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Walker, Ayana (2002-2005)


Walker
Walker, a Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters product, was selected by the Detroit Shock in the second round (20th overall) of the 2002 WNBA Draft. She played three and a half seasons for the Shock, winning a WNBA Championship ring with the team in 2003, before being waived on July 3, 2005. Walker signed with the Charlotte Sting on July 6, 2005 as a free agent and spent the remainder of the 2005 season and all of 2006 in the Queen City. The Sting ceased operation in December of 2006, and a Dispersal Draft was held on January 8, 2007 for the players on the Charlotte roster. The Los Angeles Sparks selected Walker with the 12th pick in the Dispersal Draft. The Sparks waived Walker on May 1, 2007. The Shock resigned her on August 16, 2007.

Walker Bio and Statistics

Walker, Sheneika
After finishing her collegiate career at North Carolina, Sheneika Walker went undrafted in 1998, signing with the WNBA as a free agent and being assigned to the Shock on May 2, 1998. Detroit waived Walker on June 1, 1998.

Wambe, Kathy (2002)


Wambe
Detroit selected Wambe out of Belgium with the 6th pick in the second round (No. 22 overall) of the 2002 WNBA Draft. The Shock waived her prior to the start of the 2002 WNBA season, but re-signed her on May 8, 2003. Detroit waived her again on May 21, 2003.






Washington Bullets


Long before he became the assistant coach of the Detroit Shock, and even before he became one of the legendary Pistons Bad Boys, Rick Mahorn was a member of the Washington Bullets. The Bullets selected Mahorn with the 12th pick in the second round (No. 35 overall) of the 1980 NBA Draft. He remained with the Bullets for five seasons before being traded to the Detorit Pistons along with Mike Gibson in exchange for Dan Roundfield on June 17, 1985.

Washington Mystics


The Washington Mystics joined the WNBA alongside the Shock for the 1998 season and have been members of the Eastern Conference since that time. The team is located in Washington, D.C. and originally plays in the Verizon Center which was known as MCI Center until 2006 . They have four playoff appearances to their credit and one trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002.

Western Conference
The WNBA�s Western Conference has been the dominant conference in the league with seven of the first ten champions coming from the West. Only the Detroit Shock and Houston Comets have won a WNBA Championship from the Eastern Conference (Houston was in the Eastern Conference during the 1997 season). In all, nine franchises have played in the West at one time or another.

Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University, founded in 1899, began competing in women's basketball in 1971-72. They have advanced to one NCAA Tournament over the years. The Shock selected WIU grad Zane Teilane with their third round pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft.

Whiting-Raymond, Val (1999)


Whiting
Whiting-Raymond, a Stanford Cardinal product, was selected by the Detroit Shock in the second round (17th overall) of the 1999 WNBA Draft. She spent a year with the Shock before being traded to the Minnesota Lynx on April 20, 2001 in exchange for a second round draft pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft. She was waived by the Lynx on June 25, 2002.

Whiting-Raymond Bio and Statistics


Williams, Angelina (2006-current)


Williams
Williams was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury out of the University of Illinois in the second round (18th overall) of the 2005 WNBA Draft. The Mercury traded Williams to Detroit on May 18, 2006 in exchange for the Shock�s two 2007 third round draft picks where she was a member of Detroit's 2006 WNBA Championship team. The Shock waived Williams on April 6, 2007 and she signed with the New York Liberty as a free agent on April 16, 2007.

Williams Bio and Statistics


Williams, Greg (1998-2002)


Williams
Greg Williams took over the reigns of the Detroit Shock following the 2000 season. Prior to his appointment as the second coach of the Shock, Williams was the team�s assistant coach from 1998-2000. The team went 10-32 during his one-plus years as head coach. Williams was fired ten games into the 2002 season and replaced by Bill Laimbeer.

Williams was a three-year letterman at Rice University from 1967-69 and joined the Owls coaching staff as an assistant coach under Don Knodel after graduation. Williams later followed Knodel to the fledgling Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) as an assistant coach with the Houston Angels where they won the league's inaugural championship. Two years later, Williams was at the helm of his own team, the Dallas Diamonds, which featured future Shock head coach Nancy Lieberman. The pair helped lead the Diamonds to the WBL Finals in the league's third and final year of existance.

Other stops on the coaching caraousel included two years as an assistant at SMU, head coach of the new Dallas Diamonds in the Women's American Basketball Association, head coach of the University of Houston and head coach at Colorado State University. With the advent of the WNBA, Williams joined the Utah Starzz as an assistant coach before becoming an assistant coach and directing the scouting operations for the Shock prior to its inagural campaign.

Upon leaving Detroit, he returned to the collegiate ranks as an assistant coach at the University of Dayton, and is currently the head women's coach at Rice University.

Williams, Lenae (2002)


Williams
The Detroit Shock selected Williams, a DePaul Blue Demons product, in the second round (18th overall) of the 2002 WNBA Draft. She played in 18 games before being traded along with Edwina Brown to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Petra Ujhelyi and Telisha Quarles on April 28, 2003. She did not play in any games for Phoenix and was waived after the season. The Indiana Fever signed Williams on March 8, 2006, but they waived her on May 11 of that same year. They signed her again on July 20, 2006 to a seven-day contract, but did not re-sign her at the conclusion of those seven days.

Williams Bio and Statistics

Williams, Tara
The WNBA asigned Tara Williams to the Phoenix Mercury as part of the Final Roster Allocations for the 1997 preseason. One year later, the Mercury left her unprotected, and the Shock selected Williams with their third pick in the 1998 WNBA Expansion Draft. Williams later signed with the Portland Fire for the 200 season, but was waived on April 17, 2001.

Wisconsin, University of
The University of Wisconsin, established in 1848, launched its women's basketball program for the 1974-75 season. Over the years, the Badgers have made six NCAA Tournament appearances. Tamara Moore played for Wisconsin and the Detroit Shock.

Women�s American Basketball Association (WABA)
The Women's American Basketball Association, made up of six teams - Atlanta Comets, Chicago Spirit, Columbus Minks, Dallas Diamonds, Houston Shamrocks and Virginia Wave - lasted for one season in the fall of 1984. Players in the league included future Shock coaches Nancy Lieberman and Pam McGee and future Shock coach Greg Williams was the head coach of the Dallas franchise. Most of the teams folded during the season, but Chicago and Dallas made it to the end of the season meeting in the league championship which was won by Dallas.

Women�s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
The NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of the Women's National Basketball Association on April 24, 1996 with its first season of competition to begin in the summer of 1997. On October 30, 1996, the league selected eight cities to host the WNBA's charter teams - Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Sacramento and Utah. The league currently operates with 13 franchises. These franchises are split into two conferences (the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference). The league celebrated its 10th season in 2006 and released a ten-member All-Decade Team, consisting of players deemed to have contributed the most to advancing the WNBA through on-court and off-court activities. Detroit's Katie Smith was a member of the All-Decade Team.

Women�s Professional Basketball League (WBL)
The WBL was the longest running women's professional basketball league before the advent of the WNBA lasting three seasons from 1978-81. The league was comprised of eight teams during its inagural season - the Chicago Hustle, Dayton Rockettes, Houston Angels, Iowa Cornets, Milwaukee Does, Minnesota fillies, New Jersey Gems and New York Stars. Future Shock Coach Greg Williams was an assistant coach with the Angels who won the 1978-79 WBL Championship. He later took the head coaching reigns of the Dallas Diamonds and led them to the WBL Championship in 1980-81. While Williams roamed the Dallas sidelines, another future Shock coach was running the show on the floor as Nancy Lieberman enjoyed an MVP caliber rookie season with the Diamonds.

Woodard, Lynette (1998)


Woodard
The Cleveland Rockers selected Woodard, a Kansas Jayhawk product, in the second round (No. 10 overall) of the WNBA Elite Draft. She played one year for the Rockers before being made available in the 1998 WNBA Expansion Draft. The Detroit Shock selected her in the fourth round of the Expansion Draft and she played in 27 games for the expansion Shock. Woodard was waived on May 7, 1999.

Woodard bio and Statistics


World Championship, 1979 FIBA
After 22 years, the United States finally broke the Soviet Union's stranglehold on the World Championship breaking their streak of five straight titles with a 77-61 win over Canada. Of course, the USSR's boycott of the event,along with five other communist nations due to a lack of diplomatic relations with host country South Korea, played a small part in the win. Future Shock Head Coach Nancy Lieberman was a member of the US team.

World Championship, 1983 FIBA
After boycotting the 1979 World Championship, the Soviet Union reclaimed its title with an 84-82 win over the United States in the gold medal game. Future Shock personalities Lynette Woodard and Pam McGee were members of the US National Team.

World Championship, 1986 FIBA
The United States finally showed it could beat the Soviet Union in international competition taking home its fourth FIBA World Championship title in 1986 with a 108-88 win. Future Shock forward Cindy Brown was on the US squad.

World Championship, 1990 FIBA
The United States won its second straight FIBA World Championship with an 88-78 win over Yugoslavia. Future Shock players Jennifer Azzi and Lynette Woodard were members of the US squad.

World Championship, 1994 FIBA
Brazil won its first FIBA world championship title in 1994 with a 96-84 win over China. The United States settled for the bronze medal with a 100-95 win over Australia. Three future Shock players were involved in the Championship - Rachael Sporn and Sandy Brondello for Australia and Jennifer Azzi for the United States.

World Championship, 1998 FIBA
The United States bounced back from its 1994 bronze medal preformance by taking gold from the Russians, 71-65, in the 1998 FIBA World Championship. Future Shock guards Jennifer Azzi and Katie Smith helped lead the way for the US, while the Australians were led by a trio of future Detroiters in Rachael Sporn, Sandy Brondello and Carla Boyd (Porter).

World Championship, 2002 FIBA
The United States won its second straight FIBA World championship crown with a 79-74 win over Russia. Future Shock guard Katie Smith was a member of the US squad while Detroit's Oksana Zakaluzhnaya played for the runners up. Former Shock star Sandy Brondello played for the Australian national team which took home the bronze.

World Championship, 2006 FIBA
The 2006 FIBA World Championship was held in Barueri and Sao Paulo, Brazil with Australia winning its fist ever World title by beating Russia in the championship game, 91-74. The Russian World Championship team featured one former member of the Shock in Irina Osipova. The US team boasted two active Detroiters - Katie Smith and Cheryl Ford.

Worst To First: Or a Shocking Tale of Women's Basketball in Motown.
The Shock's worst-to-first 2003 season, which ended in a WNBA championship, was chronicled in the book "Worst To First" written by Vince Prygoski.

Wright, Amy


Wright
After finishing her collegiate career at the University of Arkansas, Wright went undrafted in 2002, signing with the WNBA as a free agent and being assigned to the Shock on April 29, 2002. Detroit waived Wright on May 9, 2002.





Wright, Shereka


Wright
The Detroit Shock selected Shereka Wright out of Purdue University with the 13th overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft. That same day, they traded her draft rights, along with Sheila Lambert and the draft rights to Erika Valek, to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for the draft rights to Chandi Jones. The Mercury waived Wright on May 18, 2006.




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