for boys and girls. It is rare for girls to compete in the slam dunk contest. They have, however, won it three times—in 2004 by Candace Parker, in 2019 by Fran Belibi, and most recently in 2022 by Ashlyn Watkins. The boys' game has been contested annually since 1978, and the girls game has been played each year since it was added in 2002.
Cynthia Jane Barboza is an American retired volleyball player. She is an outside hitter who played at Stanford University for four years.
The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls track & field, girls softball, and girls volleyball.
Megan Hodge Easy is an American indoor volleyball player who won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with the US team and played for Pennsylvania State University's volleyball team. Currently, she plays in Brazilian team Itambé-Minas.
Skylar Kierra Diggins-Smith is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNBA draft. In high school, she was the National Gatorade Player of the Year and the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year. She played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and led the team to three consecutive Final Fours and two consecutive NCAA championship appearances. She finished her Notre Dame career ranked first in points and steals, second in assists, and as a two-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the nation.
Nicole Anne Kaczmarski is an American former professional basketball player. A standout player in high school, she received a Gatorade Player of the Year award, was named Miss New York Basketball and earned a spot in the 1999 USA Today All-USA high school basketball team. Heavily recruited by colleges, Kaczmarski eventually enrolled at UCLA and played one season for their women's basketball team. Kaczmarski then enrolled at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Afterward, she had brief stints with two Women's National Basketball Association teams, the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2011, she became a color commentator for basketball telecasts. Kaczmarski's high school career and college recruitment were chronicled in the documentary film Running Down a Dream.
Jabari Ali Parker is an American professional basketball player for FC Barcelona of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, after one season of playing for Duke University. He played four seasons for the Bucks. Then, he played with 5 different teams over the course of 4 more NBA seasons. Parker was a standout high school athlete, helping his team win four straight Illinois state championships for Simeon Career Academy, and was named the National High School Player of the Year by Gatorade and McDonald's. In his freshman year for the 2013–14 Duke Blue Devils, he was named a consensus first-team All-American, the USBWA National Freshman of the Year, and the runner-up for the John R. Wooden Award.
Mr. Basketball USA, formerly known as the ESPN RISE National Player of the Year and EA SPORTS National Player of the Year, is an award presented to the United States boys' high school basketball national player of the year by Ballislife.com. Before 1996, retroactive recognition was determined for honorees going back to 1955's selectee Wilt Chamberlain, determined by National High School Hall of Fame member Doug Huff, who has been a McDonald's All-American Game selection committee member since the game's inception, CalHiSports.com Editor Mark Tennis and Ballislife.com National Editor Ronnie Flores. From 1996–2002 the selections were made by Student Sports and from 2003–2009 by EA Sports. From 2010–2012 the award was determined by ESPN HS until the award was taken over and executed by Flores in 2013 after his tenure with ESPN ended.
The 2012–13 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November and ended with the Final Four in New Orleans, April 7–9.
Tayler Hill is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. Hill previously played for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Hill was a McDonald's All-American coming out of high school and left high school as the all-time leading scorer in Minnesota basketball history with 3,888 points. She was selected fourth overall in the 2013 WNBA draft by the Mystics.
Christyn Williams is an American women's basketball player who is a free agent. She was drafted by the Washington Mystics. She played college basketball at the University of Connecticut (UConn). She played in high school for Central Arkansas Christian School in North Little Rock, Arkansas. A five-star recruit and one of the most decorated high school basketball players in history, Williams rose to national acclaim after winning the 2018 WBCA National Player of the Year award, the 2018 Naismith National Player of the Year award the 2018 Gatorade National Player of the Year award, and the 2018 USA Today Player of the Year award. Williams also was named a McDonald's All-American, where she was named the game's MVP after scoring 22 points and leading the West team to an 82-79 victory. Williams was awarded the Morgan Wootten Award, which is given each year to "the McDonald's All American who best exhibits outstanding character, leadership and the values of a student-athlete in the classroom and the community". Williams was also named to the 2018 Jordan Brand Classic team.
Azzi Fudd is an American college basketball player for the UConn Huskies of the Big East Conference. She attended St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C., where she was ranked as the number one recruit in her class by ESPN and won national player of the year honors. Fudd was on the UConn team that reached the national championship game as a freshman.
Emily Ann Engstler is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), currently playing for Hapoel Lev Jerusalem of the Israeli Female Basketball Premier League. She formerly played for the Indiana Fever and the Minnesota Lynx. She played college basketball for Syracuse during her first three years at the college level, then for Louisville, earning first-team All-ACC honors in her only season with the team. Engstler graduated from St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, New York, where she was rated a five-star recruit by ESPN and named a McDonald's All-American.
Jasmine Dickey is an American professional basketball player. She played college basketball at Delaware. She was drafted in the Third Round of the 2022 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings.
Kira Carroll "Kiki" Rice is an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins of the Big Ten Conference. She played for Sidwell Friends School at the high school level, where she was one of the top recruits in her class and earned national player of the year honors as a senior.
Judea Skies "JuJu" Watkins is an American college basketball player for the USC Trojans of the Big Ten Conference.
