BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " SHERYL SWOOPES " IS A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER AND PLAYS FOR TEXAS TECH BEFORE BECOMING THE FIRS PLAYER SIGNED TO THE WOMEN NATIONAL BASKET ASSOCIATION : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK HEROES "

                                      BLACK                  SOCIAL               HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Sheryl Swoopes is an American professional basketball player. She played for Texas Tech before becoming the first player signed to the WNBA. Referred to as the "female Michael Jordan" and famous for both her offensive and defensive skills, Swoopes has won three Olympic gold medals and is a multiple WNBA MVP. She is also the first woman to have a Nike shoe named after her. In 2013,

Swoopes was named head coach of the Loyola University women's basketball team.QUOTES

"I'm a risk-taker. Without taking risks, you never know who you can be, what you can become."

– Sheryl Swoopes

College Basketball Champion

Born on March 25, 1971, in Brownfield, Texas, Sheryl Denise Swoopes is considered one of the best female basketball players of all time. Swoopes began dominating the court as a student at South Plains Junior College, excelling on the college's basketball team and earning the "Junior College Player of the Year" title in 1991.

Transferring to Texas Tech University, Swoopes quickly gained more national recognition. She scored 1,000 points in 46 games—a shorter period than anyone else in school history. During her time at Texas Tech, Swoopes set more than 10 school records, including for most points per game and best free-throw percentage. In 1993, she proved to be a key player in her university's bid for the NCAA Championships, scoring 47 points in the final game to help clinch Texas

Tech's victory over The Ohio State University. Swoopes was subsequently named Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Final Four Championships.

WNBA Star

After graduating from Texas Tech in 1994, Sheryl Swoopes continued to play for the USA Basketball Women's National Team, helping the team earn a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championships and contributing to their undefeated record in the 1995-96 season. After a failed attempt in 1992, Swoopes finally made the U.S. Olympic team in 1996. She helped the team win the gold medal in Atlanta, Georgia.

Swoopes became the first player to be signed to the WNBA in 1997, and was assigned to play for the Houston Comets. During her time with the Comets, the gifted forward helped lead the team to four back-to-back WNBA championships from 1997 to 2000. For her performance at the 2000 championships, Swoopes was named the WNBA's Most Valuable Player. That same year, she once again thrived in Olympic competition, bringing home gold as part of the U.S. women's basketball team at the Sydney Games.

Inarguably a leading figure in her sport, Swoopes received a new type of recognition in 1995, when the Nike corporation launched a line of basketball shoes named after the WNBA star—making Swoopes the first woman to have a Nike shoe named after her. Swoopes continued to shine on the court, picking up two more MVP Awards, in 2002 and 2005, and winning her third gold medal with the U.S. women's basketball team at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, in 2004.

In 2005, Swoopes made headlines for her personal life. She acknowledged to the press that she had been in a long-term relationship with Alisa "Scottie" Scott, an assistant coach with the Comets. "I'm just at a point in my life where I'm tired of having to pretend to be somebody I'm not," she explained to The New York Times.