The Miami Sol were a professional women's

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 (appro ...

team that was based in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and entered the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA) in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena as the sister team to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). The team folded after the 2002 season because of financial problems.

History

The city of

was granted one of the first four

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

s of the WNBA in June 1999 along with

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, and Portland. In their short history, the Miami Sol was coached for three seasons by Ron Rothstein. For their inaugural 2000 season, the Sol finished in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with an overall record of 13–19. Players such as Debbie Black, Elena Baranova, Sandy Brondello,

Ruth Riley Ruth Ellen Riley Hunter (born August 28, 1979) is a retired American professional basketball player (a center), playing most recently for the Atlanta Dream in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Her Notre Dame team won the NCAA ...

, and Sheri Sam led them to a 20–12 record and a trip to the playoffs in 2001, but lost in the first round to the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

in three games, the only playoff appearance in franchise history. After losing to the

in the playoffs, the Miami Sol finished the 2002 season with a 15–17 record. That season proved to be the Sol's last. Citing the inability to raise enough funds to continue operation under the WNBA's new restructuring agreement, the organization ceased operations in November 2002. The team formally folded in January 2003 after the WNBA announced players from both the Sol and Portland Fire would be placed in a spring dispersal draft. The team finished with a .500 franchise record of 48 wins and 48 losses. The other Florida team, the

Orlando Miracle The Orlando Miracle were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Orlando, Florida. It began play in the 1999 WNBA season. The Miracle relocated, in 2003, to Uncasville, Connecticut, where the team became the Connecticut ...

, ceased operations after the 2002 season and was relocated to Connecticut as the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

, adopting a nickname and logo very similar to the Miami Sol. After the team's folding, its players found success elsewhere in the league. After being reassigned 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. Th ...

won two WNBA championships in 2003 and 2006. Betty Lennox and Sandy Brondello won a WNBA championship with the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

in 2004, with Lennox winning the WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player award.

Uniforms

The Sol's road uniforms were fiery red, with the team name emblazoned in white on the chest and a WNBA ball in place of the hole in the letter "O". The home jerseys featured the same design, only with the colors inverted.

Name

The team's nickname, Sol, is Spanish and Portuguese for "sun" and was unveiled on January 7, 2000. The name played off the Miami area's large Hispanic population and its "brother" NBA team, the

Season-by-season records

Notable players

* Marlies Askamp * Elena Baranova * Sandy Brondello * Katrina Colleton * Debbie Black * Milena Flores * Pollyanna Johns-Kimbrough * Betty Lennox * Carolyn Moos * Vanessa Nygaard * Kristen Rasmussen *

* Sheri Sam * Iziane Castro Marques

Coaches and others

Head coaches: * Ron Rothstein (2000–02) General Managers: *Ron Rothstein (2000–02) Assistant coaches * Tony Fiorentino (2000–02) * Jenny Boucek (2000–02) TV Production *

Marc Brody Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...

(2000–02)

References

{{Women's National Basketball Association * Defunct Women's National Basketball Association teams Basketball teams established in 2000 Basketball teams disestablished in 2002 Basketball teams in Miami 2000 establishments in Florida 2002 disestablishments in Florida Basketball teams in Florida