Venus Lacy facts for kids
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| Born | February 9, 1967 (age 58) Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S. |
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| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Venus Lacy (born February 9, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. She was a tall player, standing 6 feet 4 inches, and played as a center. Venus was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was known for winning championships at many levels of basketball. However, her professional career in America was affected by injuries from a car accident in 1997.
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Early Life and College Basketball
Venus Lacy was a local sports hero in her hometown. A parkway in Chattanooga is even named after her! She led Brainerd High School to win the state championship in 1984.
After high school, Venus Lacy went to Louisiana Tech University. She helped her team, the Lady Techsters, win the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship in 1988. The next year, in 1989, her team reached the Final Four, but they lost to Auburn.
In her final year, 1990, Louisiana Tech had a perfect regular season. They were ranked number one in the country. That year, Venus was named an All-American player. She also won the WBCA Player of the Year award. The 1990 team made it to the Final Four again. But they were once more defeated by Auburn. Venus Lacy scored 266 points in the NCAA tournament during her college career. This placed her among the top women players at that time. In 2011, Venus was honored by being added to the Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Playing for Team USA
Venus Lacy played for the USA team at the 1991 Pan American Games. These games were held in Havana, Cuba. The team won four games and lost two. They earned a bronze medal. The USA team lost a close game to Brazil. Then they beat Argentina and Cuba to reach the medal round. They played Cuba again, but Cuba won by five points. The USA team then easily beat Canada to secure the bronze medal. Venus Lacy scored about 9.4 points per game in this tournament.
Venus was also part of the USA team that won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. She was the last player added to the 12-woman roster. She joined the team to add more height and strength inside the paint. The team had an amazing year before the Olympics. They played 52 exhibition games and won every single one! They played against college teams, all-star teams, and international teams.
Professional Basketball Career
At the time, the United States did not have a professional women's basketball league. So, Venus Lacy started her professional career overseas. She played for teams in Greece, Italy, and Japan. She even helped a Greek team win a European championship in the 1995-1996 season.
In 1996, Venus was the first player chosen by the Seattle Reign in the ABL Draft. However, her luck changed when she was seriously injured in a car accident in February 1997. She finished that season with Seattle on the injured list.
After that year, she was picked by a new ABL team, the Long Beach Stingrays. New teams often struggle, but the Stingrays did very well. They reached the ABL Finals in their first and only season. They lost the championship to the Columbus Quest in a close series. Even though they were successful on the court, the Long Beach team closed down after one year.
The next year, Venus was drafted by another new ABL team, the Nashville Noise. But this team also did not last long. In December 1998, the ABL itself stopped operating after only 15 games of the 1998-1999 season.
Because of her injuries, Venus Lacy was not chosen by any WNBA team in the special draft held after the ABL closed. However, in the middle of the 1999 season, the New York Liberty signed her. She filled in for their injured All-star center, Rebecca Lobo. Venus played in 17 games for the Liberty in 1999 and 2 more in 2000. She has not played in the WNBA since then.
WNBA Career Highlights
During her time in the WNBA, Venus Lacy played for the New York Liberty.
- In 1999, she played 17 games, averaging 1.9 points per game.
- In 2000, she played 2 games, averaging 3.0 points per game.
Overall, in her 19 WNBA games, she averaged 2.0 points per game.
In the 1999 WNBA Playoffs, she played in 1 game for the New York Liberty.
See also
In Spanish: Venus Lacy para niños
