THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310753
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 78 lines
Saying she felt like a rookie, former Old Dominion great Nancy Lieberman-Cline signed with the Women's NBA Thursday afternoon, the professional league that will start play this summer.
Lieberman-Cline, 38, and Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard, 37, will join Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swoopes and many of the best seniors coming out of college when the league premieres in eight NBA cities in June.
``I am very pleased to be able to announce today that a Hall-of-Famer and a future Hall-of-Famer will join the WNBA,'' said WNBA president Val Ackerman.
Lieberman-Cline, a three-time All-American at ODU from 1976-1980, was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic silver-medal squad. She also played professionally with the Long Island Knights and the Springfield Flames of the former U.S. Basketball League for 1986-88.
Woodard captained the 1984 Olympic team and was the first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters, playing with the legendary touring team from 1985-87.
A 6-foot guard from the University of Kansas, she is the all-time leading scorer in women's college basketball with 3,649 points.
Speaking from her hometown of Dallas, Lieberman-Cline said she was grateful for a chance to return to the game she has loved since growing up in Rockaway, N.Y. Lieberman-Cline, inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in May, said she figured that honor signaled the end of her playing career.
``It's not very often in life you get a second chance,'' said the 5-foot-10 guard who led ODU to consecutive national championships from 1979 and '80. ``At 37 and 38, for us to want to put forth the effort to play at this level, you have to have a love, you have to have a passion for what you do.''
Ackerman declined to release details of either player's contract, but said contracts would include base salaries and incentive bonuses. The league also will arrange players' housing, travel, per diems and medical expenses. Lieberman-Cline and Woodard have not been assigned to specific teams, although both have a preference. Woodard, now a stockbroker on Wall Street, said she would prefer to remain in New York. Lieberman-Cline is partial to either New York or Houston, the closest team to her Fort Worth home.
``If I had a wish list it would be to play for the New York team since I grew up not too far from Madison Square Garden,'' she said.
Lieberman-Cline, who has become the sport's most visible TV commentator, returned to organized basketball this season when she toured with Athletes in Action. She averaged 15.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 17 games and said that experience convinced her she was ready for the WNBA.
``As long as I don't have the injury bug, I think I could be productive,'' said Lieberman-Cline, who averaged 30.7 minutes in two months of AIA games.
Woodard hasn't played organized basketball since leaving a Japanese league in 1992. But like Lieberman-Cline, she said she plays every day and feels ready for a new level of competition.
``I've never really gotten out of shape,'' she said.
Lieberman-Cline said she was offered $125,000 to play for the Blizzard, the ABL's New England franchise. She turned down the offer, which Ackerman said was higher than any WNBA player salary.
Among the factors that made the WNBA more attractive to Lieberman-Cline than the ABL are a shorter schedule, a summer season that will not conflict with her TV work, and the financial and marketing backing of the NBA.
``I definitely felt at this stage in my career, the place for me to be was the WNBA,'' Lieberman-Cline said. ``It was a no-brainer, really.''
Ackerman said the league has no reservations about signing players whose college glory days are more than a decade behind them. ``They're veteran players; they're smart,'' she said. ``They'll be a positive influence on younger players and great ambassadors for women's basketball.''
The WNBA assigned its first 16 players to teams last week and plans to unveil team nicknames and logos next month. Teams will be in Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Sacramento and Salt Lake City. < ILLUSTRATION: Color Virginian-Pilot file photo
Nancy Lieberman-Cline
HUY NGUYEN/Virginian-Pilot file
Nancy Lieberman-Cline, right, battles current ODU standout Ticha
Penicheiro for the Athletes in Action team during a November
exhibition here.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE