Valerie Still

Last updated

Valerie Still
Valerie Still (cropped).jpg
Personal information
Born (1961-05-14) May 14, 1961 (age 63)
Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight155 lb (70 kg)
Career information
High school Cherry Hill East
(Cherry Hill, New Jersey)
College Kentucky (1979-1983)
Playing career1983–1999
Position Center
Number12
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Jones Cup
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1980 Taipei Team competition
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1982 Taipei Team competition
World University Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1981 Bucharest Team competition

Valerie Still (born 1961) [1] [2] is an American former professional women's basketball player with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA and the Columbus Quest of the American Basketball League (ABL). [3]

Contents

During her four years at the University of Kentucky, she scored more points than any other basketball player, male or female, with 2,763 points. [4] Afterwards she went abroad, playing in Italy for 12 years (last team Famila Schio). During that time, she earned an Italian Professional Basketball Championship.

She returned to the United States in 1996 and was drafted by the Columbus Quest of the fledgling ABL. She led the Quest to back-to-back championships, and was named MVP of the Championship Series both times. When the ABL folded during its third season, she went on to play in the WNBA for the Washington Mystics.

In 1995, she married Rob Lock, also a former University of Kentucky basketball player. They met while Still was interviewing his teammate, Darryl Dawkins, on her television program in Italy. In 1996, they had a child named Aaron Lock. The couple divorced in 2007.

Her brother, Art Still, was a defensive end for the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team from 1973 to 1977 and went on to have a 12-year NFL career for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills, including 4 pro bowl appearances.

Still lives in Palmyra, New Jersey. [5]

In 2019, Still was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Kentucky statistics

Source [6]

Legend
  GPGames 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
TeamGPPointsFG%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1979-80Kentucky2964155.3%70.0%13.91.11.51.622.1
1980-81Kentucky3062858.1%70.1%11.01.22.11.820.9
1981-82Kentucky3279458.2%68.3%14.31.41.81.224.8
1982-83Kentucky2870059.9%72.6%12.00.91.40.625.0
Career119276357.8%70.0%12.81.21.71.323.2

USA Basketball

Still was named to the team representing the US at the 1980 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The USA team ended with a 7–2 record, which was a three-way tie for first place. The tie-breaker was point differential, and the USA did not win the tie-breaker, so ended up with the bronze medal. [1]

Still was chosen to represent the USA on the USA Basketball team at the 1981 World University games, held in Bucharest, Romania and coached by Kay Yow. After winning the opening game, the USA was challenged by China, who held a halftime lead. The USA came back to win by two points, helped by 26 points from Denise Curry. The USA also was challenged by Canada, who led at halftime, but the USA won by three points 79–76. The USA beat host team Romania to set up a match with undefeated Russia for the gold medal. The Russian team was too strong, and won the gold, leaving the US with the silver medal. Still averaged 0.7 points per game. [7]

Still also played for the USA team at the Jones Cup competition in 1982. This time, the USA posted a 7–1 record to earn the silver medal. [2]

Ancestry

In the slavery abolitionist movement, Still’s family included both activists and individual freedom seekers. Her great-great-great grandmother, Sidney, escaped from the Maryland Eastern Shore in cc 1806 to join her husband, a freeman, in New Jersey. She took two daughters with her. She was unsuccessful in her plan to return for her sons, Peter and Levin Jr. The boys, ages 6 and 8, were sold to a brickyard owner and builder in Lexington, KY, the same city where Still lived while on the University of Kentucky basketball team. For 11 years, the brothers carried thousands of bricks where the university is now located. [8]

William Still, the youngest brother of Peter Still and Levin Still Jr., arrived in 1844 from New Jersey to Philadelphia, and became prominent in the Vigilant Committee. Its mission was to provide aid to freedom seekers. William Still kept detailed records of arrivals and used his records to reunite families. Harriet Tubman was among those he worked with and recorded. In his records, he referred to her as “Moses” when she arrived with others, including her parents, who she had guided to freedom from the Maryland Eastern Shore. [9] [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 "1980 Women's R. William Jones Cup". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014. age 18 in May 1980
  2. 1 2 "1982 Women's R. William Jones Cup". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014. age 21 in June 1982
  3. ↑ "ValerieStill.com" . Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  4. ↑ "This Still's a Potent Producer". Sports Illustrated . January 17, 1983. Retrieved March 6, 2010. Now, as a 6'1" senior center at the University of Kentucky, Valerie Still finally has her own athletic identity. That was ensured when she tallied 30 points against Miami of Ohio on Dec. 5 and thereby surpassed Dan Issel's 2,138 to make her the school's alltime leading scorer. The game was halted so Still could receive a plaque, the game ball and applause.
  5. ↑ 72-73 Review.qxd - College Sports Live Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Kentucky Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Eleventh World University Games -- 1981". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Davis, Merlene (January 22, 2012). "UK basketball star Valerie Still recounts slave heritage in a book". The Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  9. ↑ Wickenden, Dorothy (2021). The agitators : three friends who fought for abolition and women's rights. New York. pp. 45, 109, 114. ISBN   978-1-4767-6073-5. OCLC   1234441272.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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