Penny Toler

Penny Toler

Los Angeles Sparks
Position	General manager
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1966-03-24) March 24, 1966
Nationality	American
Career information
College	San Diego State Long Beach State
Playing career	1997–1999
Position	Point guard
Number	11
Coaching career	2014–2014
Career history
As player:
1997–1999	Los Angeles Sparks
As coach:
2014	Los Angeles Sparks (interim)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Penny Toler (born March 24, 1966) was a Women's National Basketball Association basketball player. She is currently the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks.

College years

Toler began her college career at San Diego State, sat out a year, and then transferred to Long Beach State, where she became an All-American basketball player. During her career Long Beach State made it to the Final Four twice, in 1987 and 1988. Toler was considered one of the best ever collegiate players under future Hall of Fame coach Joan Bonvicini. In 1995 she was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame.

WNBA career

Toler was a point guard allocated to the Los Angeles Sparks during the player initiation round in the 1997 WNBA draft. She is most commonly remembered as the first player to score a basket in the WNBA. She did so against the New York Liberty on June 21, 1997 19:01 hour at the Los Angeles Great Western Forum. Her shot was a side jumper. Toler also made the first free throw in the WNBA history.

In November 1999 she retired as a player to become the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks. Immediately after taking on a management role, she would assemble the Los Angeles Sparks roster that would become the championship team in 2001.

Among all professional men or women sports leagues, Toler would become the fastest person to go from a player to general manager status to winning a championship in two years.

On July 20, 2014, Toler was named as interim head coach following the firing of Carol Ross.

International career

By the time the WNBA launched, Toler had already spent eight years playing basketball overseas. She has played five seasons in Italy, two seasons in Greece, and a season in Israel. While in Italy, she won a scoring title, two assist titles, and was MVP of the Italian all-star game.

Career statistics

WNBA Career Totals

Year	Team	G	GS	MIN	FGM	FGA	FTM	FTA	3PTM	3PTA	REB	AST	STL	TO	BLK	PTS
1997	LA	28	28	907	144	338	73	87	7	38	94	143	36	107	3	368
1998	LA	30	30	945	145	349	55	74	25	60	106	143	32	101	3	370
1999	LA	30	4	427	51	150	39	45	2	13	43	66	13	40	0	143
Totals		88	62	2,279	340	837	167	206	34	111	243	352	81	248	6	881

WNBA Career Averages

Year	Team	MIN	FG%	FT%	3PT%	REB	AST	STL	TO	BLK	PTS
1997	LA	32.4	.426	.839	.184	3.4	5.1	1.3	3.8	0.1	13.1
1998	LA	31.5	.415	.743	.417	3.5	4.8	1.1	3.4	0.1	12.3
1999	LA	14.2	.340	.867	.154	1.4	2.2	0.4	1.3	0.0	4.8
Totals		25.9	.406	.811	.306	2.8	4.0	0.9	2.8	0.1	10.0

WNBA Career Playoff Totals

Year	Team	G	GS	MIN	FGM	FGA	FTM	FTA	3PTM	3PTA	REB	AST	STL	TO	BLK	PTS
1999	LA	4	0	42	4	12	2	4	0	1	6	2	2	3	0	10

WNBA Career Playoff Averages

Year	Team	MIN	FG%	FT%	3PT%	REB	AST	STL	TO	BLK	PTS
1999	LA	10.5	.333	.500	.000	1.5	0.5	0.5	0.8	0.0	2.5

External links

• USATODAY Recognition