Penny Toler

Last updated
Penny Toler
Penny Toler SDSU (cropped).png
Toler with the San Diego State Aztecs c. 1985
Personal information
Born (1966-03-24) March 24, 1966 (age 57)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight132 lb (60 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt. Anthony (Washington, D.C.)
College
Playing career1989–1999
Position Point guard
Number11
Coaching career2014–2014
Career history
As player:
1989–1991Montecchio
1991–1994Pescara
1994–1996Sporting Flash
1996–1997Ramat HaSharon
1997–1999 Los Angeles Sparks
As coach:
2014 Los Angeles Sparks (interim)
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.

Contents

As of 2023, Toler is one of only two players to have their jersey retired by the Sparks, the other being Lisa Leslie. [1]

College years

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.

Long Beach State statistics

Source [3]

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
YearTeamGPPointsPPGFG%FT%
1986–87Long Beach State3678721.954.5%77.0%
1987–88Long Beach State3067522.550.8%78.3%
1988–89Long Beach State3573120.949.7%81.9%
Career1012,19321.751.7%79.5%

Professional career

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.

WNBA

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 199, 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]

Post-Playing Career

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]

International career

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.

Career statistics

Legend
  GPGames 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

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
1997 Los Angeles 282832.4.426.184.8393.45.11.30.13.813.1
1998 Los Angeles 303031.5.415.417.7433.54.81.10.13.312.3
1999 Los Angeles 30414.2.340.154.8671.42.20.40.01.34.8
Career3 years, 1 team886225.9.406.306.8112.84.00.90.12.810.0

Playoffs

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
1999 Los Angeles 4010.5.333.000.5001.50.50.50.00.82.5

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michele Timms</span> Australian basketball coach and retired player

Michele Margaret Timms is an Australian basketball coach and retired professional basketball player who played for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association(WNBA). Many people consider the Melbourne native to be one of Australia's greatest basketball players of all time. She has one daughter, Kalsie Timms. Timms was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. She was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Sparks</span> Womens basketball team

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Whalen</span> American basketball player and coach

Lindsay Marie Whalen is a former professional basketball player and coach. She most recently served as the head coach at Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teresa Weatherspoon</span> American basketball player and coach

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candace Parker</span> American basketball player

Candace Nicole Parker nicknamed "Ace", is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). 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 and two seasons with the Chicago Sky, winning a championship with each team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tina Thompson</span> Basketball player

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).

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.

Sophia L. Witherspoon is a former American college and professional basketball player who was a guard for seven seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Witherspoon played college basketball for the University of Florida, and was selected in the second round of the 1997 WNBA draft. She played professionally for the New York Liberty, Portland Fire and Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nneka Ogwumike</span> American basketball player

Nnemkadi Chinwe Victoria "Nneka" Ogwumike is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), after being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2012 WNBA draft. Soon after being drafted, Ogwumike signed an endorsement deal with Nike. She is the older sister of Chiney Ogwumike, who also plays for the Sparks. Ogwumike was named WNBA MVP for the 2016 WNBA season and won the WNBA Finals the same year She was named to The W25 the league's list of the top 25 players of its first 25 years, in 2021.

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.

Lady Grooms is an American former professional basketball player, who was one of the 16 original WNBA players allocated to the teams in the new league's Initial Player Allocation draft. After a college career at the University of Georgia, she played 8 WNBA seasons and had career averages of 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, scoring over 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.

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 Pac-12 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.

Nekeshia Shiondrail Henderson is an American former professional basketball guard who played for the Houston Comets of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Texas. She also played for the San Jose Lasers and Colorado Xplosion of the American Basketball League (ABL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonquel Jones</span> Bahamian-Bosnian basketball player

Jonquel Orthea Jones is a Bahamian-Bosnian professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft. Since May 2019, she also holds the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, allowing her to play for the national team.

Catarina Pollini is a retired Italian basketball player. She competed in the women's tournament at the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association.

References

  1. ↑ https://legendsofsport.blog/2021/01/05/penny-toler-former-player-and-executive-vp-and-gm-of-the-los-angeles-sparks/#:~:text=In%202006%20her%20number%2011,as%20interim%20coach%20in%202014.
  2. ↑ Kenney, Kirk (November 8, 1984). "Aztec Women Seeking No. 1 Spot". The Los Angeles Times. Sec. III, pp. 1, 16 . Retrieved March 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "2020-2021 Women's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). longbeachstate.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  4. ↑ 1998 Official WNBA Guide and Register. WNBA. 1998. pp. 294–95.
  5. ↑ "Penny Toler recalls landmark WNBA basket - ESPN Video". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  6. ↑ "WNBA.com: WNBA History/Timeline". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  7. ↑ Bowman, James (2014-01-19). "Sparks Watch Day 18: The first WNBA game". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  8. ↑ https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199706210LAS.html
  9. ↑ https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199908300HOU.html
  10. ↑ Associated Press, "Penny Toler to take over as coach," ESPN (July 22, 2014). Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ ESPN Newswire (2019-10-04). "Sparks part with GM Penny Toler amid turmoil". ESPN.com . Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  12. ↑ Brehm, Mike; Bumbaca, Chris (October 4, 2019). "Los Angeles Sparks fire general manager Penny Toler after she used racial slur". USA Today. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.