Pineland, Texas native, Teresa Weatherspoon is a true pioneer of women’s basketball. The all-state basketball player from West Sabine High School committed to play for Louisiana Tech University and became a true freshman. From 1984-’88 her passion, charisma, and drive helped lead the Techsters to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, two Final Four appearances, and two National championship game appearances. She finished her collegiate career with a record of 118-14 and took the state player of the year, the American South Conference Player of the Year, and the National Player of the Year her senior year. In 1987 and ‘88 she was a Kodak All-Americana and Wade Trophy winner in ‘88. Weatherspoon’s defensive was one attribute that made her stand out from other point guards and helped lead them to win the 1988 NCAA Championship. Her success in college made her an obvious pick for international teams, winning gold medals at the 1986 World Championships, 1986 Goodwill Games, and the 1987 World University Games.
Before starting her professional career overseas, Weatherspoon won a gold medal with Team USA in the 1988 Olympics and during her overseas career won a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics. She was a six-time all-star in Italy from 1989-’94 and a two-time Russian League champion in 1995 and ‘96. Weatherspoon returned back to the states for the inaugural WNBA Draft in 1997 and was drafted 10th overall by the New York Liberty (1997-2003).She is a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year recipient,led Liberty to four WNBA Finals and three WNBA championship appearances. One of the most iconic moments in the early years of the WNBA came in Game 2 of the 1999 Championship game against the Houston Comets when Weatherspoon sank a half court shot to win the game with 2.4 seconds left on the clock. Her success on the court led to her being a five-time All-Star and four-time All-WNBA Second Team. Throughout her career with Liberty, she started every game and is still their all-time leader in assists (1,306) and steals (453).
In 2007, Weatherspoon began her coaching career as head coach for the Westchester Phantoms of the American Basketball Association . From 2009 to 20104, she was named the women’s head coach at Louisiana Tech, her alma mater. Weatherspoon led the Lady Techsters to a pair of regular-season conference titles in 2009 and 2011 and a conference tournament title in 2010. After serving as a consultant with the New York Liberty during the 2014 WNBA season, she joined the coaching staff as the first Director of Player Development in franchise history for 2015 and was named Director of Franchise Development from 2017 to 2019. She made the move up to the NBA as a two-way player development coach for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2019 season and is currently an assistant coach for the Pelicans.
She is a member of the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame (1996), Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (2010), Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (2010), New York Liberty Ring of Honor (2011), Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2019) and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame (2020).
