Lynette Woodard
(Born 1959)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2004
Card Shown:
2012-13 Leaf Metal
Position: G
Height: 6’0″
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Lynette Woodard will be remembered as one of the greatest women’s basketball players in the history of the sport. She won two high school basketball titles, led Kansas to three straight Big Eight Championships and played professionally in Italy and Japan. Lynette was the first woman to play on the Harlem Globetrotters and made two USA Olympic teams, leading the Americans to the gold medal in 1984. Woodard finished her career playing in the WNBA for two years.
Awards and Honors
- Woodard led her Wichita North High School team to two state championships.
- Lynette was a four-time All-American selection during her college basketball career at the University of Kansas from 1978-81.
- Woodard finished her time at Kansas as the all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball history with 3,649 points during her NCAA career, an average of 26.2 points per game. Her collegiate scoring total was only 18 points less than the all-time leading scorer in men’s college basketball history, Pete Maravich. Maravich scored 3,667 points during his career at LSU.
- Woodard was named USA Basketball’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1983.
- Lynette was a member of the USA Olympic basketball team in 1980 when the United States boycotted the Olympics being held in Moscow. She returned in 1984 to become captain of the Olympic team that won the gold medal in Los Angeles.
Points of Interest
- After playing college basketball at Kansas, Woodard played professionally in Italy (1981-82 and 1987-90) and Japan (1991-92). She
- Lynette was inspired to become a basketball player by her cousin Hubie “Geese” Ausbie. Ausbie played for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1960 until 1984.
- Woodard became the first female member of the world famous Harlem Globetrotters and played for them from 1985-87.
- Lynette came out of retirement to play in the first two seasons of the new WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association). She played for the Cleveland Rockers in 1997 and the Detroit Shock in 1978.
- In addition to being enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, Woodard has also been inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame, the Globetrotter Hall of Fame, and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Statistics
Lynette Woodard Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com