Ruth Riley

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Ruth Riley
Ruth Riley

Ruth Ellen Riley (born August 28, 1979) is an American professional basketball player (a center) in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL). Her Notre Dame team won the NCAA women's championship in 2001, and her Detroit Shock team won the WNBA championship in 2003 and 2006. Riley was the Most Valuable Player in the 2001 and 2003 championship series, becoming the first person to win the MVP awards in both the NCAA and the WNBA championships. She has also played on teams that won the NWBL championship and the gold medal at the Olympic Games.

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[edit] Early years

Riley was born in Ransom, Kansas and grew up in Macy, Indiana. She has always been unusually tall, measuring 25 inches (63.5 cm) at birth, and six feet (1.83 m) by the time she was 12 years old. In high school she was on the basketball, volleyball and track teams. It was in high school that she began her practice of wearing a headband while playing.

[edit] College years

In her freshman year at Notre Dame, Riley played in all 32 of the team's games, starting in the final 26. Thereafter she was the starting center in all but one of Notre Dame's games. She was a mainstay of the team in all four years, and consistently ranked high in the nation among women basketball players in field goal percentage and blocked shots. In both her junior and senior years she was an Associated Press First Team All-American selection. As a senior, she won the Naismith Award and was the Associated Press Player of the Year. In addition, she was the 2000-01 Verizon Academic All-America Team Member of the Year.

The highlight of her college career came in the 2001 NCAA tournament. In the championship game, Notre Dame was trailing Purdue, 66-64, when Riley scored the tying field goal. Then, with 5.8 seconds left and the score still tied, Riley drew a foul. She made both free throws to give Notre Dame its final 68-66 edge and its first women's national championship. [1] Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, when asked about the critical play on which Riley was fouled, said, "it's the same play we've been running all season. It's called: 'Get the ball to Ruth.'" [2] Riley was the Most Outstanding Player of that year's Final Four.

Riley graduated from Notre Dame in 2001 with a degree in psychology, having made the Dean's List every semester. She finished her Notre Dame career with 2,072 points, and school records for rebounds (1,007), blocked shots (370), and field goal percentage (.632).

[edit] Professional career

[edit] WNBA

On April 20, 2001, Riley was selected by the Miami Sol as the fifth overall pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft. She came off the bench for the first 12 games. On July 1, she made her first professional start, on the road against the Los Angeles Sparks, and started for the rest of the season.

Her second season (2002) was a difficult one. After playing well in the preseason, she broke a finger the day before the regular season started. She could not play for the Sol's first several games – the first time in her career she had missed a game because of an injury. She returned, playing with a splint on her hand, but lost her starting spot. During the WNBA's off-season, she played in Valencia, Spain.

After Riley's second season with the Sol, that franchise folded. On April 25, 2003 the WNBA held a special one-round dispersal draft, in which the remaining WNBA teams could select players from the Sol and from the Portland Fire, which had also folded. The Detroit Shock, by virtue of having the worst regular-season record in the WNBA in 2002, received the first pick in the dispersal draft, and used it to select Riley. [3]

In Riley's first season with the Shock (2003), she was a key member of the team. She bettered each of her previous WNBA season totals in points, rebounds, blocked shots, and assists. The Shock, in a notable turnaround, went from a 2002 season with the worst record in the league (9-23) to a 2003 season with the best record (25-9) and a victory in the WNBA Championship. In the finals, the Shock defeated the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks to win Detroit's first WNBA title. Riley was named the MVP of the WNBA finals.

Riley continued to play for the Shock in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 seasons. In 2005 she was selected for the Eastern Conference team in the WNBA All-Star Game. In 2006, she was the starting center when the Shock won its second WNBA championship, defeating the Sacramento Monarchs.

In February 2007, she was traded to the San Antonio Silver Stars in exchange for Katie Feenstra. The Shock also received the right to exchange first-round draft picks with the Silver Stars in 2008. [4]

[edit] NWBL

The WNBA off-season is when the National Women's Basketball League operates. It provides a showcase for players hoping to make a WNBA team, and also attracts established WNBA players. In the fall of 2003, Riley joined the Colorado Chill of the NWBL. On April 1, 2005, in her second season, the Chill won the NWBL championship.

In Riley's third season with the Chill, she broke her thumb in a preseason workout and missed the team's first 14 games. She returned to action on March 21, 2006. [5] She played in the last four regular-season games, all of which the Chill won to finish tied for the regular-season championship. [6] In the playoffs, the Chill won both its games to repeat as NWBL champions. [7] Riley was named as the playoff MVP. [8]

[edit] Spanish League

After the WNBA's 2005 season, Riley played for Yaya Maria Porta XI in the 2005-06 season of the Spanish League.

[edit] Polish League

Riley is now playing the 2006-07 European season for Lotos Gdynia in the Polish League. This club was long the European home for fellow WNBA player Margo Dydek, and also at one time featured another American WNBA star in Katie Smith.

[edit] International competition

While in college, Riley played on the U.S. team in the 1999 World University Games in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The team won the silver medal.

In 2002 she practiced with the USA Women's Senior National Team, but did not make the final cut to play in the Basketball World Championship.

In 2004 she again practiced with the USA Women's Senior National Team and played in several of its games. She was selected for the 2004 U.S. Women's Olympic Team. In Olympic play, the team was undefeated and won the gold medal.

[edit] Other activities

Riley wrote a children's book, The Spirit of Basketball, with co-author Paul Hickey and illustrator Christopher Hiller, that was published in 2005. According to Riley, the message of the book was "that basketball is the same no matter where you live or what language you speak." [9]

On January 26, 2005, Riley made her debut as a color commentator for a Notre Dame women's basketball game.

As of 2005, Riley is the vice president of the WNBA Player's Union.

Each summer she participates in the Ruth Riley Basketball Camp, which offers two days of instruction in basketball skills for students at the levels of kindergarten through 11th grade.

[edit] Personal

Riley's height is variously listed as 6' 4" and 6' 5". She herself has said that she is "six-foot-four and a half to be exact" (1.94 m). [10]

Because Riley played in Miami, she is sometimes asked if she is related to Pat Riley, the coach of the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. As far as she knows, she is not.

While playing for the Sol, Riley bought a condominium in South Beach, Florida, and still considers that her home.

[edit] Vital statistics

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Tamika Catchings		 Naismith College Player of the Year (women's)
2001		 Succeeded by
Sue Bird
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