Olympia Scott, formerly known under her married name of Olympia Scott-Richardson, 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 in the WNBA, and a former college coach. She is also co-founder of an online parenting education company called "Super Parenting LLC" and of a coaching company called "A Wonderful Life! Coaching". She was born Olympia Ranee Scott on August 5, 1976 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

High School and Stanford University

Scott was named a Kodak High School All-American by the WBCA. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1994, scoring eight points. Olympia was named ''

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...

s Second Team

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 ...

during her senior year at St. Bernard

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 ...

Playa del Rey, California Playa del Rey (Spanish language, Spanish for "Beach of the King") is a seaside community in the Santa Monica Bay and the Westside (Los Angeles County), Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It has a ZIP code of 90293 and area codes 310 and 4 ...

. Olympia was also the youngest player to participate in the US Olympic Festival in a team sport in 1994 while playing for the West team. She also posted the single-game shot-block record in the Festival that year, with four blocks. Scott also led St. Bernard High School of Playa del Rey, CA to its first 2 girls' basketball state championships her junior and senior years. While attending

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

on full scholarship, Scott played on their women's basketball team (known as the ''Cardinal'') for four years (1994 to 1998). She averaged 12.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game during her four-year Stanford career. As a senior, she was a Naismith "Player of the Year" finalist and named an

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honorable mention

n and was a

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

All-Region selection. She also was selected to participate in the inaugural Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game after leading the Cardinal in steals (48) and blocked shots (14) in 1998. She was named to the All-

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 ...

first team in both 1997 and 1998. She competed with

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 ...

as a member of the 1995 Jones Cup Team that won the Bronze in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

and the 1997 World University Games Team that won the Gold Medal In Sicily, Italy. Scott also led the Stanford Cardinal as a four-year starter to four Pac-10 Conference Championships, including back-to-back undefeated in conference seasons, and only 2 conference losses her entire four years. She also led the Cardinal to 3 NCAA Final Four appearances. A member of the

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

sorority, Scott graduated with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

Professional career

In the 1998 WNBA Draft, Scott was selected by 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 ...

in the second round (#11 overall). She missed most of the following season, due to the birth of her daughter on April 7, 1999. She returned to play in four games for the Starzz before she and teammate

Wendy Palmer Wendy Palmer (born August 12, 1974) is a former professional basketball player in the WNBA, and former head coach of the UNCG women's basketball team. Her primary position was forward. High school Born in Timberlake, North Carolina, Palmer at ...

were traded on July 29 to the

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. ...

, in exchange for Korie Hlede and Cindy Brown. She played for the Shock until just prior to the 2001 season, when she was traded to the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

. Having been being used as a utility player since her WNBA debut, Scott became a member of the Fever's starting lineup for the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Scott was named team captain of the Indiana Fever and awarded the Community Assist award for excellence in community service and leadership by the WNBA and the Fever. Started 31 games in her second season with the Fever, averaging career highs of 9.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg...in her best game ever as a professional, she led the Fever in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocked shots vs. Utah, 7/10...against the Starzz, she scored a career-high 31 points (11-17 FG, 9-11 FT) to accompany nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots in 39 minutes...she finished the season ranked 11th in the WNBA in rebounds per game...she hauled in the 500th rebound of her WNBA career vs. Charlotte, 7/22...she had five games with 10+ rebounds and posted three double-doubles, including consecutive games vs. Miami (14 points, 11 rebounds), 7/12, and vs. L.A. (12 points, 10 rebounds), 7/17...she was eighth in the WNBA in field goal percentage, shooting 48.7 percent from the floor. After sitting out the 2003 season due to a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury, she signed a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

contract with the

Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization of ...

, for the 2004 season. After that season, she was traded along with her Charlotte teammates Nicole Powell and

Erin Buescher Erin Buescher Perperoglou (born June 5, 1979) is a former American professional basketball player. She played most recently as a forward for the San Antonio Silver Stars of the WNBA. In her WNBA career, Buescher Perperoglou played more than 2,50 ...

, to the

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mona ...

in exchange for Tangela Smith and a 2006 WNBA Draft second-round pick. She spent the 2005 season with the Monarchs in a reserve role, but enjoyed the team's success as they went on to win the

WNBA Championship The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

, defeating the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established ...

three games to one, in a

best-of-five playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly k ...

. On February 3, 2006, Scott, who had been a

after the 2005 season ended, signed a contract to return to the

. She played one year with the Fever, then was traded again in March 2007 to 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 ...

where she enjoyed winning a second WNBA Championship. Olympia Scott is the first woman in WNBA history to win two WNBA Championships with two different teams. Scott also served several years on the Women's National Basketball Players' Association (WNBPA) Executive Committee as the Secretary/Treasurer as well as an active member of the Negotiating Committee, participating in the last 2 Collective Bargaining Agreements between the WNBA and the WNBPA. Scott has yet to officially retire from the WNBA where she has played a total of 10 seasons. Olympia has also played in 6 different European countries for a total of 11 seasons including

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

for the Dynamo Moscow Region team; in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

for Mersin Buyuksehir, Istanbul University, Erdemir and the Ceyhan clubs; in Ibiza, Spain; Alcamo and Schio, Italy; Thessaloniki, Greece; and Yerevan, Armenia. She retired from professional basketball in 2011.

Coaching career

Scott once served as an assistant coach at the

College of the Sequoias College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally esta ...

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

, and has also coached AAU basketball as well as numerous camps and clinics. In October 2004, she was named the head coach of the women's basketball team at William Smith College. Scott led her team to the

Liberty League The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Member schools are top institutions that are all located in the state of New York. History It was founde ...

regular season and tournament championships, an appearance in 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 ...

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

regional semifinals, and the program's first 20-win season (20 wins against eight losses) since the 1999–2000 season. The team's efforts resulted in Scott and her coaching staff being voted by the conference as the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year. However, after her

team won the

WNBA championship The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

by defeating the

, Scott resigned from her coaching position to devote herself full-time to her playing career.

Corporate career

In 2003, she co-founded, together with her mother, Jacqueline Parker Scott, Ed.D, MBA, an online parenting education company named "Super Parenting LLC".

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Olympia 1976 births Living people American women's basketball coaches American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Centers (basketball) Charlotte Sting players Delta Sigma Theta members Detroit Shock players Indiana Fever players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Phoenix Mercury players Sacramento Monarchs players Stanford Cardinal women's basketball players Utah Starzz draft picks Utah Starzz players Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball