Courtney Paris Explained

Courtney Paris
League:WNBA
Team:Dallas Wings
Position:Assistant coach
Height Ft:6
Height In:4
Weight Lbs:250
Birth Date:1987 9, mf=yes
Birth Place:San Jose, California, U.S.
High School:Millennium (Piedmont, California)
College:Oklahoma (2005–2009)
Draft League:WNBA
Draft Year:2009
Draft Round:1
Draft Pick:7
Draft Team:Sacramento Monarchs
Career Start:2009
Career End:2020
Coach Start:2020
Years1:2009
Team1:Sacramento Monarchs
Years2:2009–2010
Team2:Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
Years3:2010–2011
Team3:Rivas Ecopolis
Years4:2011–2012
Team4:Atlanta Dream
Years5:2012–2017
Team5:Tulsa Shock / Dallas Wings
Years6:2012–2013
Team6:Adana ASKİ SK
Years7:2013–2014
Team7:Mersin BB
Years8:2015–2017
Team8:Hatay BB
Years9:2018–2019
Team9:Seattle Storm
Cyears1:2020–2021
Cteam1:Oklahoma (assistant)
Cyears2:–Present
Cteam2:Dallas Wings (assistant)
Highlights:
Wnba Profile:courtney_paris

Courtney Paris (born September 21, 1987) is an American basketball coach and former player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA.[1] She last played as a center for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is best known for her accomplishments during her college career at the University of Oklahoma, where she holds career averages of 21.4 points and 15.3 rebounds per game. She holds the NCAA record for most consecutive double-doubles at 112. During her senior season in 2009, Paris received considerable media attention when she announced that she would pay back her tuition to the University of Oklahoma if the Sooners did not win the 2009 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. She would lead Oklahoma to the Final Four before falling short to eventual national runner-up Louisville. Paris was selected with the number seven overall pick by the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs in the 2009 WNBA draft.

Early life

Paris was born in San Jose, California.

Paris' twin sister Ashley Paris is also a basketball player. In addition to being a twin, Paris has four brothers: Wayne, David, Austin and Brandon. She has two half-brothers (Bubba's sons) William III and Christian. Her parents are Lynne Gray and former NFL player William "Bubba" Paris.

Paris transferred from Modesto Christian High School[2] to Piedmont High School and then Millennium High School in Piedmont, California, at the start of the 2002–2003 year. Paris was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2005 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored three points. Paris chose Oklahoma over UConn, California, Texas, UCLA, and Syracuse.

College career

Paris is the only player in NCAA history, male or female, to have 700 points, 500 rebounds, and 100 blocks in a season. In 2005–06, Paris set the women's NCAA record for rebounds in a single season, with 539. She holds the NCAA record for most consecutive double-doubles at 112 games, a streak which ended on February 2, 2009, against Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers; however, Oklahoma won the game, denying Summitt her 1000th career victory.[3] On February 8, 2009, Paris broke the record for most career NCAA Division I rebounds, formerly held by Wanda Ford of Drake.[4] In the Sooners' victory in the semifinals of the Oklahoma City Regional in the 2009 NCAA Tournament against Pitt on March 29, she became the first player in U.S. college basketball history—regardless of sex, governing body, or division—with 2,500 points and 2,000 rebounds in her career.[5]

Paris also became the first freshman named to the Associated Press All-American team in 2006, and again made the team in 2007.[6] In April 2007, Paris was named the 2007 Associated Press Women's basketball player of the year. She is the first sophomore ever to win the AP Player of the year award.[7] She won All-American honors again her junior year, and as a senior she became the first four-time first-team All-American in women's basketball history.[8] She also won the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, recognizing her as the nation's top senior women's basketball player.

At Oklahoma, Paris majored in journalism.

Paris had announced that if Oklahoma did not win the NCAA championship in 2009, her final year, she would repay her scholarship — worth about $64,000 in out-of-state tuition — to the university. She said that without a championship, "I don’t feel like I’ve earned it.”[9]

On Sunday April 5, 2009, Oklahoma lost to the Louisville Cardinals 61–59. In a post-game interview with ESPN, Paris was asked if she would make do on her promise to repay her $64,000 basketball scholarship. She replied that she would but that it would take her some time. A week later, the university said that she did not have to repay her scholarship.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

|-| align="left" | 2009| align="left" | Sacramento|33||6||13.4||51.5||0.0||72.7||4.1||0.7||0.3||0.3||0.6||4.8 |-| align="left" | 2010| style="text-align:center;" colspan="13" |Did not play (waived)|-| align="left" | 2011| align="left" | Atlanta|28||0||9.6||51.9||0.0||51.6||3.1||0.4||0.3||0.4 ||0.3||3.4 |-| align="left" rowspan=2 | 2012| align="left" | Atlanta Dream|4||0||7.3||50.0||0.0||0.0||2.0||0.0||0.5||0.5||0.3||1.5 |-| align="left" | Tulsa|23||0||9.8||54.5||0.0||39.1||3.3||0.5||0.3||0.4||0.6||3.5 |-| align="left" | 2013| align="left" | Tulsa|23||2||12.0||46.1||0.0||66.7||4.1||0.5||0.3||0.7||0.5||3.8 |-| align="left" | 2014| align="left" | Tulsa|34||34||27.6||57.4||0.0||49.3||10.2||1.1||0.8||1.1||1.1||9.2|-| align="left" | 2015| align="left" | Tulsa|34||34||25.0||48.6||0.0||42.5||9.3||1.3||0.4||1.2||1.0||6.6|-| align="left" | 2016| align="left" | Dallas|34||32||24.3||54.8||0.0||55.6||8.0||1.1||0.4||0.9||0.8||7.7 |-| align="left" | 2017| align="left" | Dallas|20||8||13.7||55.9||0.0||50.0||3.7||0.7||0.4||0.6||1.0||4.2|-| align="left" | 2018| align="left" | Seattle|34||0||10.6||53.3||0.0||52.9||3.9||0.6 ||0.2||0.3||0.4||2.1 |-| align="left" | 2019| align="left" | Seattle|30||0||6.3||40.0||0.0||42.9||1.7||0.4 ||0.3||0.1||0.3||0.5 |-| align="left" | Career| align="left" | 10 years, 4 teams|297||116||15.8||52.8||0.0||51.4||5.4||0.7 ||0.4||0.6||0.7||4.7

Playoffs

|-| align="left" | 2011| align="left" | Atlanta|5||0||3.6||50.0||0.0||50.0||1.0||0.0||0.4||0.2 ||0.4||0.6|-| align="left" | 2015| align="left" | Tulsa|2||2||21.0||45.5||0.0||25.0||7.5||1.0||1.0||0.0 ||1.5||5.5|-| align="left" | 2017| align="left" | Dallas|1||0||16.0||80.0||0.0||100.0||6.0||1.0||0.0||2.0 ||0.0||9.0|-| align="left" | 2018| align="left" | Seattle|4||0||3.8||0.0||0.0||0.0||2.0||0.5||0.0||0.0 ||0.0||0.0 |-| align="left" | 2019| align="left" | Seattle|2||0||4.5||100.0||0.0||0.0||0.5||1.0||0.0||0.0||0.5||1.0 |-| align="left" | Career| align="left" | 5 years, 3 teams|14||2||7.1||50.0||0.0||42.9||2.5||0.5||0.3||0.2 ||0.4||1.8

College

Source[10]

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
 TO Turnovers per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high * Led Division I
YearTeamGPPointsFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2005–06Oklahoma3678861.4.00048.1
  • 15.0
1.71.13.321.9
2006–07Oklahoma3377557.0.00057.415.91.71.03.423.5
2007–08Oklahoma3157856.1.00057.1
  • 15.0
1.50.93.518.6
2008–09Oklahoma3758856.5.00057.713.61.50.92.915.9
Career1372,72957.9.00054.714.81.61.03.319.9

USA Basketball

Paris was a member of the USA Women's U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The event was held in August 2004, when the USA team defeated Puerto Rico to win the championship. Paris was the second leading scorer for the team, averaging 15.8 points per game.

Paris continued with the team as it became the U19 team, and competed in the 2005 U19 World Championships in Tunis, Tunisia. The USA team won all eight games, winning the gold medal. Paris was the third leading scorer for the team, averaging 12.1 points per game and tied for the lead in rebounding with 7.0 rebounds per game.

Professional career

Paris was selected by the Sacramento Monarchs at No. 7 pick in the 2009 WNBA draft and her sister was drafted to the Los Angeles Sparks.

On December 14, 2009, the WNBA held a dispersal draft for the Monarchs' players. Courtney was taken with the fourth pick by the Chicago Sky. On May 12, 2010, Paris was waived by the Sky.[11]

On February 8, 2011, she signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Sparks and on June 2, she was waived.[12]

Paris signed with the Tulsa Shock in 2012. She led the WNBA in rebounding averaging 10.2 per game in 2014 and 9.3 per game in 2015.

On February 2, 2018, Paris signed a multi-year contract with the Seattle Storm.[13]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dallas Wings Announce Remainder of 2023 Coaching Staff . wings.wnba.com . WNBA . 12 January 2023.
  2. Web site: Limited . Alamy . Modesto Christian High School's Courtney Paris drives to the basket during their Girls Division V Championship game against La Jolla Country Day at Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 23, 2002. La Jolla won 53-49.(AP Photo/Steve Yeater Stock Photo - Alamy . 2023-11-30 . www.alamy.com . en.
  3. Web site: Oklahoma Sooners Official Athletic Site – Women's Basketball. CBS Interactive. 2009-01-04. 2009-01-06. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090222223537/http://www.soonersports.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/010409aaa.html. February 22, 2009. mdy-all.
  4. Web site: CBS Sports. CBS Interactive. 2009-02-08. 2009-02-08.
  5. News: Hand, Sooners overcome Paris' foul trouble to reach Elite Eight . https://web.archive.org/web/20090331124703/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/recap?gameId=294000038 . dead . March 31, 2009 . Associated Press . ESPN . 2009-03-29 . 2009-03-30.
  6. Web site: Oklahoma's Courtney Paris Is An All-American Again . kotv.com . . 2007-03-29 . 2007-08-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927214050/http://www.kotv.com/sports/local/story/?id=123735 . September 27, 2007 .
  7. Web site: Jacobsen. Lynn. Paris named Player of Year . . 2007-04-01. 2007-08-22.
  8. https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/news/story?id=4030503 Courtney Paris Becomes Only 4-Time All-American
  9. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/sports/ncaabasketball/24win.html?_r=1&ref=sports Star's Vow to Win or Pay Stirs Women's Basketball
  10. Web site: NCAA Statistics. web1.ncaa.org. 2017-08-28.
  11. http://www.wnba.com/transactions/WNBA_2010.html 2010 WNBA Transactions
  12. http://www.wnba.com/transactions/WNBA_2011.html 2011 WNBA Transactions
  13. Web site: Seattle Storm Inks Courtney Paris to Multi-Year Contract. WNBA.com. February 2, 2018. February 2, 2018.