Virginia Marlita "Penny" Toler (born March 24, 1966) is an American

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 ...

executive and former player who served most recently as the general manager of the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles 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 of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

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). Toler holds the distinction of scoring the first field-goal and the first free throw in WNBA history. As of 2025, Toler is one of three players to have their jersey retired by the Sparks, the others being

Lisa Leslie Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is formerly the head coach for Triplets (basketball), Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando ...

and

Candace Parker Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986), nicknamed "Ace", is an American former professional basketball player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time, she was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA dr ...

College years

Toler began her college career with the

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athle ...

, joining a squad led by

Tina Hutchinson Ida "Tina" Hutchinson (born ) is an American former professional basketball player. She played two years of college basketball for the San Diego State Aztecs. Hutchinson led the Aztecs to their first NCAA tournament in 1984, when she set NCAA f ...

. Toler then sat out a year after transferring to

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

, where she became an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. During her career Long Beach State made it to the

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 ...

twice, in 1987 and 1988. Toler was considered one of the best ever collegiate players under future Hall of Fame coach

Joan Bonvicini Joan Bonvicini (born October 10, 1953) is a former head basketball coach. Most recently, she was the head coach for the Seattle University women's basketball team, the Redhawks, and one of only 18 coaches in Division I women's basketball histo ...

. In 1995 she was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Long Beach State statistics

Source

Professional career

Having no viable domestic professional options, Toler began her professional career in Italy, playing two seasons for Montecchio and three for Pescara. She then played two seasons in Greece for Sporting Flash, and one in Israel for Ramat HaSharon.

WNBA

In 1997, she returned to the United States to play in the newly organized WNBA. Toler was allocated to the

during the player initiation round in the

1997 WNBA draft The 1997 WNBA draft was the 1st 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 three d ...

. She is most commonly remembered as the first player to score a basket in the WNBA. She did so against the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

on June 21, 1997 19:01 hour at the Los Angeles

Great Western Forum The Kia Forum, also known as Los Angeles Forum and formerly Great Western Forum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located on West Manchester Boulevard, with Laffit Pincay Jr., P ...

. Her shot was a side jumper. Toler also made the first free throw in the WNBA history. In that debut game, Toler recorded 15 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound and 1 steal with the Sparks losing the game 57 - 67. Toler played 3 seasons with the Sparks, averaging 10 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4 assists in 88 games. From 1997 to 1999, the Sparks only made the playoffs during the 1999 season after finishing with a 20 - 12 record. They matched up against the

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Aren ...

in the first round and won the single game elimination, but lost 2 - 1 in the Western Conference Finals by the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

. In that series versus the Comets, Toler averaged 2.6 points, 1.3 assists in 25.4 minutes a game. In November 1999 she retired as a player. Her final WNBA game was Game 3 of the previously mentioned Western Conference Finals against the Comets. That game was played on August 30, 1999 and the Sparks would lose 62 - 72 with Toler recording 1 point and 2 rebounds.

Post-Playing Career

She became a general manager for the Los Angeles Sparks and immediately after taking on a management role, she would assemble the Los Angeles Sparks roster that would become the championship team in 2001. On July 20, 2014, Toler was named as interim head coach of the Sparks following the firing of

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 Lo ...

. She stayed as Head Coach until the end of 2014 when

Brian Agler Brian Agler (born August 2, 1958) is an American college athletics administrator and former women's basketball coach. He is the athletic director at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, a position he has held since 2021. Agler served as ...

took over on January 5, 2015. She helped coach the Sparks to a playoff appearance in 2014 but they were swept 2- 0 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 the Semi-Finals. Toler was fired as vice president and general manager on October 4, 2019, after the Sparks were swept out of the WNBA Semi-Finals during the 2019 WNBA Playoffs. The move also came after the revelation that Toler entered the Sparks' locker room following their Game 2 loss and gave an obscenity-laced speech that included the use of the "N-word".

International career

By the time the WNBA launched, Toler had already spent eight years playing basketball overseas. She has played five seasons in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, two seasons in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and a season 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 ...

. While in Italy, she won a scoring title, two assist titles, and was MVP of the Italian all-star game.

Career statistics

Regular season

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1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

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Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

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, 30 , , 4 , , 14.2 , , .340 , , .154 , , .867 , , 1.4 , , 2.2 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 3 years, 1 team , 88 , , 62 , , 25.9 , , .406 , , .306 , , .811 , , 2.8 , , 4.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 2.8 , , 10.0

Playoffs

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References

External links

USATODAY Recognition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toler, Penny 1966 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Long Beach State Beach women's basketball players Los Angeles Sparks head coaches Los Angeles Sparks players Place of birth missing (living people) Point guards San Diego State Aztecs women's basketball players Women's National Basketball Association executives American women sports executives and administrators Women's National Basketball Association general managers 20th-century American sportswomen