This Page is a Tribute to Women in Basketball
Paying Tribute to Fran Harris
This biography is from SportsForWomen
FRAN HARRIS covers the WNBA on Lifetime Television and has been a women's basketball analyst since 1988. A forward on the Houston Comets 1997 WNBA championship team, she was also captain and leading scorer on the 1986 University of Texas team that became the NCAA's first undefeated (34-0) national champion. An alternate on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team, Harris was a member of several gold medal-winning national teams, including the 1986 Goodwill Games and World Championships, and the 1987 Pan American Games. Harris has coached high school, college and professional basketball, and has authored books on business, finance and sports. She is also a screenwriter, producer and director.
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Paying Tribute to Cheryl Miller
This biography is from MSN
Cheryl Miller, American basketball player, one of the greatest female basketball players ever. Born in Riverside, California, Miller was a four-time All-American in high school and scored 105 points in a single high school game in 1982. Her high school team had a win-loss record of 132-4 during her four years there. In 1982 Miller enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC), where she became a four-time collegiate All-American. For three consecutive years she also won the Naismith Award as the nation's outstanding female basketball player (1984-1986). In 1983 and in 1984 Miller led USC to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women's basketball championship, and was named most valuable player of the tournament both years. She finished her collegiate career with averages of 23.6 points per game and 12 rebounds per game, and in her four years USC's win-loss record was 112-20. She was the first basketball player at USCmale or femaleto have a jersey number retired (an honor whereby future players do not wear the number).
Miller also starred on the United States national basketball teams that won gold medals at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela; the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles; and the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow. After graduating from USC in 1986, she was drafted by several professional basketball leagues, including the United States Basketball League, a men's league. In the late 1980s, however, Miller suffered knee injuries that prevented her from continuing her playing career. From 1986 to 1991 she worked as an assistant coach at USC and as a television sports commentator. She became the head coach of the USC women's basketball team in 1993 but after two seasons she left to resume her broadcasting career. In 1995 Miller was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. She was hired as the head coach and general manager of the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association in 1997.
More Information on Cheryl Miller from CNN
TURNER SPORTS
* Miller returns primarily as a sideline reporter for TNT and TBS Superstation, with occasional work as a studio analyst.
* A member of the basketball Hall of Fame, Miller joined Turner Sports in September 1995 as an analyst and reporter for coverage of the NBA on TNT and TBS. In November, 1996, she became the first female analyst to call a nationally televised NBA game (TBS).
CAREER
* In January 1997, Miller was named Head Coach and General Manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
* Served as women's basketball analyst for NBC's coverage of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
* Before joining Turner Sports, Miller was head coach at the University of Southern California, her alma mater, from 1993-1995.
* Miller also worked for ABC where she served as a reporter for "Wide World of Sports" and a commentator for the network's college basketball telecasts.
* A four-time all-American and three-time Player-of-the-Year at USC, Miller was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic gold medal women's basketball team. In 1986, she led the U.S. team to the Women's World Basketball Championship title in Moscow. Earlier in the year, she led the American women past the Soviet women for the gold medal at the Goodwill Games.
* The first USC basketball player - male or female - to have her number retired, she was the MVP of the Final Four tournament in both her freshman and sophomore years as she led USC to the national championship in 1982-83 and 1983-84.
* A recipient of the 1986 YWCA Silver Achievement Award, Miller was the first woman basketball player to be nominated for the Sullivan Award (1985-86). She was also voted the 1984-85 ESPN Woman Athlete of the Year.
PERSONAL
* Miller was commissioner for the 1985 Los Angeles Olympic Committee Summer Youth Games and has been a spokesperson for the 1985-86 Los Angeles Literacy Campaign, as well as the American Lung, Diabetes and Cancer Associations and Muscular Dystrophy Association.
* Is the older sister of Indiana Pacer all-star guard Reggie Miller.
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