Los Angeles Sparks | |||||||||||||
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Position | Assistant coach | ||||||||||||
League | WNBA | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born |
Flint, Michigan |
March 13, 1968 ||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||
Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||
Listed weight | 160 lb (73 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school |
Flint Northwestern (Flint, Michigan) |
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College | Tennessee (1986–1990) | ||||||||||||
WNBA draft | 1999 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall | ||||||||||||
Selected by the Minnesota Lynx | |||||||||||||
Playing career | 1999–2002 | ||||||||||||
Position | Guard | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
As player: | |||||||||||||
1996–1998 | Columbus Quest | ||||||||||||
1999 | Minnesota Lynx | ||||||||||||
2000–2001 | Phoenix Mercury | ||||||||||||
2001–2002 | Charlotte Sting | ||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||
2016–present | Los Angeles Sparks (assistant) | ||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
As player:
As assistant coach: |
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Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||
Medals
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As player:
As assistant coach:
Tonya LaRay Edwards (born March 13, 1968) is an American retired professional basketball player born in Flint, Michigan, currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks. She was previously head coach of the Alcorn State Lady Braves basketball team.
After graduating from college, there were no opportunities to play professional basketball in the U.S., so Edwards played professionally in Spain from 1991 to '92, Turkey in 1994, and Israel from 1995 to '96. In the Autumn of 1996, she played for the Columbus Quest in the American Basketball League (ABL), and won two championship titles with them. In 1998, Edwards became the interim head coach for the Quest after coach Brian Agler resigned. After the ABL folded due to financial difficulties, Edwards was selected by the Minnesota Lynx in the 1999 WNBA draft. She also played for the Phoenix Mercury and Charlotte Sting.
Edwards began her coaching career by returning to her alma mater, Northwestern Community High School in Flint, Michigan, for five seasons (1990–1995). She guided her team to the 1993 state championship with perfect 28-0 record, a 1992 state champion runner-up finish, and compiled a 78-23 overall record (.772). She was named 1993 "High School Coach of the Year" in the state of Michigan.
In 2004, she became a radio commentator for the Phoenix Mercury games, and later became an assistant coach in the National Women's Basketball League.
In 2006, she was inducted to the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame. That same year, she was named as an assistant coach to the women's basketball team at University of Detroit Mercy.