Dena Head (born August 16, 1970) is an American retired

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

player. She is best remembered as the first player drafted in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA).

High school years

At Salem high school in Canton, Michigan, Head was named Miss Basketball of Michigan. She won two National Championships and was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. Dena played for Coach Fred Thomann, a former Michigan State University standout.

College years

Head attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

and earned a degree in sports management. She played four years of basketball, winning the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

women's college basketball championship in 1989 and 1991. Head was named to the 1992 Kodak All-America Team. She was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year as a senior, and was the 1989 SEC Freshman of the Year. As a senior, she was named to the Naismith All America Team, and in 1990 she was named to the NCAA All Regional Tournament Team East. She later attended

Baker College Baker College is a private college with its main campus in Owosso, Michigan. It was founded in 1911 and has additional campuses throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The college has been accused of predatory practices. In 2022, a ProP ...

USA Basketball

Head was named to the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team (now called the U19 team). The team participated in the second Junior World Championship, held in

Bilbao, Spain ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

in July 1989. The USA team lost their opening game to South Korea in overtime, then lost a two-point game to Australia. After winning their next game against Bulgaria, the USA team again fell in a close game, losing by three points to Czechoslovakia. After beating Zaire in their next game, the USA team played Spain, and fell three points short. Head averaged 6.9 points per game over the course of the event. The USA team finished in seventh place. Head played for the USA team, one of sixteen teams at the fifteenth

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

(1991) held in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. The team was coached by

Tara VanDerveer Tara Ann VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) is an American basketball coach who has been the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University since 1985. Designated the Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball, VanDerveer led the Stanfor ...

, and teammates included

Lisa Leslie Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is currently the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando Magic broadcasts on F ...

and

Dawn Staley Dawn Michelle Staley (born May 4, 1970) is an American basketball Hall of Fame player and coach, who is currently the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Staley won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA as a player and later was head co ...

. The USA team won all eight games it played, earning the gold medal. Head averaged 6.8 points per game over the course of the event. Head traveled to Taiwan with the team representing the US at the 1992 Women's R. William Jones Cup competition. Head scored 14 points in the opening game against Japan, which the USA team won. The team went on to win all eight games, and earned the gold medal for the event. The fourth game against Australia was a close match, with the Australians holding a slim lead at halftime, but the USA team came back, helped by Head's 18 points to win the game. Head averaged 11 points per game, and recorded 14 assists, second behind

. Head was named to the USA national team and competed in the 1994 World Championships, held in June 1994 in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. She competed along with college teammates Daedra Charles and

Carla McGhee Carla Renee McGhee (born March 6, 1968 in Peoria, Illinois) is an American former basketball player most notable for her career at the University of Tennessee. She was injured in a car crash in 1987 and was in a coma for 47 hours, suffering bra ...

. The team was coached by Tara VanDerveer, and won their first six games, when they faced Brazil. In a closely contested, high scoring game, Brazil hit ten of ten free throws in the final minute to secure a 110–107 victory. The USA won a close final game against Australia 100–95 to earn the bronze medal.

WNBA career

Head was the first and oldest player drafted in the WNBA. As part of the

WNBA Elite draft In 1997, the Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on A ...

in 1997, she was selected 1st overall. She joined the WNBA for two seasons with the

Utah Starzz Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its we ...

and one with the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

WNBA teams

*1997–1998:

*2000:

International career

Before the WNBA, Head played seven seasons of professional basketball in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Post WNBA career

Head served as women's basketball team assistant coach for the

Central Connecticut State University Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticut ...

. Head now works for Amazon as a Manager.

References

External links

CCSU coach profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Head, Dena 1970 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American women's basketball coaches Basketball players from Michigan Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Phoenix Mercury players Point guards Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball players Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball Utah Starzz draft picks Utah Starzz players Women's National Basketball Association first-overall draft picks United States women's national basketball team players