Tracy Claxton (born 1961 or 1962) is a former basketball player who amassed 2,420 career points in 1980 while at

Wilbur Cross High School Wilbur Cross High School is a four-year public high school in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving ninth through twelfth grades. The school is named after Connecticut Governor Wilbur Lucius Cross and is th ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. She continued to hold the girls basketball record for Connecticut until 1987. At university, Claxton held the 1981 rebound season record with the

Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball The Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball team represents the University of Kansas and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are coached by Brandon Schneider. The Jayhawks have failed to match the success of the men's te ...

team and was with Kansas when they finished third at the 1981 AIAW National Division I Basketball Championship. The following year, Claxton held the rebound season record again while also holding the points season record for 1982. After leaving Kansas to join the

Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball The Old Dominion Monarchs women’s basketball team (formerly the Lady Monarchs) represents Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The team currently competes in the NCAA Division I as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The ODU Monarchs w ...

team in 1983, Claxton was the

NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships (the "Final Four" tournaments), a media panel selects a Most Outstanding Player (MOP). It is usually awarded to a member of the championship team. There have been ...

after she and Old Dominion won the 1985 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. After her time at Old Dominion ended, Claxton was in the top five for most career rebounds after she led the season rebounds category in 1984 and 1985. With 1,434 combined rebounds, Claxton was eighteenth in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

records for most career rebounds in 2020. As a coach, Claxton was an assistant for Quinnipiac College's women's basketball team from 1989 to 1990 before coaching girls basketball teams from the 2000s to 2020s. Claxton became part of the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988 and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Apart from basketball, Claxton worked at

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS, BCBSA) is a federation, or supraorganization, of, in 2022, 34 independent and locally operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 106 million people. It was f ...

from 1988 to 2001.

Early life and education

In the early 1960s, Claxton was born in

. Growing up, Claxton played basketball in middle school before continuing her basketball career at

. From 1978 to 1980, Claxton and Wilbur Cross won the Class L basketball division in Connecticut championships. In 1980, Claxton amassed over 2,000 points and was the first person in Connecticut to reach this career threshold in girls basketball. That year, Claxton finished her girls basketball career in 1980 when she left Wilbur Cross. During her time there, Claxton had 2,420 points throughout her career. Claxton continued to hold the record for most girls basketball career points in Connecticut until it was broken by Tracy Lis in 1987. After dropping to third in 2003, Claxton's state record remained in the top five in the mid 2010s. From 1980 to 1982, Claxton was part of the

team while at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. At the 1981 AIAW National Division I Basketball Championship, Claxton was part of the Kansas team when they reached the second round. The team finished in third by the end of the 1981 AIAW Championship for Division I schools. During her two seasons with Kansas, Claxton had the rebounds season record in 1981 and 1982 while also holding the 1982 season record in points. With her 61 games, Claxton accumulated 792 rebounds and 1,039 points. After leaving Kansas to become a student at

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

, Claxton did not play basketball from 1982 to 1983. From 1983 to 1985, Claxton was a member of the

team. With the Lady Monarchs, Claxton and her team won the 1985 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. After the championship game, Claxton was named the

for 1985. Following her final season in 1985, Claxton had played in 118 games for Old Dominion. With her statistics at Kansas and Old Dominion, Claxton accumulated 1,999 points and 1,434 rebounds in her career. Claxton was also the Old Dominion season leader for most rebounds in 1984 and 1985. With 1,434 rebounds, Claxton was eighteenth for most career rebounds by a

women's basketball player in 2020. Apart from her college basketball career, Claxton went to

Sacred Heart University Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholic un ...

in the 1990s to study

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

Career

1980s to 1990s

In 1985, Claxton was a candidate to join the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

team. She pulled out of the Globetrotter tryout after an ankle injury. During the 1980s, Claxton chose not to play professional basketball outside of the United States. In specific positions, Claxton turned down an offer to play basketball in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In the late 1980s, Claxton worked at a

daycare Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

before joining

in 1988 in their claims department. While at Blue Cross, Claxton started her coaching career from 1989 to 1990 with the women's basketball team at Quinnipiac College as an assistant. For the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Claxton was chosen to be an assistant basketball commissioner at the Special Olympics. In 1997, Claxton chose 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 ...

and American Basketball League as her two options for a playing career.

2000s to 2020s

After opting out of the WNBA, Claxton was working at Blue Cross in their products division before she was laid off in 2001. Claxton later worked in parks and recreation before becoming a member of the Liveable City Initiative for New Haven in 2005. Claxton continued to work with LCI during the 2010s and 2020s. Claxton was coaching girls basketball for Amistad Academy before she left for Hyde in 2009. She continued to coach girls basketball with Hyde until she resigned her coaching position in 2014. With the girls basketball team at Wilbur Cross, Claxton had 12 wins and 25 losses from 2015 to 2017. After resuming her coaching position with Wilbur Cross in 2020, Claxton had an additional 13 wins and 14 losses up to 2022.

Awards and honors

In 1988, Claxton became part of the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. With Old Dominion, Claxton was inducted into their sports hall of fame in 1992. In 1993, the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance gave a Gold Key to Claxton for her sports career. At Wilbur Cross, Claxton's jersey had previously been retired before it was stolen. In 1995, a replacement jersey was chosen to be retired for Claxton at the high school. In 1999, Claxton was named one of the 100 best Connecticut athletes of the 1900s by the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

''. Claxton also became part of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. During the mid 2000s, Old Dominion retired the jersey that was worn by Claxton. In 2020, Claxton was one of the selections for an All-Century Team for girls basketball players by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference.

Personal life

In 1994, Claxton had a finger tumor removed. She is not married and has one child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claxton, Tracy 1960s births Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball players Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball players Quinnipiac Bobcats women's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Connecticut Living people Wilbur Cross High School alumni