Itoro Umoh-Coleman

Itoro Umoh-Coleman
WNBA's Houston Comets  – No. 15
Guard
Born February 21, 1977
Augusta, Georgia
Nationality USA
Listed height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Listed weight 140 lb (64 kg)
College Clemson
WNBA career 2003–2003
Itoro Umoh-Coleman
Medal record
Women's Basketball
Competitor for the  United States
Pan American Games
Bronze 1999 Winnipeg Team Competition

Itoro Umoh-Coleman (born Itoro Umoh on February 21, 1977) is a former WNBA basketball player. She played for the Lady Clemson Tigers in college and is a former head basketball coach for that team.[1][2] In 2002, she was selected for the Atlantic Coast Conference 50-year all-star women's basketball team as well as 25th Anniversary Tournament team.[3]

Early years

Born in D.C., Umoh-Coleman spent her early years living in Hephzibah, Georgia. She attended Hephzibah High School and played for the Lady Rebels under coach Wendell Lofton.[4] She graduated in 1995.

College career

During her tenure at Clemson from 1995–1999, she led the Lady Clemson Tigers to two ACC Championships.[5] While at Clemson, she played both point guard and shooting guard.[6] During her 1995-1996 freshman year at Clemson, in which Clemson won the ACC Championship, she led the team in assists and steals.[6] At Clemson, she was a 3-time All-ACC player.[7] During her 1999 senior ACC tournament, she was awarded the MVP award in a rare unanimous vote.[5] That same year, she was an honorable mention for the All-American team and Defensive All-American.[7] Umoh-Coleman also represented the United States during the 1999 Pan American Games with the team winning a bronze medal.

She scored her 900th career point during a Clemson-Wake Forest game in which coach Jim Davis won his 100th game.[8]

WNBA career

In 1999 she was in the preseason camps of the Minnesota Lynx and Washington Mystics but did not make either team. In 2002, after attending WNBA league camp tryouts, she was assigned to the Indiana Fever training camp, but failed to make the team. In 2003, she became the first Clemson player to be named to an active WNBA roster after being signed by the Houston Comets early in the season to replace the injured Cynthia Cooper (she had previously been in the Comets training camp that year but was waived before the regular season started). She played in three games for the team before being waived again.[9][10]

Coaching

Her first coaching job was a student assistant job for Liberty University in 1999.[10] After graduation from college, her next job was at Butler University, where she coached from 2000-2002. She accepted an assistant coaching job for the Lady Clemson Tigers in 2002. One of her major functions in the program was as a recruiter.[7] She became the head coach of the team in 2010. After 3 years as head coach, she was let go by Clemson at the end of the 2013 season.[2][10][11]

Nigerian National Team

At the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Umoh-Coleman played for the Nigeria women's national basketball team.[10][12] She played on the team with fellow Hephzibah High School alumnua, Joanne Aluka.[6] In 2006, she played for the Nigerian national team at the FIBA world championships. She had the highest number of assists in the tournament.[7]

Personal life

In December 1999, she married Harold Coleman. Together, they have four children, three girls and a boy.[10] They became the primary caregivers for her two siblings after the death of Umoh-Coleman's mother in 2002. They also care for Harold Coleman's nephew.[10]

She graduated with a degree in communications from Clemson in 2000.[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 WNBA Player Bio
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Clemson fires Itoro Coleman". ESPN. March 8, 2013. Retrieved 8 Mar 2013.
  3. ↑ Overtime, Augusta Chronicle, May 5, 2005. Retrieved 03-03-2009.
  4. ↑ Tim Morse, Discipline key to Hephzibah's success, Augusta Chronicle, January 18, 1999. Retrieved 03-03-2009.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Clemson's McKinney retains assistant, Augusta Chronicle, May 5, 2005. Retrieved 03-03-2009
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Andy Johnston, Umoh teaches lesson in life, Augusta Chronicle, January 29, 1997. Retrieved 03-03-2009.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Clemson Coaching Bio
  8. ↑ Clemson's Umoh goes over 900-point mark in scoring, Augusta Chronicle, February 16, 1998. Retrieved 03-03-2009.
  9. ↑ "Itoro Umoh-Coleman". WNBA. 2003. Retrieved 3/9/2013. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Kristy Shonka, Umoh leads in life, Games, Augusta Chronicle, August 17, 2004. Retrieved 03-03-2009.
  11. ↑ http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/032910aab.html
  12. ↑ Nigeria snaps streak, finishes 11th, ESPN, August 24, 2004.