My Basketball Career

My Basketball Journey

My first love in sports was softball, but I quickly realized there wasn’t much action for me in the outfield—no one ever seemed to hit the ball my way! Seeking more excitement, I shifted my focus to where the action was: basketball.

I started playing basketball at the age of seventeen for New City Technical College in 1979. I earned a scholarship to attend college during my senior year of high school through a dual enrollment program—high school classes from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, followed by college courses from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Coming from an athletic family, I excelled quickly. My mom was a track star, and my dad, a former swim captain at Erasmus High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn, went on to become a scuba diver in the Marines.

In 1982, while playing in a summer league, I was recruited by a Brooklyn College coach. At the time, Brooklyn College had just transitioned to Division I. After completing my college basketball career, my coach helped me secure an incredible opportunity to play professionally overseas.

My first stop was Italy, where I joined a women’s professional team in southern Italy, about four hours from Milan. American players were highly sought after at the time to elevate the level of women’s basketball overseas. My stay in Italy was short, as I was soon sent to Poland, marking a groundbreaking moment—Americans, especially Black Americans, had never played basketball in this communist country before. The experience was surreal and challenging; I was one of maybe three Black people in the entire country. Despite the culture shock, it was an incredible experience to witness how women’s basketball was more popular than men’s professional leagues in Europe.

In 1985, during my time between Italy and Poland, I started the West 4th Street Tournament Summer League, which remains active to this day. After my time in Poland, I moved on to play in Australia. Unfortunately, a car accident left me with a shoulder injury, cutting my professional basketball career short. Despite this setback, my love for the game remained strong.

While recovering, I began coaching at my alma mater, New York City Technical College, becoming the youngest African American female coach in junior collegiate basketball. By the mid-90s, I had officially retired my sneakers at the age of 26, just as the WNBA was preparing to launch.

After basketball, I transitioned into a new chapter of my life, building a career in the male-dominated printing industry, where I thrived for 20 years. Eventually, I moved on to another male-dominated field: construction. Today, I continue to "rule the trade" with the same passion and determination that basketball instilled in me.