Jamie Leigh Carey (born March 12, 1981) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and current women's basketball coach at the

University of Nebraska at Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public university, public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Omaha, Nebraska), Omaha Presbyterian Theological ...

. She played the point guard position for the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA) from 2005 to 2008. Carey recently served as the Assistant Director of the USA National Team.

Early life

Carey attended Horizon High School in

Thornton, Colorado Thornton is a home rule municipality located in Adams and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 141,867, all in Adams County, at the 2020 United States census, an increase of 19.44% since the 2010 United States cen ...

. She graduated as class valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA. She was named Colorado's Gatorade Player of the Year and a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 1999 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored three points.

College career

In 1999, Carey attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where she earned the

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

"Freshman of the Year" honors and broke Stanford's single season record for three pointers made with 81. However, she suffered several serious ankle injuries and concussions and spent much of the season on the sidelines. She had surgery on her left ankle following the season and missed the following six months with rehab. She came back to practice in October 1999, but could not continue as continuing pain in her ankle left her sidelined shortly after the start of the season. She was forced to retire from the sport and sat out the next two seasons. She was seen on her crutches cheering on her team on the bench and became a fan favorite. She continued to attend classes at Stanford, and was seen on campus limping on her crutches with her left ankle wrapped in a soft cast. She reportedly said her crutches were her best friends because she could not go anywhere without her crutches. A picture of her leaning on her crutches with an ice pack on her left ankle became the cover page of the Stanford women's basketball media guide in 2000, under the title "Courage". She transferred to

The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

in 2002 after the school's doctors determined they could clear her from her concussions and maintain any treatment she would need. She played three seasons there after successfully petitioning for a fifth and sixth year of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

eligibility. During her time at Texas, the team became a national championship contender with a

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

appearance in 2003. She was a sociology major.

USA Basketball

Carey was named to the team representing the USA at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

. The team lost the opening game to Cuba, then rebounded to win their next five games, including an OT win against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Carey led the team with 18 points in the victory against Brazil. In their game against Canada, which they won by three points 56—53, Carey hit all six of her three-point attempts, setting a United States team record. They then faced Cuba for the gold medal, falling short 75–64 to take home the silver medal. Carey scored 9.6 points per game, representing the second highest point total on the team, and led the team in assist with 16.

Professional career

Carey was drafted by the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

in 2005 with the 31st overall pick and played for the

until her retirement in April 2009.

Coaching

She was the head coach for girls basketball at Legacy High School in

Broomfield, CO Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. It has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10–13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. Broomfield's population was 74 ...

2008-10. She was the head coach for

Sand Creek High School Sand Creek High School is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, and is the second high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools pr ...

girls basketball 2011-14 in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

. She joined Linda Lappe's staff as an assistant at Colorado for the 2014-15 season. She left at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season. She then returned to her alma mater to become an assistant coach for her first two years starting the 2016-17. She remained there and was advanced to associate head coach her final two years until the completion of 2019-20 season. For the 2020-21 season she was an associate head coach for

North Texas North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, Texas, Abilene, west of Paris, Texas, Par ...

. For the 2021-22 season she joined UTSA and was reunited with

Karen Aston Karen Sue Aston (born July 26, 1964) is an American basketball player and coach. She is currently the head coach of the UTSA Roadrunners women's basketball team. She has served as the head women's basketball coach at Texas, Charlotte and North Te ...

, becoming the team's associate head coach.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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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 ...

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Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

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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 ...

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, 24, , 0, , 11.9, , 37.9, , 35.0, , 100.0, , 0.7, , 1.3, , 0.3, , 0.0, , 0.7, , 2.6 , - , 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 ...

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, 33, , 0, , 12.7, , 36.6, , 45.1, , 75.0, , 0.9, , 0.9, , 0.1, , 0.0, , 0.5, , 3.4 , - , 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 ...

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, 33, , 3, , 15.1, , 42.3, , 41.0, , 90.0, , 1.2, , 1.4, , 0.2, , 0.0, , 0.7, , 4.2 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 4 years, 1 team , 105, , 3, , 12.3, , 39.1, , 40.6, , 87.0, , 0.9, , 1.1, , 0.2, , 0.0, , 0.6, , 3.1

Playoffs

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, 3, , 0, , 15.7, , 28.6, , 33.3, , 66.7, , 0.7, , 3.0, , 0.3, , 0.0, , 0.3, , 2.7 , - , align="left" ,

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College

Source

Head coaching record

Notes

External links

WNBA player fileUniversity of Texas at Austin player file
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, Jamie 1981 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Basketball players from Colorado Basketball players from Kansas Connecticut Sun players Sportspeople from Thornton, Colorado Phoenix Mercury draft picks Point guards Sportspeople from Hutchinson, Kansas Stanford Cardinal women's basketball players Texas Longhorns women's basketball players Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in basketball United States women's national basketball team players 21st-century American sportswomen