Azzi: Done It All At 30

Articles in this Topic Discussions in this Topic

Sep 1, 1998

From waiting tables to winning the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, Jennifer Azzi has done it all. She has received the Bay Area's Sports Image Foundation award. She is a founding member of the American Basketball League. She runs her own camp in the summer.

Jennifer began playing basketball when she was four years old. At Oak Ridge High School she played basketball for four years. In 1987, she earned a full scholarship to Stanford University. There, playing under Tara VanDerveer, she led her team to the NCAA championship in 1990. "That was a great thrill of my life, winning that championship," Azzi told Full Court Press. "It proved that the work that went into it was definitely worth it." Jennifer Azzi describes herself as a hard worker, intense and committed both as a person and as a player. She lists working out and lifting weights as some of her hobbies. That is part of what makes her one of the best women basketball players in the country.

After graduating in 1990, she decided to go overseas to play - she had no choice if she wanted to keep playing the game she loved. She played basketball for five seasons in Sweden, Italy, and France. In 1995 Jennifer Azzi made the '96 US Olympic team. She toured with the team for a year, playing collegiate teams. The US team then went overseas, to play against the countries they would be competing against during the Olympics. During this time, the beginning pieces of the ABL were being put in place. In June of 1995, League co-founder Gary Cavalli was put in charge of arranging the Stanford Athletic Hall of fame dinner. Jennifer Azzi was one of the people to be honored at this dinner, and, taking full advantage of the opportunity, Cavalli sat himself next to Jennifer at the head of the table. During the dinner, he told Jennifer of his plan for a new women's basketball league. She had heard this before; numerous other people had brought plans for a new league. By the end of the night though, she was convinced. This league sounded good. She told Gary to let her know how she could help. After speaking to Teresa Edwards, she too became enthusiastic. On Friday, October 18, the ABL played its first two games ever. In a press conference shortly before the Olympics, when Jennifer was asked how she felt about the formation of a women's professional league in the United States, she replied "It's about time."

Go To Page: 1 2

The copyright of the article Azzi: Done It All At 30 in Women's Basketball is owned by . Permission to republish Azzi: Done It All At 30 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.