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SAN FRANCISCO -- On Monday night's episode of 'Pac-12 Sports Report', hosts Mike Yam and Ashley Adamson unveiled the Pac-12 Women's Basketball All-Century Team. The starters consist of eight guards, twelve centers/forwards, one player of the century and one coach of the century.
61 panelists, consisting of media members, Pac-12 staff, coaches and players, were responsible for the selection of the team. Each panelist ranked their top twelve in each category, with their top selection receiving 12 points, their second selection receiving 11 points, etc. The points were then tallied across the entire panel, and the top vote-getters formed the All-Century Team. Only players who were active at their university while the university was a member of the Pac-12 were eligible.
Leading the way with eight players is Stanford. The only other schools with multiple All-Century starters are USC (five) and UCLA (three). The members of the team span five decades, a period when four NCAA championships have been won by current Pac-12 schools.
The first Bruin is considered the pioneer of collegiate women's basketball. Ann Meyers (1975-78) was the first female athlete ever to earn a four-year scholarship to UCLA, and she finished her collegiate career as the first four-time All-American in her sport. In her senior season (1978), she led UCLA to the AIAW national championship, won the Broderick Award as the women's basketball player of the year and went on to win the prestigious Broderick Cup as the Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year in any sport. Also that year, she became the only player in UCLA history to record a quadruple-double, recording 20 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in a game against Stephen F. Austin.
For almost two decades, Meyers held the school record for assists in a game (15) and was the school leader in career assists (544) until the marks were broken in 1999. She was also the leader in blocked shots (101) until that mark was surpassed in 2015. She remains the school leader in steals (403) and is 10th in scoring (1,685).
Meyers, who won a silver medal as a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team, has been inducted into the Naismith, FIBA and Women's Basketball Halls of Fame. In 1988, her first year of eligibility, she was the first woman inducted into UCLA's Hall of Fame, and two years later, she had her uniform #15 retired.
The next Bruin is the consistent Denise Curry, a three-time All-American, who set a collegiate record by scoring in double figures in all 130 games she played for the Bruins.
The Davis, Calif., native set 14 school records in her career at Westwood and still ranks No. 1 in career scoring (3,198) and rebounding (1,310) in addition to four other categories. She played in two Final Fours and helped lead UCLA to the 1978 AIAW National Championship as a freshman.
From 1977-81, Curry's teams won 98 games, including a school-record 29 during her senior season.
Curry won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games, four years after being selected to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team that did not compete due to the U.S. boycott. Curry went on to play professional ball in Europe for several seasons.
In 1990, UCLA retired her uniform number (#12), and she was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1994 and into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Natalie Williams, a 2004 UCLA Hall of Fame inductee, is the final player from UCLA on the All-Century Team. She dominated the backboards like no other player. Her career average of 12.8 rebounds is more than 2.5 rebounds higher than any other Bruin and ranked first in Conference history until this year.
She led the Pac-10 in rebounding three times (the three highest averages in league history) and twice led the Pac-10 in scoring. She holds the Pac-10 records for career rebound average and single-game rebounds.
At UCLA (1990-94), she still ranks No. 5 in scoring (1,813) and No. 3 in scoring average (20.4).
Williams, a two-time first-team All-American, was selected to the 1994 Kodak All-America team and was named Pac-10 Player of the Year as a senior.
She was also an All-American in volleyball, earning National Player of the Year honors twice. She accumulated a total of 16 Pac-10 Player of the Week honors (eight in each sport), and in February of 1996, she was selected the Pac-10 Female Athlete of the Decade (1987-96).
Professionally, she enjoyed an MVP season in 1997-98 with Portland of the ABL, leading the league in both scoring and rebounding for a second-straight season. In 1999, she ranked first in the WNBA in rebounding and fourth in scoring. In the summer of 2000, she helped the U.S. win the gold medal at the Olympic Games. She retired from professional basketball at the end of the 2005 season.
USC's Cheryl Miller, who helped the Conference take home two of those NCAA titles and was named NCAA Tournament MVP on both occasions, is the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Player of the Century. She was a four-time All-American and the Naismith College Player of the Year three times. She currently ranks in the top ten in career points and career rebounds in the NCAA record books. She finished her career with the school record in career scoring (3,018 points), scoring average (22.3 ppg), career rebounds (1,534), total field goals (1,159), and total free throws made (700). Miller went on to win a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games. She currently coaches at Langston University in the Red River Athletic Conference.
Tara VanDerveer, the Coach of the Century, has been the head coach at Stanford since 1985. After playing at Albany and Indiana, she began her coaching career at Idaho. In just her second season as the head coach, she took the team to the AIAW Tournament, the predecessor of the NCAA Tournament. After five years at Ohio State, she took over the Stanford program. During her time in Palo Alto, the Cardinal have won 18 Pac-12 Conference Championships and two NCAA Championships. She has been the National Coach of the Year four times and the Pac-12 Coach of the Year ten times.
For the entire team, see below:
Guards:
Jennifer Azzi, Stanford (1986-1990)
Cynthia Cooper, USC (1982-1986)
Candice Wiggins, Stanford (2004-2008)
Briann January, ASU (2005-2009)
Kate Starbird, Stanford (1993-1997)
Sonja Henning, Stanford (1987-1991)
Jamie Redd, Washington (1995-1999)
Molly Goodenbour, Stanford (1989-1993)
Centers/Forwards:
Cheryl Miller, USC (1982-1986)
Lisa Leslie, USC (1990-1994)
Ann Meyers, UCLA (1974-1978)
Denise Curry, UCLA (1979-1982)
Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford (2010-2014)
Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Stanford (2008-2012)
Bev Smith, Oregon (1978-1982)
Pam McGee, USC (1980-1984)
Natalie Williams, UCLA (1990-1994)
Nicole Powell, Stanford (2000-2004)
Tina Thompson, USC (1993-1997)
Carol Menken, OSU (1979-1981)
Player of the Century:
Cheryl Miller, USC (1982-1986)
Coach of the Century:
Tara VanDerveer, Stanford (1985-present)