Simone Edwards - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Simone Ann-Marie Edwards (born November 17, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

) is a female basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

player who played for the Seattle Storm

Seattle Storm

The Seattle Storm is a professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began...

of the Women's National Basketball Association

Women's National Basketball Association

The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...

(WNBA). The 6'4" Edwards center

Center (basketball)

The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...

is known to fans as the "Jamaican Hurricane."

Like some other Caribbean-born players such as Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan

Timothy Theodore "Tim" Duncan is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association . The 6-foot 11-inch , 255-pound power forward/center is a four-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP, and NBA Rookie of the Year...

, Edwards did not play basketball in high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

. She was spotted by coach Gary Hudson from the University of Oklahoma after competing in a track meet in Jamaica. In 1996-97, she led the Hawkeyes in field-goal percentage (.557) during her senior season.

Edwards was one of three players picked out of over 300 athlete at a NY Liberty tryout camp. As a developmental player by the New York Liberty

New York Liberty

The New York Liberty is a professional basketball team based in New York City, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was one of the eight original franchises of the league...

in 1997, but never saw a game until signing on with the newly inaugurated Storm in 2000. She was the only player to be a part of the team for every game of its first six seasons, and became a KeyArena

KeyArena

KeyArena at Seattle Center , is a multipurpose arena, in Seattle, Washington. It is located north of downtown in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, the Century 21 Exposition...

fan favorite for her ebullient personality and cheerleading when not in the game.

On May 19, 2006, just prior to the start of the 2006 WNBA season, Edwards announced her retirement from the WNBA, severing the last on-court link with the Storm's debut season. She retired as the team's all-time leader in rebounds, and games and minutes played.

Edwards also plays in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

and Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and speaks fluent Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

. She continues to play for the Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

n national team, the host team for the 2006 Caribbean Championship.

On August 5, 2007, she was hired as an assistant coach at Radford University

Radford University

Radford University is one of Virginia's eight doctoral-degree granting public universities. Originally founded in 1910, Radford offers comprehensive curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, and graduate programs including the M.F.A., M.B.A...

External references

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