Nicole Anne Kaczmarski (born April 30, 1981) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. A standout player in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, she received a

Gatorade Player of the Year award The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' ...

, was named Miss New York Basketball and earned a spot in the 1999

USA Today All-USA high school basketball team Each year, ''USA Today'', an American newspaper, awards outstanding high school basketball players with a place on its male and female All-USA high school basketball teams. The newspaper names athletes whom it believes to be the best basketball pla ...

. Heavily recruited by colleges, Kaczmarski eventually enrolled at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and played one season for their women's basketball team. Kaczmarski then enrolled at the

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

. Afterward, she had brief stints with two

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 ...

teams, the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

and the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

. In 2011, she became a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

for basketball telecasts. Kaczmarski's high school career and college recruitment were chronicled in the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

''Running Down a Dream.''

High school career

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

native, Kaczmarski first gained national recognition at

Longwood High School Longwood Central School District covers in central Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It serves the hamlets of Ridge, Gordon Heights, Middle Island, Coram, and Yaphank, and parts of Shoreham, Shirley, Medford, an ...

, where she was named women's high school basketball Freshman of the Year by

ESPN RISE ''ESPN HS'' was a high school sports magazine published monthly during the school year in 25 markets around the United States. Founded as ''SchoolSports'' magazine in 1997, the publication changed its name to ''RISE'' in 2006 and was purchased b ...

. She led the team at Longwood to a 10-2 record and a three-way tie for the league title before falling in the quarterfinals of the Class A Playoffs against Walt Whitman High School. Kaczmarski, also known by her nickname "Kaz" subsequently had a brief stint playing for

Christ The King Regional High School Christ the King Regional High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic high school for grades 9-12 located in Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States and established in 1962. It is located within the Roman Catholic Dioces ...

alongside future

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

and Women's National Basketball Association star

Sue Bird Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire career with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association ( WNBA) Bird was drafted by the Storm first over ...

. She played most of her high school basketball at

Sachem High School The Sachem Central School District is one of the largest school districts by population on Long Island and among all suburban school districts in New York, United States. Founded in 1955, the district now encompasses residents of the Census-Desi ...

, where she set a Long Island women's high school basketball record with 2,583 career points. Kaz played her first varsity basketball game at Sachem as an eighth grader. She led Sachem to the state title as an eighth-grader. She Helped lead Sachem to state title over Lockport in March 1995. During her high school career, she was named both Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss New York Basketball and was a selection to the 1999 USA Today All-USA high school basketball team. In the Suffolk final in 1999 as a senior, she had 45 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and six steals in a win over previously undefeated Bellport. Highly recruited, she decided to attend

. One of the last games she played as a high school player was the

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

All-America game. Kaczmarski's high school career and entrance into college basketball were documented in the 1999 film ''Running Down a Dream.''

College and professional career

At UCLA, Kaczmarski started at

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

early in the 1999-2000 season due to an injury to regular starter Erica Gomez. Eventually, she was shifted to the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

position. Kaczmarski faced some early season struggles, but improved later in the season, ending with an average of 11.7 points per game and having set a school record by hitting seven three pointers during a game at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

. Kaczmarski was also named

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Player of the Week during the final week of the regular season and was a selection to the conference all-freshman team. Kaczmarski did not return to UCLA for her sophomore year as she had been suffering from

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...

, as well as

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain (PHP) is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot that is usually most severe with the f ...

due to an injury she suffered at trials for the

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympi ...

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 ...

team. Kaczmarski returned to school at the State University of New York at Stonybrook, but never returned to college basketball. In 2003, Kaczmarski was drafted in the 3rd round of the

2003 WNBA Draft The 2003 WNBA draft, both the dispersal draft and the regular WNBA draft, took place on April 24. The dispersal draft involved players from the rosters of the Portland Fire and Miami Sol teams which had both folded after the 2002 season. For that ...

as the final pick of her hometown

team, the

. She was unaware that she had been drafted until a friend called to congratulate her. Kaczmarski did not make the Liberty's regular season roster but started playing professionally in Austria and Greece. She then had a brief stint with the

in 2005.

Post-playing career

Kaczmarski pursued a career in healthcare and graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in health science. In 2011, she returned to basketball as an analyst for the

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

channel MSG Varsity and for the St. John's Red Storm. The following year, Kaczmarski became the first female athlete to have her jersey retired by Sachem High School and only the fifth ever. As of October 2020, she ranks third for most career points scored in Long Island women's high school basketball.

Honors

* MVP of the New York State Championships * Gatorade National High School Player of the Year * First Team All-America by USA Today * Second all-time leading scorer in Long Island history * Five-time All-State selection * Four-time Long Island Player of the Year * 1999 New York's Miss Basketball * All-Pac 10 Freshman Team * Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame * Won two straight AAU national titles * 2,583 points - School and Suffolk record and 2nd all-time on Long Island

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaczmarski, Nicole 1981 births Living people American sports announcers American women's basketball players Basketball players from New York (state) New York Liberty draft picks Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Suffolk County, New York Point guards UCLA Bruins women's basketball players