Michelle M. Marciniak
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S. | October 29, 1973||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 154 lb (70 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
High school | Allentown Central Catholic (Allentown, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College |
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Playing career | 1996–2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching career | 2003–2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As player: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1996–1997 | Portland Power | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1997–1998 | Philadelphia Rage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998 | Nashville Noise | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000 | Portland Fire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2001–2002 | Seattle Storm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2003–2008 | South Carolina (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Michelle M. Marciniak (born October 29, 1973) is a former All-American collegiate and professional basketball player who played point guard in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). As a floor general, Marciniak competed for two national championships during her three-year career at the University of Tennessee. She led the Tennessee Lady Vols to their 4th National Championship and was named MVP in the 1996 Final Four held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
She later was the recruiting coordinator/assistant coach of the women's basketball team at the University of South Carolina from 2003 to 2008. Marciniak was responsible for two back to back top recruiting classes, rated #18 in 2007 and #7 in 2008, the highest ranked class ever recruited at South Carolina.
Marciniak is currently the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Sheex in Marlton, New Jersey, a performance fabric bedding company.
Early years and education
Marciniak was born in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1973.
Allentown Central Catholic High School
Marciniak played high school basketball at Allentown Central Catholic High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she competed in the highly respected East Penn Conference.
In 1991, as an Allentown Central Catholic High School senior, she was named National Player of the Year by Parade magazine, Naismith National Player of the Year, and Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. In February 1991, Sports Illustrated profiled Marciniak in an article titled "She's the Ponytailed Princess of the Hoop", which covered her performance as a high school junior at Allentown Central Catholic High School.[1] She scored 3,025 points for Allentown Central Catholic High School, and the school later retired her number 23 jersey number 23 in recognition of her extraordinary high school basketball achievements.
Collegiate career
After a year at the
With Marciniak at point guard, the Lady Vols won consecutive
Career
USA Basketball
Marciniak was named to the USA U18 team, then called the Junior World Championship Qualifying Team, in 1992. The team competed in Guanajuato, Mexico, in August 1992. The team won their first four games, then lost 80–70 to Brazil, finishing with the silver medal for the event, but qualifying for the 1993 world games. Marciniak averaged 6.8 points per game during the event.[3]
Marciniak continued with the team to the 1993 U19 World Championship (then called the Junior World Championship). The team won five games and lost two, but that left them in seventh place. Marciniak averaged 3.3 points per game.[4]
Marciniak represented the US at the
Marciniak was invited to be a member of the Jones Cup team representing the US in 1996. She helped the team to a 9–0 record, and the gold medal in the event. Marciniak averaged 7.4 points per games, had 24 assists, second highest on the team, and recorded 21 steals, highest on the team.[6]
Marciniak participated on the USA team as part of the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The team went 4–3 and earned a bronze medal.[7]
WNBA
Marciniak began her professional career in the women's
More significant was her extremely hard-nosed play on the court, as a nationally televised tussle with Los Angeles Sparks player Latasha Byears[8] earned Marciniak a reputation as the Storm player that opponents least wished to foul. Byears intentionally threw a ball at Marciniak's face, and Marciniak, in response, charged the much larger and stronger Byears.
Marciniak retired at 29 years old, after the Storm's 2002 season, to become an assistant coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in the powerhouse SEC Conference, where she had played as a collegian. Marciniak served as an assistant on the staff of head coach Susan Walvius from 2003 to 2008.[9] She is also an occasional color analyst for WNBA and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball games on ESPN Radio and other media outlets.
SHEEX
In 2007, Marciniak and Walvius founded SHEEX, Inc., a company that is said to offer "the world's first athletic-performance sheets".[10] Constructed from materials commonly found in modern athletic wear, SHEEX provide similar moisture-wicking, temperature-control, breathability and stretch not found in traditional cotton sheeting.[11]
References
- ^ "She's the ponytailed princess of the hoop," February 11, 1991
- ^ 1995-96 Lady Vols
- ^ "Second Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team -- 1992". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ "Third FIBA Women's U19/Junior World Championship -- 1993". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ "Seventeenth World University Games -- 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
- ^ "1996 Women's R. William Jones Cup". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
- ^ "Thirteenth Pan American Games -- 1999". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
- ^ "The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest".
- ^ Marciniak's SHEEX biography
- ^ Marlin Magazine Archived June 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ SHEEX features Archived April 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine