Dallas Wings | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Assistant head coach | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born |
El Paso, Texas |
October 20, 1970 ||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
Listed weight | 188 lb (85 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school | T. W. Josey (Augusta, Georgia) | ||||||||||||
College |
Georgia State (1989–1990) St. Edward's (1990–1993) |
||||||||||||
WNBA draft | 1999 / Round: 3 / Pick: 32nd overall | ||||||||||||
Selected by the Orlando Miracle | |||||||||||||
Playing career | 1993–2014 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
1993–1994 | Wolfenbüttel | ||||||||||||
1994–1995 | Contern | ||||||||||||
1995–1996 | Galilee | ||||||||||||
1996–1998 | Richmond / Philadelphia Rage | ||||||||||||
1999–2002 | Orlando Miracle | ||||||||||||
1999–2002 | Famila Schio | ||||||||||||
2003–2006 | Connecticut Sun | ||||||||||||
2003–2004 | Lavezzini Parma | ||||||||||||
2004–2005 | Gambrinus Brno | ||||||||||||
2005 | Dandenong Rangers | ||||||||||||
2005–2006 | CB Halcón Viajes | ||||||||||||
2006 | Ansan Shinhan Bank S-Birds | ||||||||||||
2006–2007 | Spartak Moscow Region | ||||||||||||
2007 | Ansan Shinhan Bank S-Birds | ||||||||||||
2007 | Los Angeles Sparks | ||||||||||||
2008 | Washington Mystics | ||||||||||||
2008–2009 | Detroit Shock | ||||||||||||
2008–2009 | Galatasaray | ||||||||||||
2009–2010 | Frisco Sika Brno | ||||||||||||
2010 | New York Liberty | ||||||||||||
2011–2012 | Minnesota Lynx | ||||||||||||
2011 | Ros Casares | ||||||||||||
2011 | Spartak Moscow Region | ||||||||||||
2012 | Wisła Can-Pack Kraków | ||||||||||||
2013–2014 | CAB-Clube Amigos do Basquet | ||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Stats at WNBA.com | |||||||||||||
Medals
|
Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is a former American professional women's basketball player, and the current head coach of the women's basketball team at Post University. In the United States, she last played the power forward position for the Minnesota Lynx. In 2013, she was named as one of two assistant coaches for the New York Liberty, a team she used to play for.
Born Taj McWilliams, she married Reggie Franklin in 2003 and assumed a hyphenate surname.
A two-time WNBA champion and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has spanned three decades, and began before the WNBA was founded. She retired after the 2012 season.
After attending T. W. Josey High School in Augusta, Georgia, McWilliams-Franklin attended Georgia State University in 1989 and played on the school's basketball team for one season. However, she had become pregnant during her senior year in high school, and after the coach who recruited her to Georgia State was let go, the incoming staff told her "school was no place for kids." McWilliams-Franklin moved to Austin, Texas, where a friend connected her with St. Edward's University coach Dave McKey. She enrolled at St. Edwards as a Rhetoric major.
While at St. Edward's, she set school records and individual achievements, including:
McWilliams-Franklin said that after her first year at St. Edward's, she had the potential opportunity to transfer to a Division I school, but declined to pursue it, because she "felt loyalty is rewarded with loyalty."
McWilliams-Franklin was named to the USA national team in 1998. The national team traveled to Berlin, Germany in July and August 1998 for the FIBA World Championships. The USA team won a close opening game against Japan 95–89, then won their next six games easily. In the semifinal game against Brazil, the American team was behind by as much as ten points in the first half, but went on to win 93–79. The gold medal game was a rematch against Russia. In the first game, the American team dominated almost from the beginning, but in the rematch, the team from Russia took the early lead and led much of the way. With under two minutes remaining, the USA was down by two points, but held on to win the gold medal, 71–65.