Woodard, Lynette

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Lynette Woodard

1959-

American basketball player

Considered one of basketball's greatest female players, Lynette Woodard excelled in the sport during her professional career in the 1980s and 1990s. A two-time Olympic Game basketball player, Woodard served as co-captain of the United States' gold medal team in 1984. She became the first female member of the famed

Harlem Globetrotters in 1985, and was named Big Eight Player of the Decade for the 1980s. In 1996 Woodard was named best female player in Big Eight Conference history, having set career records for scoring and rebounding. After a four-year retirement in the mid-1990s, Woodard returned to join the new Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), playing for the Cleveland Rockers and the Detroit Shock. A worldwide basketball star, Woodard is known equally well in her native United States as in Italy and Japan, where she has also played professionally.

Born on August 12, 1959, in Wichita, Kansas, Lynette Woodard was one of four children born to Lugene, a fireman, and Dorothy, a homemaker. When Woodard was five years old, a U.S. Air Force jet crashed in her neighborhood, killing 30 residents and just missing the Woodard house. By 1970 an area of destroyed homes had been transformed from a vacant lot into a public park with a full-size basketball court. This was Piatt Park, where Woodard developed her talent for the sport. "We played pick-up games every day," she told the New York Times. "Soon the guys would pick me before their friends."

Woodard's fascination with basketball had begun when she was eight years old, when her cousin Hubert "Geese" Ausbie, a player with the Harlem Globetrotters, paid a visit during a tour. Ausbie mesmerized his young cousin, spinning a basketball on his finger and demonstrating other signature 'Trotters skills. Woodard never dreamed then that she would one day join the Globetrotters, which was then an all-male team. With her older brother, Darrell, Woodard played "sockball" around their house, shooting rolled-up socks over open doors and using a timer on the stove as a game clock. "We used to play all kinds of games and pretend it was the Olympics," Darrell told Liz Robbins of the Plain Dealer. "Two pieces of candy would be the gold medal. Lynette would always win. I knew then she was ready for the Olympics."

Set Records in University Basketball

As a tenth grader, Woodard joined the varsity basketball team at Wichita North High School, leading her school to the state championships in 1975 and 1977. Also in 1977 she was named an All-American high school athlete. In just 62 high school games she had scored 1,678 points and collected 1,030 rebounds.

Woodard attended Kansas University, where she dominated women's basketball, setting national and school records that she still holds today. The highest scorer in university women's basketball, Woodard amassed a total of 3,649 points. She also tops the university charts in career field goals (1,572) and field goal attempts (2,994). Woodard was a four-time Kodak All-American college athlete and a two-time Academic All-American player. She also excelled academically, making the dean's list and majoring in speech communication.

When Woodard graduated in 1981, professional opportunities for female basketball players were few and far between. She had made the U.S. Olympic team in 1980, but a boycott had prevented the team from participating. Instead she went on to play professionally in Italy, relocating to the northern town of Schio. During the 1981-1982 season she was the only English-speaking player on her team. Since there was no language school in the town, Woodard struggled to communicate and was often left to fend for herself. "I thought when I first got there, 'Lord, what have I done,'" she told Malcolm Moran of the New York Times. But the experience ultimately strengthened her character. "I think it really helped me grow as a person," she said. Woodard returned to the United States to coach at her alma mater and to train with the 1984 Olympic team, which she co-captained. At the Games in Los Angeles, she led her team to a gold-medal victory.

Joined Globetrotters

Over the years, Woodard had kept in touch with her Globetrotter cousin, and had asked him if the team would consider taking women. The answer was always no—until 1985, when an advertisement in USA Today announced tryouts for a female player. "I got chills," Woodard recalled to Robbins of the Plain Dealer. "I just shook my head, and I said: 'It's me, I know it's me.'" When Woodard showed up for the tryouts, the Globe-trotters knew she was the one, too. She joined the Hollywood-based team as its first female player in October of 1985, when she was 26 years old.

Woodard toured with the Globetrotters for two years. It wasn't long before she made it to the team's Magic Circle, where chosen players dribble to the beat of "Sweet Georgia Brown." When the team's management changed after her second year, however, she parted ways with the Globetrotters. In recognition of her historical contribution, the team presented her with a "Legends" ring in 1996. The ring has been given to only eight players in the team's 70-year history.

With few opportunities in the United States, Woodard returned to play in Italy, and then in Japan. She became fluent in both languages, and gained a following in both countries. Woodard played professionally in Japan's basketball circuit for three seasons (1990-1993).

Chronology

1959	Born on August 12 in Wichita, Kansas
1978-81	Dominates women's basketball, University of Kansas
1981	Becomes women's university basketball's highest scorer, with 3,649 points
1981-82	Plays professional women's basketball in Italy
1982-84	Trains with U.S. Olympic women's basketball team
1984	Co-captains Olympic team
1985	Becomes first female Harlem Globetrotter
1990-93	Plays professional women's basketball in Japan
1993	Becomes Kansas City's first district athletic director
1995	Becomes a registered stockbroker on Wall Street
1997	Joins Cleveland Rockers (WNBA)
1998	Joins Detroit Shock (WNBA)
1999	Retires from basketball
1999	Becomes assistant women's basketball coach at University of Kansas

Awards and Accomplishments

1977	Named All-American high school athlete
1978-81	Named All-American athlete, University of Kansas
1981	Awarded Wade Trophy
1982	Won NCAA Top Five Award
1984	As co-captain, led U.S. Olympic women's basketball team to gold medal victory
1989	Inducted into National High School Hall of Fame
1989	Named Big Eight Player of the Decade (1980s)
1993	Won Flo Hyman Award
1996	Awarded Globetrotters "Legends" ring
1996	Named best female player in Big Eight Conference history

In 1993 Woodard returned to her home state to accept a position as Kansas City's first district athletic director. Through this position she met stockbroker Pat Winans, who was handling the district's retirement fund. Winans, who had started her own Wall Street brokerage firm, took an instant liking to Woodard and offered her a job at Magna Securities Corp. Woodard relocated to New York City and became a registered stockbroker in the spring of 1995.

Yet Woodard was not entirely finished with basketball. When the new Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) was created in 1996, Woodard came out of retirement at age 37 to play for the Cleveland Rockers in the first season (1997). She didn't quit her Wall Street job, which was bringing in an annual salary of nearly $250,000. Instead, she worked out in the early mornings before work, and took leave from the office to practice and play. Her position on the team brought in a salary of $40,000. In 1998 Woodard left the Rockers to join the Detroit Shock. She played one more year of professional basketball, retiring for the second time in May of 1999, four months shy of her 40th birthday.

Woodard is an assistant coach for the Jayhawks, the women's basketball team of her alma mater, the University of Kansas (KU). Prior to becoming assistant coach, Woodard served for one year as KU's special assistant for external relations and women's basketball, where her job was to enhance and build community and alumni relations. She became assistant coach in May 1999; her responsibilities include helping with practice sessions and scouting and recruiting student-athletes. Woodard has also continued working in finance, holding a position as an independent representative of Primerica Financial. She will become eligible for induction into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.

Career Statistics

Yr Team	GP	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF
CLE: Cleveland Rockers; DET: Detroit Shock.
1997 CLE	28	217	.399	.000	.672	2.4	1.64	.36	2.46	1.60
1998 DET	27	95	.387	.000	.575	.8	.81	.11	1.15	1.20

Woodard will be remembered not only for her basketball prowess but also for her winning temperament. "She is a wonderful soul," University of Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington told Robbins of the Plain Dealer. "She is so pure at heart that anyone who gets to know her, they are touched by her."