Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S. | October 29, 1973||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 154 lb (70 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
High school | Allentown Central Catholic (Allentown, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing career | 1996–2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching career | 2003–2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As player: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1996–1997 | Portland Power | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1997–1998 | Philadelphia Rage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998 | Nashville Noise | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000 | Portland Fire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2001–2002 | Seattle Storm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2003–2008 | South Carolina (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
|
Michelle M. Marciniak (born October 29, 1973) is a former All-American collegiate and professional basketball player who played point guard in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). As a floor general, Marciniak competed for two national championships during her three-year career at the University of Tennessee. She led the Tennessee Lady Vols to their 4th National Championship and was named MVP in the 1996 Final Four held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
She later was the recruiting coordinator/assistant coach of the women's basketball team at the University of South Carolina from 2003 to 2008. Marciniak was responsible for two back to back top recruiting classes, rated #18 in 2007 and #7 in 2008, the highest ranked class ever recruited at South Carolina.
Marciniak is currently the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Sheex in Marlton, New Jersey, a performance fabric bedding company.
Marciniak was born in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1973.
Marciniak played high school basketball at Allentown Central Catholic High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she competed in the highly respected East Penn Conference.
In 1991, as an Allentown Central Catholic High School senior, she was named National Player of the Year by Parade magazine, Naismith National Player of the Year, and Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. In February 1991, Sports Illustrated profiled Marciniak in an article titled "She's the Ponytailed Princess of the Hoop", which covered her performance as a high school junior at Allentown Central Catholic High School. [1] She scored 3,025 points for Allentown Central Catholic High School, and the school later retired her number 23 jersey number 23 in recognition of her extraordinary high school basketball achievements.
After a year at the University of Notre Dame, Marciniak transferred to the University of Tennessee, where she quickly became a leader of the dominant University of Tennessee Lady Vols women's basketball team under head coach Pat Summitt. Summitt had recruited her at Allentown Central Catholic High School, where she went into labor as she was sitting in the Marciniaks' home on a recruiting trip. Summitt quickly wrapped up the visit and flew back to Knoxville, where she gave give birth to her son, Tyler. "Spinderella", as Marciniak was affectionately known because of her free wheeling, spinning, and slashing style, became a crowd favorite at Tennessee. She scored over 1,000 points and remains ranked among Tennessee's top ten all-time in assists and three-point scoring, despite only playing three seasons.
With Marciniak at point guard, the Lady Vols won consecutive Southeastern Conference championships in 1995 and 1996. In the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, Tennessee came in second to the Connecticut Huskies. In the 1997-1998 season, Tennessee wasn't expected to be as strong, but the team lost just four games during the regular season and returned to the Final Four, where they faced a rematch with Connecticut. In the game, Marciniak led the team to an 88-83 overtime victory, then avenged an earlier loss to Georgia to claim Tennessee's fourth national championship. [2] During the season, Marciniak became the focused leader and played a methodical style of basketball that Pat Summitt demanded from her point guards. Marciniak was chosen the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player for her inspired play. She graduated in 1996 with a degree in psychology.
Marciniak was named to the USA U18 team, then called the Junior World Championship Qualifying Team, in 1992. The team competed in Guanajuato, Mexico, in August 1992. The team won their first four games, then lost 80–70 to Brazil, finishing with the silver medal for the event, but qualifying for the 1993 world games. Marciniak averaged 6.8 points per game during the event. [3]
Marciniak continued with the team to the 1993 U19 World Championship (then called the Junior World Championship). The team won five games and lost two, but that left them in seventh place. Marciniak averaged 3.3 points per game. [4]
Marciniak represented the US at the 1995 World University Games held in Fukuoka, Japan in August and September 1995. The team had a record of 5–1, securing the silver medal. The USA team won early and reached a record of 5–0 when the USA beat Yugoslavia. In the semi-final game, the USA faced Russia. The team was behind much of the first half but managed to tie the game at the half. The USA broke the game open in the second half and won 101–74. The gold medal match was against unbeaten Italy. The Italian team started strong, scoring 12 of the first 14 points of the contest. Sylvia Crawley scored eight consecutive points to end the first half, but that left the USA nine points behind. The USA took a small lead in the second half, but the team from Italy responded with a ten-point run, and won the game and the gold medal by a score of 73–65. Marciniak averaged 2.9 points per game. [5]
Marciniak was invited to be a member of the Jones Cup team representing the US in 1996. She helped the team to a 9–0 record, and the gold medal in the event. Marciniak averaged 7.4 points per games, had 24 assists, second highest on the team, and recorded 21 steals, highest on the team. [6]
Marciniak participated on the USA team as part of the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The team went 4–3 and earned a bronze medal. [7]
Marciniak began her professional career in the women's American Basketball League, playing all 2+1⁄2 seasons of that league's existence. She played for the ABL's Portland Power, Philadelphia Rage, and Nashville Noise. After her first season as a professional, Marciniak was a first team All Star in a league loaded with talent. Marciniak was signed by the WNBA's expansion Portland Fire in 2000 where she was an integral part of Portland's success. She then[ when? ] signed with the Seattle Storm eight days later. Michelle found her home in Seattle the next three seasons while playing for the Storm. She was a fan favorite, and received the WNBA Community Service Award due to the countless hours she put in to bring fans into KeyArena.
More significant was her extremely hard-nosed play on the court, as a nationally televised tussle with Los Angeles Sparks player Latasha Byears [8] earned Marciniak a reputation as the Storm player that opponents least wished to foul. Byears intentionally threw a ball at Marciniak's face, and Marciniak, in response, charged the much larger and stronger Byears.
Marciniak retired at 29 years old, after the Storm's 2002 season, to become an assistant coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in the powerhouse SEC Conference, where she had played as a collegian. Marciniak served as an assistant on the staff of head coach Susan Walvius from 2003 to 2008. [9] She is also an occasional color analyst for WNBA and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball games on ESPN Radio and other media outlets.
In 2007, Marciniak and Walvius founded SHEEX, Inc., a company that is said to offer "the world's first athletic-performance sheets". [10] Constructed from materials commonly found in modern athletic wear, SHEEX provide similar moisture-wicking, temperature-control, breathability and stretch not found in traditional cotton sheeting. [11]
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991–92 | Notre Dame | 31 | - | - | 39.8 | 20.0 | 77.3 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 0.3 | - | 12.3 |
1992–93 | Tennessee | Sat out due to NCAA Transfer rules | |||||||||||
1993–94 | Tennessee | 32 | - | - | 40.5 | 32.8 | 68.8 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 0.2 | - | 6.2 |
1994–95 | Tennessee | 36 | - | - | 44.4 | 30.4 | 72.9 | 2.7 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 0.1 | - | 10.8 |
1995–96 | Tennessee | 36 | - | - | 43.9 | 20.3 | 79.5 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 0.3 | - | 11.6 |
Career | 135 | - | - | 42.3 | 26.6 | 75.3 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 2.2 | 0.2 | - | 10.3 | |
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference. [12] |
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Portland | 32 | 0 | 16.8 | 37.7 | 33.3 | 57.3 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 5.5 |
2001 | Seattle | 27 | 5 | 14.5 | 36.7 | 30.3 | 54.1 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 4.9 |
2002 | Seattle | 23 | 1 | 12.2 | 35.3 | 25.0 | 75.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
Career | 3 years, 2 team | 82 | 6 | 14.7 | 36.8 | 31.6 | 60.3 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 4.6 |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Seattle | 2 | 0 | 14.5 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
Career | 1 year, 1 team | 2 | 0 | 14.5 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
Patricia Susan Summitt was an American women's college basketball head coach who acquired 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time of her retirement. She served as the head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team from 1974 to 2012.
Chamique Shaunta Holdsclaw is an American former professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) most recently under a contract with the San Antonio Silver Stars. She announced her retirement from the Los Angeles Sparks on June 11, 2007, though she eventually came out of retirement to play with the Atlanta Dream for the 2009 WNBA Season. Holdsclaw was inducted into the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Candace Nicole Parker nicknamed "Ace", is an American former professional basketball player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time, she was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. She spent 13 seasons on the Sparks, two seasons with the Chicago Sky, and one season with the Las Vegas Aces, winning a championship with each team.
Carol Ann Blazejowski is an American retired professional women's basketball player and the former president and General Manager of the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Blazejowski was inducted in the inaugural class at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Sheryl Denise Swoopes is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2011 WNBA All-Star Game. Swoopes has won three Olympic gold medals and is one of eleven women's basketball players to have won an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup gold, and a WNBA title. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2017, she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Tina Marie Thompson is an American former WNBA professional basketball player and coach. Most recently, she served as the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team from 2018 to 2022. Thompson was inducted into both the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Kara Elizabeth Wolters is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player and a current sports broadcaster. Standing at six feet seven inches (2.01 m) and nicknamed "Big Girl," she is the tallest player in University of Connecticut women's basketball history and one of the tallest women to ever play in the WNBA. During her playing career, she was an NCAA national champion (1995), FIBA world champion (1998), WNBA champion (1999), and Olympic champion (2000) becoming one of 11 women with those accolades. She also won AP College Player of the Year in 1997
Kara Marie Lawson is the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team. She is a former American professional women's basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a basketball television analyst for ESPN and the Washington Wizards. Lawson primarily played as a shooting guard. She won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, a championship with the Sacramento Monarchs in the 2005 WNBA Finals, and coached the United States women's national 3x3 team to gold in the 2020 Summer Olympics. Lawson retired from the WNBA in 2015 to focus on her broadcasting career. She began her coaching career as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics of the NBA in 2019.
Latasha Nashay Byears is a former American professional women's basketball player. She played in the WNBA for the Sacramento Monarchs, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Washington Mystics, and for the Houston Comets. Byears ranked eighth all-time in the WNBA in field goal percentage (.514) and was among the top 10 rebounders in the league's history as of 2003.
Katie Smith is the lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty.
The women's basketball rivalry between the Lady Volunteers of the University of Tennessee and the UConn Huskies of the University of Connecticut is one of the fiercest rivalries in college basketball, and could be considered one of the first to reach national consciousness out of the women's game. The matchup features two long-tenured and media savvy coaches generally acknowledged among the top five ever in their sport, over two dozen players who went on to play in the WNBA, and two programs that have combined for 19 national championships. Their head-to-head matchups were consistently the top-rated games in the college women's field.
Donnette Jé-Michelle Snow is a retired American professional basketball player who played most recently in the Turkish Women's Basketball League.
Ann Elise Strother is an American basketball coach, and former professional player, most recently for the Indiana Fever. Strother played at the collegiate level for the Connecticut Huskies, helping the team to two national titles.
Loree Marlowe Moore is a former professional basketball player for the New York Liberty in the WNBA.
Courtney Paris is an American basketball coach and former player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. She last played as a center for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is best known for her accomplishments during her college career at the University of Oklahoma, where she holds career averages of 21.4 points and 15.3 rebounds per game. She holds the NCAA record for most consecutive double-doubles at 112. During her senior season in 2009, Paris received considerable media attention when she announced that she would pay back her tuition to the University of Oklahoma if the Sooners did not win the 2009 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. She would lead Oklahoma to the Final Four before falling short to eventual national runner-up Louisville. Paris was selected with the number seven overall pick by the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs in the 2009 WNBA draft.
Susan Walvius is a businesswoman and entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and current co-CEO of SHEEX, Inc., a bed linen company specializing in sheets and pillowcases constructed from advanced athletic-performance fabrics. She is also a former head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of South Carolina. Her best success came in the 2001 and 2002 seasons, where she went 25–7 and 23–8 respectively. In those two seasons, the Gamecocks went 19–9 in Southeastern Conference play. The 2002 team made it to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. On April 14, 2008, Walvius announced her resignation from South Carolina.
Stephanie Joanne White is a former professional basketball player and the head coach of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team from 2016 to 2021. Prior to Vanderbilt, she was the head coach of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA for the 2015 and 2016 season. As an intercollegiate athlete, she was named the winner of the Wade Trophy in 1999, which recognizes the top female basketball player in the nation.
Angela Deanne Bjorklund is a retired a women's NCAA basketball player for the Tennessee Lady Vols. Bjorklund is a former American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky drafted in the 2011 WNBA draft. Her older sister, Jami, was a forward for Kelly Graves' Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball team from 2005 to 2009, playing alongside Sky teammate at the time; Courtney Vandersloot.
Breanna Mackenzie Stewart, nicknamed "Stewie", is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Fenerbahçe of the Women's Basketball Super League, Euroleague Women.
Kamiko Williams is an American basketball coach and a former professional basketball player who last played for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).