Vanderbilt Commodores | |||||||||||||||
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Position | Head coach | ||||||||||||||
League | Southeastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Born | Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. | March 12, 1978||||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school | Terry Sanford (Fayetteville, North Carolina) | ||||||||||||||
College | UConn (1996–2001) | ||||||||||||||
WNBA draft | 2001: 3rd round, 40th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
Selected by the Utah Starzz | |||||||||||||||
Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||
2003–2008 | Pittsburgh (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
2008–2021 | UConn (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
2021–present | Vanderbilt | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Stats at Basketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Shea Sydney Ralph (born March 12, 1978)[1] is a former collegiate basketball player and current head coach for the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team.[2] She was previously an assistant coach at UConn from 2008 to 2021. Ralph was proficient in multiple sports, set state high school records in basketball, and earned multiple national player of the year awards in high school and college. She helped win a national championship as a player at the University of Connecticut in 2000 and won numerous individual awards, including the Sports Illustrated for Women Player of the Year and the Honda Sports Award for the best collegiate female athlete in basketball. She suffered five ACL injuries in her career,[3] two of which led to sitting out the 1997–98 season. Ralph was drafted by the WNBA Utah Starzz, but recurring knee problems prevented her from embarking on a professional career. Ralph started her coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 2003.