WHW Profile: Jennifer Azzi

The 20th season of the Women’s National Basketball Association tipped off last weekend. There have been many women who have made the WNBA last for 20 season, and MyWSports wants to salute one such player this week for Women’s History Wednesday.

Jennifer Azzi grew up in East Tennessee; she is the daughter of Donna and Jim Azzi and has an older sister, Susan. It was in her hometown where basketball first became her passion. The Azzi sisters attended Scarboro Learning Center as children. Jennifer and Susan loved the center so much that they wanted the director at the time to be their mother. Azzi recalls the day she and Susan broke the news:

“We came home one day, we sat our mom down and we said, ‘Mom. We would like for, her maiden name was Bohannon, we would like for Ms. Bohannon to be our mom.’ And my mom said … ‘what are you guys gonna do with me?’ So we had a little pow wow, came back to her. We said, ‘well you can be our grandmother!’”

In addition to recruiting new family members, the Azzi remembers the Scarboro Learning Center as a fun. Safe place for her to enjoy being a child. It was here where Azzi would sink her first shot, and develop her love for basketball. Mrs. Azzi recalls visiting the center on her work break only to be eagerly ushered to the basketball court by Miss Bohannon, proud for Jennifer to show her mother her “granny shot” at the age of four. “That was the beginning”, recalls Donna.

Azzi became a multiple sport athlete at Oak Ridge High School, competing in gymnastics, softball and basketball. She was an All American for Oak Ridge and a state champion too. Azzi would soon be faced with a decision that, in her mind, greatly impacted her career: Where would she attend college?

College Career

Although from Tennessee, Azzi wanted to find a college home that was different, where she could really stand out. The list was whittled down to Ohio State, Vanderbilt and Stanford. Ann Killion of the Mercury News recounts a simple question Donna Azzi asked her daughter, “Which school, if it was to reject her, would hurt the most?”

Jennifer’s answer led her to select a school clear across the country, despite her hesitation to be so far from home. Azzi committed to Stanford University and Coach Tara VanDerveer. VanDerveer and the Cardinal ended with a 13-15 record the year before Azzi arrived.

After a 14-14 record in Azzi’s freshman year, VanDerveer asked Azzi to visualize a winning team who could pack a gym for games and make it to the NCAA Tournament. By the next season, Azzi and the Cardinal had a 27-5 record and were ranked 13th by the Associated Press (AP) and 14th by USA Today polls. The team made it to the NCAA Regional Semifinals, falling to Texas.

In Azzi’s Junior season, Stanford was 18-0 in PAC-10 play and enjoyed a 28-3 record en route to their second NCAA Regional Semifinal appearance. The PAC-10 Champions won 22 straight games before losing to Louisiana Tech in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal were ranked 4th and 5th by AP and USA Today, respectively for the 1988-89 season.

In her final year at Stanford, Azzi led the Cardinal to a 32-1 record, another PAC-10 Championship, and the NCAA National Championship Game. Additionally, games were selling out! “We were playing a high-octane offense that people didn't expect to see in women's basketball," Azzi comments for a piece commemorating Stanford’s 1,000th program win, "We were one of the first women's teams to play that style, and the fans loved it.”

The Cardinal went on to win the first NCAA title in program history. Azzi was named Final Four MVP for the tournament and was able to accept her trophy and cut the down the nets in Knoxville, Tennessee, roughly 25 miles from her hometown.

Azzi remains in the Cardinal books as 9th overall in 3-pointers made (191), 3rd in steals (271), and 2nd in assists (751). She is also won the Wade Trophy, the Naismith Player of the Year, and the Academic + Athletic Excellence honors in 1990.

Professional Career

After college, Azzi played basketball overseas in Italy, France and Sweden. In 1996, she became a founding player for the American Basketball League (ABL). She was named the 1996 March of Dimes Female Athlete of the Year, and received a Sports Image Award in the same year.

The league folded in 1998 and Azzi was drafted in the 1st round to play for the Detroit Shock of the WNBA. Azzi played four season in the WNBA, eventually retiring after the 2003 season with the San Antonio Silver Stars. In four season, Azzi ended her professional career as the WNBA All-Time leader in 3-point field goal percentage (.458).

Team USA

Azzi was an alternate for Team USA in the 1992 Olympics, she won gold two years later for the Goodwill Games hosted by Russia. In 1996, Azzi won gold in the Atlanta games. She has a 114-14 International record with Team USA and 3 World Championship Medals (2 gold, 1 bronze).

Making an Impact on the Game

Azzi just completed her sixth season as Head Coach at the University of San Francisco. She has ushered in a culture of academic and athletic success at USF, reaching a perfect score of 1,000 in the Academic Progress Rating for the 2013-14 season, and a berth to the WNIT in 2015. In addition to caching, Azzi hosts the Azzi USF Camp. The camp is geared for girls ages 6-13 to learn critical basketball skills while also having fun.

The NCAA recently honored Jennifer Azzi with the Silver Anniversary Award in special recognition of the 25th anniversary of the end of their intercollegiate athletics eligibility. However, this is only the latest of many recognitions of Jennifer Azzi. She returned to Knoxville in 2009 as an inductee to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She has also been inducted to the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame (2006), the Oak Ridge High School Hall of Fame (1997) and the Stanford University Hall of Fame (1995), becoming the youngest honoree in the history of the school.

Azzi was a leader and an elite athlete at every level of the women’s game. Her drive and her commitment to the growth of basketball for girls and women will usher the game to the next level.

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @elindsay08