Deanna Nolan

Deanna Nolan
Personal information
Born	August 25, 1979 (age 45); Flint, Michigan, U.S.
Nationality	American / Russian
Listed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight	155 lb (70 kg)
Career information
High school	Flint Northern (Flint, Michigan)
College	Georgia (1997–2001)
WNBA draft	2001: 1st round, 6th overall pick
	Selected by the Detroit Shock
Playing career	2001–present
Position	Shooting guard / point guard
Career history
2001–2009	Detroit Shock
2007–2010;; 2012–2013	UMMC Ekaterinburg
Career highlights and awards
	3× WNBA champion (2003, 2006, 2008); WNBA Finals MVP (2006); 5× WNBA All-Star (2003–2007); All-WNBA First Team (2005, 2007); All-WNBA Second Team (2003); WNBA 20th Anniversary Team (2016); First-team All-SEC (2000);
	Stats at WNBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference

Deanna Nicole "Tweety" Nolan^[1] (Russian: Деанна Нолан; born August 25, 1979) is an American-Russian professional basketball player for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the Russian Premier League as well as the Russia women's national basketball team.^[2] Her primary position is shooting guard, but occasionally plays the point guard 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 is being inducted 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 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. Overall, she helped the Lady Bulldogs achieve an 86–12 record overall during her collegiate career.^{[citation needed]}

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 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.

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.^[3]

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

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.^{[citation needed]}

Career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

WNBA

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2001	Detroit	27	0	20.2	33.0	28.8	81.1	2.0	1.1	0.6	0.2	1.3	7.1
2002	Detroit	32	32	25.1	41.5	36.8	80.6	2.7	1.9	0.8	0.4	1.9	8.7
2003	Detroit	32	32	29.8	43.6	42.1	79.2	3.3	2.6	1.3	0.4	2.2	12.4
2004	Detroit	34	34	33.5	38.2	28.9	79.8	3.9	3.3	1.9	0.4	2.6	13.6
2005	Detroit	33	33	36.8	39.8	31.1	80.0	4.7	3.7	1.7	0.4	3.0	15.9
2006	Detroit	34	34	32.1	40.5	34.5	85.0	4.5	3.6	1.4	0.3	2.5	13.8
2007	Detroit	34	34	34.6	46.0	39.3	82.3	4.4	3.9	1.4	0.4	2.4	16.3
2008	Detroit	34	34	33.6	46.5	37.4	86.3	3.9	4.4	1.2	0.3	2.1	15.8
2009	Detroit	33	33	33.7	40.8	32.5	78.4	4.3	3.5	1.3	0.3	2.2	16.9
Career	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

Playoffs


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2003	Detroit	8	8	32.1	45.8	44.7	93.8	3.6	2.6	1.3	0.3	2.6	15.5
2004	Detroit	3	3	39.7	40.0	30.8	93.3	4.7	2.3	1.7	0.0	1.7	18.0
2005	Detroit	2	2	39.5	40.5	25.0	85.7	4.0	3.5	1.0	1.0	2.0	18.5
2006	Detroit	10	10	35.7	48.6	42.9	83.3	4.1	3.9	1.6	0.2	1.9	17.8
2007	Detroit	11	11	37.5	42.6	44.7	90.0	6.3	4.1	0.8	0.3	2.6	18.9
2008	Detroit	9	9	38.8	35.9	34.1	93.9	4.6	2.9	2.1	0.3	2.7	17.6
2009	Detroit	5	5	38.0	39.8	32.1	91.3	1.6	3.2	1.8	0.4	3.6	21.6
Career	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


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1998–99	Georgia	26	-	-	41.7	15.6	63.2	4.8	1.8	1.7	0.2	-	7.2
1999–00	Georgia	36	-	-	54.8	37.0	78.7	4.6	3.5	1.6	0.8	-	12.1
2000–01	Georgia	24	-	-	45.3	32.7	73.9	3.9	3.3	2.0	0.3	-	13.4
Career		86	-	-	48.5	28.9	73.0	4.5	2.9	1.7	0.5	-	11.0
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.^[4]

Notes

^ III, James L. Edwards; more. "How the 2006 Detroit Shock overcame Sacramento and a Mariah Carey concert to win the first Game 5 in WNBA Finals history". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
^ "Return to WNBA unlikely for Flint's Deanna Nolan after success in Russia". MLive.com. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
^ "WNBA.com: Offseason 2008-09: Overseas Roster". www.wnba.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
^ "Deanna Nolan College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.

External links

[1] III, James L. Edwards; more. "How the 2006 Detroit Shock overcame Sacramento and a Mariah Carey concert to win the first Game 5 in WNBA Finals history". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 13, 2024.

[2] "Return to WNBA unlikely for Flint's Deanna Nolan after success in Russia". MLive.com. Retrieved September 12, 2017.

[3] "WNBA.com: Offseason 2008-09: Overseas Roster". www.wnba.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.

[4] "Deanna Nolan College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.

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