![]() Toler with the San Diego State Aztecs c. 1985 | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Washington, D.C., U.S. | March 24, 1966
Listed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
Listed weight | 132 lb (60 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | St. Anthony (Washington, D.C.) |
College |
|
Playing career | 1989–1999 |
Position | Point guard |
Number | 11 |
Coaching career | 2014–2014 |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1989–1991 | Montecchio |
1991–1994 | Pescara |
1994–1996 | Sporting Flash |
1996–1997 | Ramat HaSharon |
1997–1999 | Los Angeles Sparks |
As coach: | |
2014 | Los Angeles Sparks (interim) |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Virginia Marlita "Penny" Toler (born March 24, 1966) is an American basketball executive and former player who served most recently as the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Toler holds the distinction of scoring the first field-goal and the first free throw in WNBA history.
As of 2023, Toler is one of only two players to have their jersey retired by the Sparks, the other being Lisa Leslie. [1]
Toler began her college career with the San Diego State Aztecs, joining a squad led by Tina Hutchinson. [2] Toler then sat out a year after transferring to Long Beach State, where she became an All-American. During her career Long Beach State made it to the Final Four twice, in 1987 and 1988. Toler was considered one of the best ever collegiate players under future Hall of Fame coach Joan Bonvicini. In 1995 she was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame.
Source [3]
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | Points | PPG | FG% | FT% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986–87 | Long Beach State | 36 | 787 | 21.9 | 54.5% | 77.0% |
1987–88 | Long Beach State | 30 | 675 | 22.5 | 50.8% | 78.3% |
1988–89 | Long Beach State | 35 | 731 | 20.9 | 49.7% | 81.9% |
Career | 101 | 2,193 | 21.7 | 51.7% | 79.5% |
Having no viable domestic professional options, Toler began her professional career in Italy, playing two seasons for Montecchio and three for Pescara. She then played two seasons in Greece for Sporting Flash, and one in Israel for Ramat HaSharon.
In 1997, she returned to the United States to play in the newly organized WNBA. [4] Toler was allocated to the Los Angeles Sparks during the player initiation round in the 1997 WNBA draft. She is most commonly remembered as the first player to score a basket in the WNBA. She did so against the New York Liberty on June 21, 1997 19:01 hour at the Los Angeles Great Western Forum. [5] [6] [7] Her shot was a side jumper. Toler also made the first free throw in the WNBA history. In that debut game, Toler recorded 15 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound and 1 steal with the Sparks losing the game 57 - 67. [8]
Toler played 3 seasons with the Sparks, averaging 10 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4 assists in 88 games. From 1997 to 1999, the Sparks only made the playoffs during the 1999 season after finishing with a 20 - 12 record. They matched up against the Sacramento Monarchs in the first round and won the single game elimination, but lost 2 - 1 in the Western Conference Finals by the Houston Comets. In that series versus the Comets, Toler averaged 2.6 points, 1.3 assists in 25.4 minutes a game.
In November 1999 she retired as a player. Her final WNBA game was Game 3 of the previously mentioned Western Conference Finals against the Comets. That game was played on August 30, 1999 and the Sparks would lose 62 - 72 with Toler recording 1 point and 2 rebounds. [9]
She became a general manager for the Los Angeles Sparks and immediately after taking on a management role, she would assemble the Los Angeles Sparks roster that would become the championship team in 2001.
On July 20, 2014, Toler was named as interim head coach of the Sparks following the firing of Carol Ross. [10] She stayed as Head Coach until the end of 2014 when Brian Agler took over on January 5, 2015. She helped coach the Sparks to a playoff appearance in 2014 but they were swept 2- 0 by the Phoenix Mercury in the Semi-Finals.
Toler was fired as vice president and general manager on October 4, 2019, after the Sparks were swept out of the WNBA Semi-Finals during the 2019 WNBA Playoffs. [11] The move also came after the revelation that Toler entered the Sparks' locker room following their Game 2 loss and gave an obscenity-laced speech that included the use of the "N-word". [12]
By the time the WNBA launched, Toler had already spent eight years playing basketball overseas. She has played five seasons in Italy, two seasons in Greece, and a season in Israel. While in Italy, she won a scoring title, two assist titles, and was MVP of the Italian all-star game.
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Los Angeles | 28 | 28 | 32.4 | .426 | .184 | .839 | 3.4 | 5.1 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 3.8 | 13.1 |
1998 | Los Angeles | 30 | 30 | 31.5 | .415 | .417 | .743 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 3.3 | 12.3 |
1999 | Los Angeles | 30 | 4 | 14.2 | .340 | .154 | .867 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 4.8 |
Career | 3 years, 1 team | 88 | 62 | 25.9 | .406 | .306 | .811 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.8 | 10.0 |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Los Angeles | 4 | 0 | 10.5 | .333 | .000 | .500 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league based in the United States. It is composed of 12 teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September, with the All-Star game being played midway through the season in July and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October.
Michele Margaret Timms is an Australian basketball coach and former player. She played five seasons for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016.
The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began. Like some other WNBA teams, the Sparks have the distinction of not being affiliated with an NBA counterpart, even though the market is shared with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Rebecca Rose Lobo-Rushin is an American television basketball analyst and former women's basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 to 2003. Lobo, at 6'4", played the center position for much of her career. She played college basketball at the University of Connecticut, where she was a member of the team that won the 1995 national championship, going 35–0 on the season in the process. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. In April 2017, she was one of the members of the 2017 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Tracy McGrady and Muffet McGraw.
Susan Joy Wicks is a former basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played with the New York Liberty from 1997 to 2002. Wicks was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. Sue now works in aquaculture on Long Island continuing her family 400 year legacy on working on the water
Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and served as the head basketball coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. In 2016, Weatherspoon was chosen to the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary.
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.
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.
Mwadi Mabika is a retired Congolese-American basketball player. She was an All-Star in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Dena Head is an American retired women's basketball player. She is best remembered as the first player drafted in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Jennifer "Grandmama" Gillom is an American former Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball player who played for the Phoenix Mercury from 1997 to 2002, before finishing her playing career with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2003. Gillom is also a former Sparks head coach, also coached the Minnesota Lynx, and was, until 2015, an assistant coach of the Connecticut Sun.
Lindsey Marcie Harding is an American professional basketball coach and former player. She is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Throughout her playing career, Harding played for the Minnesota Lynx, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and has played overseas in Turkey and Russia. She was previously a scout and a player development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers. She was born in Mobile, Alabama, but grew up in Houston, Texas, and also holds a Belarusian passport.
Bridget Pettis was an Assistant Coach of the Chicago Sky Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional basketball team. She is an American former college and professional basketball player who was a guard in the WNBA for eight seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. Pettis played college basketball for the University of Florida, and professionally for the Phoenix Mercury and the Indiana Fever of the WNBA.
Tamecka Michelle Dixon is an American former professional basketball player. She played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 to 2009 for three different teams, was part of WNBA championship teams in 2001 and 2002, was a three-time WNBA All-Star and announced her retirement prior to the 2010 WNBA season.
The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks finished in second place in the Western Division with a record of 14 wins and 14 losses.
Pamela Denise McGee is an American former professional women's basketball player, Olympic gold medalist, and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. She is the mother of NBA player JaVale McGee and WNBL player Imani McGee-Stafford.
Carol Ross is an American college and professional basketball coach. Ross has served as the head women's basketball coach for the University of Florida and the University of Mississippi, and also as the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The USC Trojans women's basketball team, or the Women of Troy, is the collegiate women's basketball team that represents the University of Southern California, in the Big Ten Conference. The team rose to prominence in 1976, at which time scholarships became available to female basketball players. They were the first Division I team to give these scholarships.
Rhonda Mapp is a former professional basketball player. She played 6 years of professional basketball overseas before joining the WNBA in 1997. After her time in the WNBA, Mapp continued to play overseas, including time in Spain, Italy, France, Turkey, Israel, and Korea.
The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association.