Wendy Palmer

Wendy Palmer (born August 12, 1974) is a former professional basketball player in the WNBA, and former head coach of the UNCG women's basketball team. Her primary position was forward.

Wendy Palmer

Personal information
Born	(1974-08-12) August 12, 1974 Timberlake, North Carolina, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	165 lb (75 kg)
Career information
High school	Person (Roxboro, North Carolina)
College	Virginia (1992–1996)
WNBA draft	1997: Elite draft
Selected by the Utah Starzz
Playing career	1997–2007
Position	Forward
Number	14, 4, 3, 0
Career history
1997–1999	Utah Starzz
1999–2002	Detroit Shock
2002	Orlando Miracle
2003–2004	Connecticut Sun
2005	San Antonio Silver Stars
2006–2007	Seattle Storm
Career highlights and awards
WNBA All-Star (2000) All-WNBA Second Team (1997) WNBA Most Improved Player (2004) 2x Second-team All-American – AP (1995, 1996) 2x All-American – Kodak, USBWA (1995, 1996) 2× ACC Player of the Year (1995, 1996) 3x First-team All-ACC (1994–1996) ACC All-Freshman Team (1993
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Women's Basketball Representing United States Jones Cup 1994 Taipei Team Competition

High school

Born in Timberlake, North Carolina, Palmer attended Person Senior High School in Roxboro, North Carolina, where she was named a High School All-American by the WBCA. She participated in the inaugural WBCA High School All-America Game in 1992, scoring eleven points.

College

Palmer graduated from the University of Virginia in 1996, and is a member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.

USA Basketball

Palmer was named to the team representing the US at the 1994 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The USA team won all eight games, winning the gold medal, but not without close calls. In three games the teams had to come from behind to win. One preliminary game ended up as a single-point victory, and the gold medal game went to overtime before the USA team beat South Korea by a single point, 90–89. Palmer was the leading scorer for the team, averaging 18.9 points per game. She also led the team in rebounding with 9.3 per game.

WNBA career

Palmer was originally drafted by the Utah Starzz 9th overall in the 2nd round of the 1997 Elite draft. She played for the Starzz until 1999, when she became a member of the Detroit Shock.

In 2002, she played for the Orlando Miracle, which later became the Connecticut Sun. In 2004, while as a member of the Sun, she received the WNBA Most Improved Player Award.

In 2005, she played for the San Antonio Silver Stars. After the season ended, she was hired as an assistant coach to the women's basketball team at Virginia Commonwealth University.

In 2006, she signed a free agent contract with the Storm, but played only five games with the team before suffering a partially torn Achilles tendon in her left foot. She never played in the WNBA again after her foot injury, and thus her final game ever was during her time with the Storm. Palmer's final game was played on August 26, 2007, in a 89–95 loss to the Phoenix Mercury where she recorded 8 points, 1 rebound, and 1 block.

Career statistics

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

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1997	Utah	28	28	33.4	37.4	25.0	67.6	8.0	1.7	1.7	0.2	2.5	15.8
1998	Utah	28	21	27.2	47.2	35.3	65.3	6.6	1.1	0.6	0.2	2.0	13.5
1999	Utah	20	4	22.3	40.4	30.0	64.7	4.2	1.5	0.2	0.4	1.6	8.4
	Detroit	11	10	26.8	47.0	25.0	76.4	9.5	1.1	0.5	0.4	2.4	12.7
2000	Detroit	32	30	28.6	44.8	25.0	70.4	6.8	1.2	0.6	0.3	2.0	13.8
2001	Detroit	22	22	29.6	42.3	33.3	67.8	7.0	1.0	1.0	0.2	2.2	10.6
2002	Detroit	16	16	29.0	42.5	31.7	66.0	6.0	1.3	0.8	0.1	2.1	11.5
	Orlando	16	16	31.3	43.9	38.3	69.2	5.8	1.3	1.4	0.4	1.4	11.3
2003	Connecticut	32	1	13.5	39.5	21.7	82.1	3.3	0.5	0.3	0.1	1.1	4.7
2004	Connecticut	33	33	23.8	42.7	31.7	80.0	5.5	0.9	0.7	0.2	1.2	9.0
2005	San Antonio	34	29	25.9	51.7	42.9	74.3	5.7	1.0	0.6	0.2	1.2	9.6
2006	Seattle	5	2	24.0	48.5	33.3	73.7	7.6	0.6	1.0	0.6	2.0	9.4
2007	Seattle	34	3	13.9	41.7	14.3	78.2	4.3	0.5	0.4	0.2	1.1	4.6
Career	11 years, 6 teams	311	215	24.6	43.4	30.7	70.7	5.9	1.0	0.7	0.2	1.7	10.1

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Detroit	1	1	37.0	36.4	0.0	66.7	9.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	10.0
2003	Connecticut	4	0	16.0	59.1	25.0	66.7	3.0	0.8	0.0	0.0	1.8	7.3
2004	Connecticut	8	8	19.5	36.7	25.0	62.5	4.4	0.1	0.4	0.4	1.0	5.5
2007	Seattle	2	0	13.5	50.0	50.0	0.0	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.0	8.5
Career	4 years, 3 teams	15	9	18.9	43.9	25.0	60.0	4.3	0.4	0.3	0.3	1.2	6.7

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1992–93	Virginia	31	-	-	61.4	0.0	47.3	6.9	0.7	1.3	0.4	-	11.7
1993–94	Virginia	32	-	-	56.8	100.0	59.9	7.1	1.9	2.3	0.4	-	16.9
1994–95	Virginia	31	-	-	56.6	40.5	64.2	10.5	2.0	1.6	0.1	-	17.6
1995–96	Virginia	32	-	-	47.8	25.9	59.4	11.2	2.0	1.8	0.3	-	14.6
Career		126	-	-	55.2	32.3	58.2	8.9	1.6	1.7	0.3	-	15.2
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.

Coaching career

Palmer took her first coaching position at Virginia Commonwealth University while playing in the WNBA. In 2007, she joined the staff at the University of Kentucky under Coach Matthew Mitchell. She remained there until 2009.

In 2009, Palmer became an assistant coach at the University of Virginia under legendary Coach Debbie Ryan.

In 2011, Palmer became the women's head coach at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

External links

• WNBA Player Profile
• June 2006 Seattle Storm article on her injury
• July 2005 press release on joining the Virginia Commonwealth University coaching staff