If you’re an ardent follower of women’s basketball, then Lynette Woodward rings a bell. She had one of the most successful basketball careers as a student and a professional.
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Woodward represented the United States in international competitions and won numerous medals. Her on-court versatility also won her many admirers. In this post, we’ll review Lynette Woodwards’ career.
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Lynette Woodward’s Career
Lynette Woodward was born in Wichita Kansas. She started playing basketball at a young age, practicing with her brother. Her training paid off as she helped her high school team to win two State Basketball titles.
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College Career
Woodward attended the University of Kansas, and graduated with a degree in Speech Communications and Human Relations while also playing for the school’s basketball team.
She played in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) era before the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) started governing women’s college sports.
Not that it impacted her career as she was one of the most outstanding players, averaging a record 26 points in every game, with her best season coming in 1978/79 when her points average was 31, 14.3 rebounds and a 56.2% shooting percentage.
Woodward finished college with 3,649 career points, the highest number of points in NCAA women’s basketball history. Iowa State Caitlin Clark broke her record in February and is now the women’s college basketball leading scorer.
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Professional Basketball Career
Lynette Woodward’s basketball career wasn’t the longest, but she left an indelible mark in the game. After college, she joined an Italian basketball team, UFO Schio (Vicenza). After that, she joined the Harlem Globetrotters and became the first woman to play for the team.
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Lynette Woodward is part of the first players to participate in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 1997, she joined the Cleveland Rockers and after a year, went to the Detroit Shock. Unfortunately, she was waived and Woodward decided to retire from the sport.
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Coaching Career
After retirement, Lynette Woodward went to her alma mater, the University of Kansas, and worked as an assistant coach. Five years after working under Marian Washington, she became the team’s interim head coach and doubled up as their athletics director. She later became the coach at Winthrop at Winthrop University in South Carolina.
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International Career
Woodward enjoyed a fantastic career with the USA basketball team. She captained the United States Olympic team to a gold medal at the 1984 games in Los Angeles.
Before that, she played for the team in other competitions like the World Cup, where they won a gold medal at the 1990 Malaysia Games, and another at the Pan Am Games in 1983.
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Awards & Recognition
Throughout her career, Lynette Woodward won accolades as a result of her impeccable performances.
- In 2015, she was given the Women’s Professional Basketball “Trailblazer” Award to recognize her work in helping the growth and development of women’s basketball.
- In 2006, Woodward was inducted into the African-American Sports Hall of Fame
- In 2005, she joined the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
- In 2004, the former basketballer was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
- In 2004, she was also inducted into the Globetrotter Hall of Fame.
- In 1990, she joined the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.
- In 1989, Woodward was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame.
Lynette Woodward must be one of the happiest people today, because her efforts and those who played during her time, bore fruits. The WNBA is steadily growing and attracting a lot of fans and television audiences.
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