Deanna Nolan

Deanna Nolan
Personal information
Born (1979-08-25) August 25, 1979 (age 44)
Flint, Michigan, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Russian
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight155 lb (70 kg)
Career information
High schoolFlint Northern (Flint, Michigan)
CollegeGeorgia (1997–2001)
WNBA draft2001: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Shock
Playing career2001–present
PositionShooting guard / point guard
Career history
20012009Detroit Shock
2007–2010;
2012–2013
UMMC Ekaterinburg
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com

Deanna Nicole "Tweety" Nolan[1] (Russian: Деанна Нолан; born August 25, 1979) is an American-Russian professional basketball player for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the Russian Premier League as well as the Russia women's national basketball team.[2] Her primary position is shooting guard, but occasionally plays the point guard position. Her original name was Deana, but was legally changed to Deanna in 2000. She went to Flint Northern High School where she graduated and took that school state to state champs. Nolan is being inducted October 2024 into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in Detroit.

High school years

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Nolan attended Flint Northern High School where she led her team to back to back Michigan state championships in 1994 and 1995, and was crowned as Michigan's 1995 Miss Basketball.

College years

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Nolan graduated in December 2001 with a degree in child and family development from the University of Georgia. Overall, she helped the Lady Bulldogs achieve an 86–12 record overall during her collegiate career.[citation needed]

As a senior, Nolan earned 2001 All-SEC Tournament Team honors.

WNBA career

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In the 2001 WNBA draft, Nolan was selected by her home state team, Detroit Shock in the first round (sixth overall). She has been nicknamed "Tweety", and is well known by fans for her amazing vertical leap.

Nolan also helped the Detroit Shock win their first championship in 2003. In 2006, she won another championship with Detroit and was named MVP of the 2006 WNBA Finals.

In 2008, she helped the Shock win their third WNBA Championship. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, she was named the Detroit Shock Player of the Year in voting by members of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.

International career

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In the 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2012–13 WNBA off seasons, she played for the UMMC Ekaterinburg club in Russia.[3]

In the seasons 2005-06, she played for the A.S. Ramat-Hasharon club in Israel.

She obtained a Russian passport in order to not count against the team's allowed number of foreign players. She stated during 2008 that she hoped to play for the Russian Olympic team, but was passed over in favor of Becky Hammon.[citation needed]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2001 Detroit 27 0 20.2 33.0 28.8 81.1 2.0 1.1 0.6 0.2 1.3 7.1
2002 Detroit 32 32 25.1 41.5 36.8 80.6 2.7 1.9 0.8 0.4 1.9 8.7
2003 Detroit 32 32 29.8 43.6 42.1 79.2 3.3 2.6 1.3 0.4 2.2 12.4
2004 Detroit 34 34 33.5 38.2 28.9 79.8 3.9 3.3 1.9 0.4 2.6 13.6
2005 Detroit 33 33 36.8 39.8 31.1 80.0 4.7 3.7 1.7 0.4 3.0 15.9
2006 Detroit 34 34 32.1 40.5 34.5 85.0 4.5 3.6 1.4 0.3 2.5 13.8
2007 Detroit 34 34 34.6 46.0 39.3 82.3 4.4 3.9 1.4 0.4 2.4 16.3
2008 Detroit 34 34 33.6 46.5 37.4 86.3 3.9 4.4 1.2 0.3 2.1 15.8
2009 Detroit 33 33 33.7 40.8 32.5 78.4 4.3 3.5 1.3 0.3 2.2 16.9
Career 9 years, 1 team 293 266 31.3 41.6 34.9 81.1 3.8 3.2 1.3 0.3 2.3 13.6

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2003 Detroit 8 8 32.1 45.8 44.7 93.8 3.6 2.6 1.3 0.3 2.6 15.5
2004 Detroit 3 3 39.7 40.0 30.8 93.3 4.7 2.3 1.7 0.0 1.7 18.0
2005 Detroit 2 2 39.5 40.5 25.0 85.7 4.0 3.5 1.0 1.0 2.0 18.5
2006 Detroit 10 10 35.7 48.6 42.9 83.3 4.1 3.9 1.6 0.2 1.9 17.8
2007 Detroit 11 11 37.5 42.6 44.7 90.0 6.3 4.1 0.8 0.3 2.6 18.9
2008 Detroit 9 9 38.8 35.9 34.1 93.9 4.6 2.9 2.1 0.3 2.7 17.6
2009 Detroit 5 5 38.0 39.8 32.1 91.3 1.6 3.2 1.8 0.4 3.6 21.6
Career 7 years, 1 team 48 48 36.7 42.2 39.2 90.3 4.4 3.4 1.5 0.3 2.5 18.1

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1998–99 Georgia 26 - - 41.7 15.6 63.2 4.8 1.8 1.7 0.2 - 7.2
1999–00 Georgia 36 - - 54.8 37.0 78.7 4.6 3.5 1.6 0.8 - 12.1
2000–01 Georgia 24 - - 45.3 32.7 73.9 3.9 3.3 2.0 0.3 - 13.4
Career 86 - - 48.5 28.9 73.0 4.5 2.9 1.7 0.5 - 11.0
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ III, James L. Edwards; more. "How the 2006 Detroit Shock overcame Sacramento and a Mariah Carey concert to win the first Game 5 in WNBA Finals history". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  2. ^ "Return to WNBA unlikely for Flint's Deanna Nolan after success in Russia". MLive.com. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  3. ^ "WNBA.com: Offseason 2008-09: Overseas Roster". www.wnba.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  4. ^ "Deanna Nolan College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
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