sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Virginia Marlita "Penny" Toler (born March 24, 1966) is an American basketball executive and former player who served most recently as the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Toler holds the distinction of scoring the first basket in WNBA history.

Penny Toler

Personal information
Born	(1966-03-24) March 24, 1966 (age 56) Washington, D.C.
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight	132 lb (60 kg)
Career information
High school	St. Anthony (Washington, D.C.)
College	San Diego State (1984–1985) Long Beach State (1986–1989)
Playing career	1989–1999
Position	Point guard
Number	11
Coaching career	2014–2014
Career history
As player:
1989–1991	Montecchio
1991–1994	Pescara
1994–1996	Sporting Flash
1996–1997	Ramat HaSharon
1997–1999	Los Angeles Sparks
As coach:
2014	Los Angeles Sparks (interim)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

College years

Toler began her college career at San Diego State, sat out a year, and then transferred to Long Beach State, where she became an All-American basketball player. During her career Long Beach State made it to the Final Four twice, in 1987 and 1988. Toler was considered one of the best ever collegiate players under future Hall of Fame coach Joan Bonvicini. In 1995 she was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Long Beach State statistics

Source[1]

Legend

GP	Games 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	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	Points	PPG	FG%	FT%
1986–87	Long Beach State	36	787	21.9	54.5%	77.0%
1987–88	Long Beach State	30	675	22.5	50.8%	78.3%
1988–89	Long Beach State	35	731	20.9	49.7%	81.9%
Career		101	2,193	21.7	51.7%	79.5%

Professional career

Having no viable domestic professional options, Toler began her professional career in Italy, playing two seasons for Montecchio and three for Pescara. She then played two seasons in Greece for Sporting Flash, and one in Israel for Ramat HaSharon. In 1997, she returned to the United States to play in the newly organized WNBA.[2]

Toler was a point guard allocated to the Los Angeles Sparks during the player initiation round in the 1997 WNBA draft. She is most commonly remembered as the first player to score a basket in the WNBA. She did so against the New York Liberty on June 21, 1997 19:01 hour at the Los Angeles Great Western Forum.[3][4][5] Her shot was a side jumper. Toler also made the first free throw in the WNBA history.

In November 1999 she retired as a player to become the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks. Immediately after taking on a management role, she would assemble the Los Angeles Sparks roster that would become the championship team in 2001.

Among all professional men or women sports leagues, Toler would become the fastest person to go from a player to general manager status to winning a championship in two years.^{[citation needed]}

On July 20, 2014, Toler was named as interim head coach following the firing of Carol Ross.[6]

Toler was fired as vice president and general manager on October 4, 2019, after the Sparks were swept out of the WNBA semifinals during the 2019 WNBA Playoffs.[7] The move also came after the revelation that Toler entered the Sparks' locker room following their Game 2 loss and gave an obscenity-laced speech that included the use of the "N-word".[8]

International career

By the time the WNBA launched, Toler had already spent eight years playing basketball overseas. She has played five seasons in Italy, two seasons in Greece, and a season in Israel. While in Italy, she won a scoring title, two assist titles, and was MVP of the Italian all-star game.

Career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career high	°	League leader

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1997	Los Angeles	28	28	32.4	.426	.184	.839	3.4	5.1	1.3	0.1	3.8	13.1
1998	Los Angeles	30	30	31.5	.415	.417	.743	3.5	4.8	1.1	0.1	3.3	12.3
1999	Los Angeles	30	4	14.2	.340	.154	.867	1.4	2.2	0.4	0.0	1.3	4.8
Career	3 years, 1 team	88	62	25.9	.406	.306	.811	2.8	4.0	0.9	0.1	2.8	10.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Los Angeles	4	0	10.5	.333	.000	.500	1.5	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.8	2.5

References

External links

• USATODAY Recognition

На других языках

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- [en] Penny Toler

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[ru] Толер, Пенни

Вирджиния «Пенни» Толер (англ. Virginia "Penny" Toler; род. 24 марта 1966 года в Вашингтоне, Округ Колумбия) — американская профессиональная баскетболистка, выступавшая в женской национальной баскетбольной ассоциации. За три месяца до основного драфта ВНБА 1997 года была распределена в команду «Лос-Анджелес Спаркс». Играла в амплуа разыгрывающего защитника. По завершении спортивной карьеры была назначена на должность генерального менеджера «Спаркс», на которой работает и в настоящее время. В 2014 году после увольнения Кэрол Росс работала временным главным тренером «Лос-Анджелеса».

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