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Diana Taurasi
Diana Taurasi.jpg
WNBA's Phoenix Mercury  – No. 3
Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Born June 11, 1982 (1982-06-11) (age 27)
Chino, California
Nationality American
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 172 lb (78 kg)
College Connecticut
Draft 1st overall, 2004
Phoenix Mercury
WNBA career 2004–present
Profile WNBA Info Page
WNBA Teams
Phoenix Mercury (2004-present)
Awards and Honors
Big East Player of the Year (2003, 2004)
Wade Trophy Winner (2003)
Naismith Award (2003, 2004)
Nancy Lieberman Award (2003, 2004)
NCAA Tournament MVP (2003, 2004)
WNBA Rookie of the Year (2004)
All-WNBA First Team (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
All-WNBA Second Team (2005)
WNBA All-Star (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
WNBA Championship (2007, 2009)
WNBA Most Valuable Player (2009)
WNBA Finals MVP (2009)

Diana Lurena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982 in Chino, California) is a professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA.

Contents

Early years

Taurasi grew up in Chino, California and attended Don Antonio Lugo High School where she was the recipient of the 2000 Cheryl Miller Award, presented by the Los Angeles Times to the best player in Southern California.[1] She was also named the 2000 Naismith and Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year. Taurasi finished her prep career ranked second to Miller in state history with 3,047 points. Taurasi was named a WBCA All-American.[2] She participated in the 2000 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored twelve points, and earned MVP honors.[3]

Taurasi was born to her parents Mario and Liliana. Diana was the second and last child. Taurasi only has one older sister, Jessika Taurasi. Her father was born in Italy and raised in Argentina, which is also the native land of her mother Liliana. Her parents moved to the U.S. before she was born. Diana's father Mario was a professional soccer player in Italy.[4] He had logged several years as a goalie.

She appears for a short moment in the 2006 film "Believe In Me."

College

Taurasi with President of the United States George W. Bush at a White House ceremony for, inter al., the national champion 2002-03 Connecticut Huskies.

Following a highly decorated high school career, Taurasi enrolled at the University of Connecticut (UConn) and began playing for the women's basketball team during the 2000-2001 season. Taking the court primarily at point guard and shooting guard, she led the team to three consecutive NCAA championships with the last one coming in the 2003-2004 season. Leading up to that final championship, her coach, Geno Auriemma, would declare his likelihood of winning with the claim, "We have Diana, and you don't."[5]

Taurasi also received many personal accolades at UConn including the 2003 and 2004 Naismith College Player of the Year awards, the 2003 Wade Trophy, and the 2003 Associated Press Player of the Year award. In addition to the national recognition she received during her time at UConn, Taurasi was held in legendary status by many Connecticut fans. For example, state senator Thomas Gaffey nominated her to join Prudence Crandall as the state's heroine.[6] She averaged 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in her collegiate career. During her time at UConn, her team compiled a record of 139 wins and 8 losses. Diana was a member of the inaugural class (2006) of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.[7]

University of Connecticut Statistics

Diana Taurasi Statistics[8] at University of Connecticut
Year G FG FGA PCT 3FG 3FGA PCT FT FTA PCT REB AVG A TO B S MIN PTS AVG
2000-01 33 127 286 0.444 71 184 0.386 36 41 0.878 106 3.2 109 72 29 39 791 361 10.9
2001-02 39 200 405 0.494 92 209 0.440 72 87 0.828 158 4.1 208 83 46 50 1131 564 14.6
2002-03 37 237 498 0.476 70 200 0.350 119 146 0.815 225 6.1 161 115 45 32 1181 663 17.9
2003-04 35 197 432 0.456 85 218 0.390 89 112 0.795 139 4.0 170 83 27 53 1115 568 16.2
Totals 144 761 1621 0.469 318 811 0.392 316 386 0.819 628 4.4 648 353 147 174 4218 2156 15.0

WNBA career

Taurasi in 2007

Following her collegiate career, Taurasi was selected first overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury, a team that went 8-26 in the 2003 season.

In her WNBA debut, Taurasi netted 26 points and led the Mercury to an 84-76 victory over the Seattle Storm. For the season, the rookie averaged 17.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Although the Mercury did not qualify for the playoffs, the season was a personal success as Taurasi was named to the Western Conference All Star team and won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award.

In 2005, Taurasi averaged 16.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while battling an ankle injury. She was an All Star for the second straight year, but the Mercury faded down the stretch and again missed the playoffs.

Former NBA coach Paul Westhead became the Mercury's head coach prior to the 2006 season and brought his up-tempo style to Phoenix. Their roster was further bolstered by the addition of rookie Cappie Pondexter, the #2 overall selection in the 2006 WNBA Draft.

Taurasi flourished under Westhead's system, leading the league in scoring and earning a third straight trip to the All Star Game. She broke Katie Smith's league records for points in a season (741 during the 2006 season) and is tied with Lauren Jackson for most points in a game (47 vs. Houston on August 10). In 2006, Taurasi averaged a record 25.3 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game. The Mercury finished 18-16, but after losing a tie-breaker with Houston and Seattle, it missed the playoffs.

In 2007, Taurasi finally reached the WNBA playoffs. In the first round, the Mercury eliminated the Seattle Storm two games to none. Next, they took down the San Antonio Silver Stars in a hard fought two game series. Taurasi got to her first WNBA Finals, but had to face the defending champion Detroit Shock. In a hard-fought series, Taurasi and Pondexter led the Mercury to their first WNBA title. With this victory Taurasi became just the seventh player ever to win an NCAA title, a WNBA title, and an Olympic gold medal. The others to achieve this trifecta are Ruth Riley, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, and fellow Huskies Swin Cash, Kara Wolters, and Sue Bird.

Taurasi was a member of both the Women's 2004 and 2008 Gold medal Olympic Basketball Teams.[9][10]

In the 2009 season, Taurasi was named the WNBA MVP and later led the Phoenix Mercury to its second WNBA championship in 3 years by beating the Indiana Fever 3 games to 2. Taurasi was named the WNBA Finals MVP as well. Taurasi is one of only two players (the other being Cynthia Cooper), to win the season scoring title, the season MVP award, a WNBA Championship and the finals MVP in the same season.[11]

Summer of '09 DUI Arrest

On Thursday, July 2, 2009 Phoenix police spokesman Luis Samudio says an officer stopped Taurasi at about 2:30am for allegedly speeding. A police statement says the officer smelled alcohol and gave her several field sobriety tests. Taurasi was then driven to a mobile DUI van where she gave a blood sample, then was cited and released. Authorities later said her blood alcohol level was 0.17.[12] The Phoenix Mercury responded to this news by suspending her for two games later that month.[13] She however was named a reserve for her 4th All-star appearance that summer.[14] After extreme DUI and speeding charges were dropped, Taurasi pled guilty to DUI. She served one day in jail after a judge suspended nine of the ten day sentence.[15]

Awards and honors

International career

Medal record
Women's Basketball
Competitor for  United States
Olympic Games
Gold 2004 Athens Team Competition
Gold 2008 Beijing Team Competition
World Championship
Bronze 2006 Brazil Team Competition
U18 and U19
Gold 2000 U18 Team Competition
Bronze 2001 U19 Team Competition

On May 12, 2004, Diana Taurasi was selected to represent the United States with the US Women's National Basketball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.[16] She helped the United States capture the gold medal, defeating Australia in the championship game. Taurasi represented the United States as a member of the US Women's National Basketball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, where she started all eight games and helped lead the USA team to win the gold medal.[17] Taurasi was the second leading scorer on the USA Women's National Basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship held in São Paulo, Brazil. The USA team earned the bronze medal.[18] Taurasi has also earned a bronze medal as a member of the 2001 USA Junior World Championship team,[19] and a gold medal as a member of the 2000 USA Basketball Women’s Junior World Championship Qualifying team.[20]

Taurasi was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009.[21] The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.[21]

Notes

  1. ^ "Diana Taurasi". WNBA. http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/diana_taurasi/bio.html. Retrieved 2009-07-22.  
  2. ^ "2000 WBCA High School All-Americans". WBCA. http://www.wbca.org/00-HSAA.asp. Retrieved 2009-10-30.  
  3. ^ "2000 WBCA High School All-America Game". WBCA. http://www.wbca.org/upload/2000HSAAG.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-30.  
  4. ^ David L. Porter, ed (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313309526.  
  5. ^ "UConn's Taurasi proves why she's best in nation". http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2004/03/03-30-04tdc/03-30-04dsports-column-01.asp. Retrieved 2009-07-22.  
  6. ^ "Senator nominates UConn's Taurasi for state heroine". http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/women/2003/ncaa_tourney/news/2003/04/09/taurasi_stateheroine_ap/. Retrieved 2009-07-22.  
  7. ^ "Women's Basketball 1995 National Championship Team to be Recognized as "Huskies of Honor”". http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/103008aaa.html. Retrieved 2009-07-24.  
  8. ^ "UConn Media Guide". http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/WBasketball/2009/Media%20Guide/129-160.pdf. Retrieved 12 December 2008.  
  9. ^ "Games of the XXVIIIth Olympiad -- 2004". http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=woly_2004. Retrieved 2009-07-22.  
  10. ^ "Games of the XXVIIIth Olympiad -- 2008". http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=woly_2008. Retrieved 2009-07-22.  
  11. ^ "Taurasi, Pondexter lead Mercury to second title in three years". ESPN. October 9, 2009. http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/recap?gameId=291009011. Retrieved 2009-10-10.  
  12. ^ "Taurasi faces 3 drunk driving charges". http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/news/story?id=4327908. Retrieved 2009-07-16.  
  13. ^ "Mercury Suspends Taurasi". http://www.wnba.com/mercury/news/taurasi_090716.html. Retrieved 2009-07-23.  
  14. ^ "Taurasi and Pondexter Named WNBA All-Stars". http://www.wnba.com/mercury/news/as09_release_090720.html. Retrieved 2009-07-23.  
  15. ^ "Taurasi serves day in jail". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/news/story?id=4606661. Retrieved 2009-10-30.  
  16. ^ "Games of the XXVIIIth Olympiad -- 2004". USA basketball. http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=woly_2004. Retrieved 2009-08-05.  
  17. ^ "Games of the XXVIIIth Olympiad -- 2008". USA Basketball. http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=woly_2008. Retrieved 2009-08-05.  
  18. ^ "FIFTEENTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN -- 2006". USA Basketball. http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=wwc_2006. Retrieved 2009-08-05.  
  19. ^ "FIFTH FIBA WOMEN'S U19/JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP -- 2001". USA Basketball. http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=wu19_2001. Retrieved 2009-08-05.  
  20. ^ "FOURTH WOMEN'S JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING TEAM -- 2000". USA Basketball. http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=wu18_2000. Retrieved 2009-08-05.  
  21. ^ a b "USA Basketball Women's National Team To Tip-Off Training Tomorrow In D.C.". USA Basketball. http://usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=09_wnt_fall_invitees_add_rm. Retrieved 2009-10-01.  

External links

Phoenix Mercury - current roster

2 Johnson | 3 Taurasi | 11 Swanier | 13 Taylor | 21 Smith | 23 Pondexter | 24 Bonner | 30 Ohlde | 33 Mazzante | 43 Willingham | 50 Smith | Coach: Gaines







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