Deanna Nicole "Tweety" Nolan (; born August 25, 1979) is a retired American-Russian professional basketball player for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

as well as the Russia women's national basketball team. Her primary position is

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

, but occasionally plays the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

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 was inducted in October 2024 into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in Detroit.

Early life

Nolan attended Flint Northern High School where she led her team to back to back

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

state championships in 1994 and 1995, and was crowned as Michigan's 1995 Miss Basketball.

College career

Nolan graduated in December 2001 with a degree in child and family development from the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

. Overall, she helped the Lady Bulldogs achieve an 86–12 record overall during her collegiate career. As a senior, Nolan earned 2001 All- SEC Tournament Team honors.

WNBA career

In the 2001 WNBA draft, Nolan was selected by her home state team,

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. Th ...

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 The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. The series is played between the win ...

. 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

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

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. 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 Rebecca Lynn Hammon (Russian: Ребекка Линн Хэммон; born March 11, 1977) is a Russian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Assoc ...

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 27, , 0, , 20.2, , 33.0, , 28.8, , 81.1, , 2.0, , 1.1, , 0.6, , 0.2, , 1.3, , 7.1 , - , align="left" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, align="left" ,

, 32, , 32, , 25.1, , 41.5, , 36.8, , 80.6, , 2.7, , 1.9, , 0.8, , 0.4, , 1.9, , 8.7 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

† , align="left" ,

, 32, , 32, , 29.8, , 43.6, , 42.1, , 79.2, , 3.3, , 2.6, , 1.3, , 0.4, , 2.2, , 12.4 , - , align="left" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, align="left" ,

, 34, , 34, , 33.5, , 38.2, , 28.9, , 79.8, , 3.9, , 3.3, , 1.9, , 0.4, , 2.6, , 13.6 , - , align="left" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, align="left" ,

, 33, , 33, , 36.8, , 39.8, , 31.1, , 80.0, , 4.7, , 3.7, , 1.7, , 0.4, , 3.0, , 15.9 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

† , align="left" ,

, 34, , 34, , 32.1, , 40.5, , 34.5, , 85.0, , 4.5, , 3.6, , 1.4, , 0.3, , 2.5, , 13.8 , - , align="left" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, align="left" ,

, 34, , 34, , 34.6, , 46.0, , 39.3, , 82.3, , 4.4, , 3.9, , 1.4, , 0.4, , 2.4, , 16.3 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

† , align="left" ,

, 34, , 34, , 33.6, , 46.5, , 37.4, , 86.3, , 3.9, , 4.4, , 1.2, , 0.3, , 2.1, , 15.8 , - , align="left" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, align="left" ,

, 33, , 33, , 33.7, , 40.8, , 32.5, , 78.4, , 4.3, , 3.5, , 1.3, , 0.3, , 2.2, , 16.9 , - class="sortbottom" , rowspan=2 align="left" , Career , align="left" , 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 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;", All-Star , 4, , 1, , 21.7, , 35.2, , 40.9, , 85.7, , 4.0, , 2.8, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 1.8, , 13.3

Playoffs

, - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

† , align="left" ,

, 8, , 8, , 32.1, , 45.8, , 44.7, , 93.8, , 3.6, , 2.6, , 1.3, , 0.3, , 2.6, , 15.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3, , 3, , 39.7, , 40.0, , 30.8, , 93.3, , 4.7, , 2.3, , 1.7, , 0.0, , 1.7, , 18.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 2, , 2, , 39.5, , 40.5, , 25.0, , 85.7, , 4.0, , 3.5, , 1.0, , 1.0, , 2.0, , 18.5 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

† , align="left" ,

, 10, , 10, , 35.7, , 48.6, , 42.9, , 83.3, , 4.1, , 3.9, , 1.6, , 0.2, , 1.9, , 17.8 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 11, , 11, , 37.5, , 42.6, , 44.7, , 90.0, , 6.3, , 4.1, , 0.8, , 0.3, , 2.6, , 18.9 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

† , align="left" ,

, 9, , 9, , 38.8, , 35.9, , 34.1, , 93.9, , 4.6, , 2.9, , 2.1, , 0.3, , 2.7, , 17.6 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 5, , 5, , 38.0, , 39.8, , 32.1, , 91.3, , 1.6, , 3.2, , 1.8, , 0.4, , 3.6, , 21.6 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 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

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 1998–99 , style="text-align:left;" ,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, 26, , -, , -, , 41.7, , 15.6, , 63.2, , 4.8, , 1.8, , 1.7, , 0.2, , -, , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1999–00 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 36, , -, , -, , 54.8, , 37.0, , 78.7, , 4.6, , 3.5, , 1.6, , 0.8, , -, , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 2000–01 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 24, , -, , -, , 45.3, , 32.7, , 73.9, , 3.9, , 3.3, , 2.0, , 0.3, , -, , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 86, , -, , -, , 48.5, , 28.9, , 73.0, , 4.5, , 2.9, , 1.7, , 0.5 , , -, , 11.0

Notes

External links

WNBA Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Deanna 1979 births Living people American women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Russia Basketball players from Flint, Michigan Detroit Shock players Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball players Naturalized citizens of Russia Russian people of African-American descent Olympic basketball players for Russia Point guards Russian women's basketball players WNBA All-Stars 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen United States women's national basketball team players