Jennifer Lynn Azzi (born August 31, 1968) is a former

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 ...

coach, most recently the head coach of the women's team at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The ...

. Azzi is also a former collegiate and professional basketball player, as well as an Olympic and FIBA world champion. Azzi was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's ba ...

in 2009.

Basketball career

College

Azzi received a scholarship and played point guard for Stanford University's women's basketball team from 1987 to 1990. During her four years at Stanford, the

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, ...

compiled a 101–23 win–loss record, and captured two

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

titles. During her senior year (

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

), Azzi led the Cardinal to the

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...

, defeating Auburn. Her individual accomplishments included: * Named to the

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

First Team in 1989 and 1990. * 1990 recipient of the

Wade Trophy The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State University coa ...

and

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of the ...

. * 1990—Winner of the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

for basketball *

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

Final Four Most Valuable Player (MVP), and the West Region MVP in 1990. *

Player of the Year award in 1989 and 1990. * Three time All-Pac 10 First Team selection Azzi graduated in 1990 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in economics.

USA Basketball

In 1988, Azzi was named to the Jones Cup team. The USA team ended the competition with a 3–2 record, but that was enough to secure the silver medal. Azzi averaged 5.4 points per game. Azzi was a member of the USA National team at the 1990 World Championships, held in

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

. The team won their opening round games fairly easily, with the closest of the first three games a 27-point victory over Czechoslovakia. Then they faced Cuba, a team that had beaten the US in exhibition matches only a few weeks earlier. The USA team was losing at halftime, but came back to win 87–78. The USA team found itself behind at halftime to Canada in their next game, but came back to win easily 95–70. After an easy match against Bulgaria, in which Azzi hit three of four three-pointers, and scored a team high 13 points, the USA team faced Czechoslovakia again, end achieved an almost identical result, winning 87–59. In the title match, the USA team won the gold medal with a score of 88–78. Azzi averaged 4.6 points per game, and recorded 15 assists, second highest on the team. Azzi played with the USA team at the

1991 Pan American Games The 1991 Pan American Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 2 to August 18, 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the PASO community, with events in 33 different sports. The main stadium was the Estadio Panamericano, a mul ...

. The team finished with a record of 4–2, but managed to win the bronze medal. The USA team lost a three-point game to Brazil, then responded with wins over Argentina and Cuba, earning a spot in the medal round. The next game was a rematch against Cuba, and this time the team from Cuba won a five-point game. The USA beat Canada easily to win the bronze. Azzi averaged 6.7 points per game. Azzi was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's basketball team at the 1994

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other W ...

, which was held in

Saint Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Azzi was named to the USA national team and competed in the 1994 World Championships, held in June 1994 in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. The team was coached by

Tara VanDerveer Tara Ann VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) is an American basketball coach who has been the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University since 1985. Designated the Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball, VanDerveer led the Stanfo ...

, and won their first six games, when they faced Brazil. In a closely contested, high-scoring game, Brazil hit ten of ten free throws in the final minute to secure a 110–107 victory. The USA won a close final game against Australia 100–95 to earn the bronze medal. Azzi averaged 4.9 points per game, while recording 16 assists, third highest on the team. She also won a gold medal while playing for the U.S. women's basketball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. Azzi played for the USA Basketball National Team in a five-game Australian Tour event in 1998, as part of the Goldmark Cup team. The USA and Australian teams had qualified for the 2000 Olympics, and agreed to play five games in five cities in Australia. The Australians won the first three games and the USA team won the last two. She was one of six core players selected for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, but she withdrew herself from consideration to avoid the extensive touring.

ABL

Azzi began her professional basketball career playing in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

when she joined the San Jose Lasers of the American Basketball League (ABL) from 1996 to 1999. She was one of the cofounders of the league. Her participation in the league ended when the ABL declared bankruptcy on December 22, 1998. Shortly afterward, she started a training camp for adults in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

WNBA

In 1999, Azzi was selected by the

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. T ...

in the first round (fifth overall) in the WNBA draft. She helped lead the Shock into the playoffs that year. Just prior to the 2000 season, Azzi was traded to the

Utah Starzz Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its w ...

. She remained with the team when the franchise relocated to

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and changed its name to the

San Antonio Silver Stars The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before th ...

in 2003. In February 2004, Azzi announced her retirement from professional basketball.

Coaching career

Azzi became the head coach of the women's basketball team at the

in 2010. On March 8, 2016, Azzi lead the Dons to a 70–68 upset over the BYU Cougars in the WCC tournament championship game to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which was the Dons' first appearance since the 1996–97 season. On September 15, 2016, Azzi stepped down as head coach of the Dons to pursue new career opportunities.

Post-WNBA careers

Azzi served on the Board of Directors of

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olymp ...

for the 2005–2008 term. She was inducted into the

in 2009. Azzi is now a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ...

, residing in

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, California. She also runs a youth basketball camp every summer held at

Tamalpais High School Tamalpais High School (often abbreviated as Tam) is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises almost above Mill Valley. Tamalpais High Sch ...

called Azzi Camp. In December 2014, Azzi was announced as one of the six recipients of the 2015

Silver Anniversary Awards The Silver Anniversary Awards are awarded every year by the American National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to recognize six distinguished former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary as college graduates. The Silver Anniversary Aw ...

, presented annually by the

to outstanding former student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of the end of their college sports careers. The award is based on both athletic and professional success.

Career statistics

College

Source

WNBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, 28 , , 19 , , 29.9 , , .514 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", .517° , , .827 , , 2.2 , , 3.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 2.0 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, 15 , , 15 , , 37.3 , , .452 , , .417 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", .930° , , 2.7 , , 6.1 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 1.9 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#D3D3D3", 32° , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 32° , , 37.7 , , .408 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", .514° , , .917 , , 3.1 , , 5.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 2.2 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#D3D3D3", 32° , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 32° , , 36.0 , , .460 , , .446 , , .798 , , 2.2 , , 4.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 2.1 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, style="background:#D3D3D3", 34° , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 34° , , 33.4 , , .403 , , .402 , , .785 , , 2.7 , , 3.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 1.8 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 5 years, 3 teams , 141 , , 132 , , 34.7 , , .445 , , bgcolor="EOCEF2" , .458 , , .845 , , 2.6 , , 4.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 2.0 , , 9.1

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 1 , , 40.0 , , .154 , , .167 , , – , , 5.0 , , 3.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 2 , , 37.5 , , .250 , , .286 , , 1.000 , , 1.5 , , 5.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 2.5 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 37.2 , , .394 , , .368 , , .875 , , 2.6 , , 6.8 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 1.6 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 3 years, 1 teams , 8 , , 8 , , 37.6 , , .310 , , .313 , , .889 , , 2.6 , , 5.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.9 , , 1.9 , , 6.8 , -

Coaching record

Personal life

Jennifer Azzi is married to Blair Hardiek Azzi Jennifer and Blair have two children: a son, Macklin and a daughter, Camden

References

Sources

External links

University of San Francisco profileOctober 7, 2005 ''San Francisco Chronicle'' article on Azzi's life after basketballJuly 2007 "Marin Magazine" Article on Azzi's life in Marin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azzi, Jennifer 1968 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players at the 1991 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Tennessee Detroit Shock players Goodwill Games medalists in basketball LGBT basketball players American LGBT businesspeople LGBT people from California LGBT people from Tennessee American LGBT sportspeople Lesbian sportswomen Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Oak Ridge, Tennessee American sportspeople of Italian descent Point guards San Antonio Stars players San Francisco Dons women's basketball coaches San Jose Lasers players Stanford Cardinal women's basketball players Utah Starzz players Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games United States women's national basketball team players