Bridget Pettis (born January 1, 1971) was an Assistant Coach of the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the ...

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA) professional basketball team. She is an American former college and professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who was a guard in the WNBA for eight seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. Pettis played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and professionally for the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season ...

and the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

of the WNBA.

Early years

Pettis was born in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...

. She attended East Chicago Central High School, and played

high school basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

for the EC Central Cardinals.

College career

Pettis attended

Central Arizona College Central Arizona College (CAC) is a public community college near Coolidge, Arizona. CAC serves the population of Pinal County. History and campus Since 1969, Central Arizona College has been serving and educating the communities of Pinal Cou ...

in Coolidge, Arizona, and played junior college basketball for the Central Arizona Vaqueras. She accepted an athletic scholarship to transfer to the

in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach

Carol Ross Carol Ross (born June 11, 1959) is an American college and professional basketball coach. Ross has served as the head women's basketball coach for the University of Florida and the University of Mississippi, and also as the head coach of the Los ...

Florida Gators women's basketball The Florida Gators women's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gator ...

team from 1991 to 1993. Memorably, she completed eight three-point shots against the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

on January 20, 1993—still the Gators' single-game record. She graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in 1993.

Professional career

The

selected Pettis in the first round (seventh pick overall) of the

1997 WNBA Draft The 1997 WNBA draft was the inaugural draft held by the WNBA through which teams could select new players from a talent pool of college and professional women's basketball players. Unlike later drafts, this draft was unique because there were thr ...

. She played for the Mercury from 1997 to 2001, the

in 2002 and 2003, and the Mercury again in 2006. Her first two seasons with the Mercury were the most productive, when she started fifty-six of sixty games played, and averaged over fourteen point per game.Basketball-Reference.com, Players
Bridget Pettis
Retrieved November 6, 2011. In her eight-season WNBA career, she played in 228 games, started seventy-one of them, and scored 1,408 points. In 2013, Pettis and Frank and Eddie Johnson started a club team called Team 2j Thunder. Three months later, Pettis was hired as an assistant coach for the

LA Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

. On March 6, 2014 Pettis was named Assistant Coach for the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Gre ...

. In October, 2017 (after 4 seasons) Pettis announced her retirement from the Wings organization. On January 23, 2019 Coach Pettis returned from retirement to accept a position as Assistant Coach with the

of the WNBA. Prior to the 2020 season, Coach Pettis left coaching to focus on her

Nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Project Roots.

References

External links

Bridget Pettis
– Official WNBA player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Bridget 1971 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Chicago Sky coaches Dallas Wings coaches Florida Gators women's basketball players Guards (basketball) Indiana Fever players Junior college women's basketball players in the United States LGBT basketball players LGBT people from Indiana Lesbian sportswomen Phoenix Mercury players Sportspeople from East Chicago, Indiana Tulsa Shock coaches

Early years

College career

Professional career

See also

References

External links