Tanisha Lovely Wright (born November 29, 1983) is an American
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 ...
coach and former player. Wright is currently the head coach of the
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real e ...
of the
WNBA. She began her coaching career as an assistant coach at
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
. As a player, Wright played 14 WNBA seasons for the
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...
,
New York Liberty and
Minnesota Lynx and played college basketball for the
Penn State Nittany Lions
The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...
. She ranks fourth in school history in points scored with 1,995 points in 134 career games for Penn State. She was drafted in the
2005 WNBA Draft by the
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...
.
High school career
Born in
West Mifflin
West Mifflin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, located southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The population was 20,313 at the 2010 census. It is named after Thomas Mifflin, 1st Governor of Pennsylvania, signer of the Un ...
, she attended the suburban
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
West Mifflin Area High School, where she played basketball and soccer. She led the team to the W.P.I.A.L (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League) basketball district finals in her junior year. The team lost a close game 81–78 to Blackhawk High School in Triple Overtime. Tanisha fouled out in the beginning of the final overtime. She led the game with 51 points. She went on to lead her team to the next seasons finals once again against Blackhawk, where she led the team in a 63–53 victory. She went on to take her team to the state finals, where they lost a close game to Allentown Central Catholic high school 56–45. The team's record was 31–1, their only loss coming in the state finals.
College career
Penn State statistics
Source
WNBA career
![Wright-20180914](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Wright-20180914.jpg)
Wright helped the
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...
win their second championship in 2010.
On February 2, 2015, Wright signed as a free agent with the
New York Liberty
In 2017, it was announced that Wright would be sitting out part of the
2017 WNBA season to rest.
On March 13, 2018, Wright signed a free agent contract with the
Minnesota Lynx.
Wright was traded back to the
New York Liberty on April 11, 2019, in exchange for a second-round draft pick in the
2020 WNBA draft. Following the 2019 season, Wright announced her retirement.
Coaching career
The
Las Vegas Aces
The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team play ...
announced the hiring of Wright as an assistant coach in 2020.
Wright was known as a defensive specialist and helped coached the Aces into one of the league’s best defensive teams.
Head Coach
On October 12, 2021, Wright was announced as the head coach of the Atlanta Dream.
Head coaching record
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Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
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, 36 , , 14 , , 22 , , , , 5th in Eastern , , — , , — , , — , , — , , Missed playoffs
Overseas career
References
External links
Charlotte 49ers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Tanisha
1983 births
Living people
Atlanta Dream coaches
All-American college women's basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in France
American expatriate basketball people in Israel
American women's basketball players
Basketball players from New York City
Las Vegas Aces coaches
Minnesota Lynx players
New York Liberty players
Penn State Lady Lions basketball players
People from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Point guards
Seattle Storm draft picks
Seattle Storm players
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
Tarbes Gespe Bigorre players
Basketball coaches from New York (state)
American women's basketball coaches