Tonya Edwards

Tonya Edwards

Personal information
Born	(1968-03-13) March 13, 1968 Flint, Michigan, U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight	160 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High school	Flint Northwestern (Flint, Michigan)
College	Tennessee (1986–1990)
WNBA draft	1999: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Selected by the Minnesota Lynx
Playing career	1999–2002
Position	Guard
Coaching career	1990–present
Career history
As player:
1996–1998	Columbus Quest
1999	Minnesota Lynx
2000–2001	Phoenix Mercury
2001–2002	Charlotte Sting
As coach:
1990–1995	Northwestern Community HS
2005	Chicago Blaze
2006–2008	Detroit (assistant)
2008–2015	Alcorn State
2016–2018	Los Angeles Sparks (assistant)
2021–2023	Chicago Sky (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player: WNBA All-Star (1999) 2× NCAA champion (1987, 1989) NCAA Tournament MOP (1987) First-team All-SEC (1990) SEC All-Freshman Team (1987) As assistant coach: 2x WNBA champion (2016, 2021)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Representing the United States Jones Cup 1987 Taipei Team Competition 1988 Taipei Team Competition

Tonya LaRay Edwards (born March 13, 1968) is an American retired professional basketball player born in Flint, Michigan, who was most recently an assistant coach of the Chicago Sky in the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Alcorn State Lady Braves basketball team.

Professional career

After graduating from college, there were no opportunities to play professional basketball in the U.S., so Edwards played professionally in Italy from 1991 to '92, Turkey in 1994, and Israel from 1995 to '96. In the Autumn of 1996, she played for the Columbus Quest in the American Basketball League (ABL), and won two championship titles with them. In 1998, Edwards became the interim head coach for the Quest after coach Brian Agler resigned. After the ABL folded due to financial difficulties, Edwards was selected by the Minnesota Lynx in the 1999 WNBA draft. She also played for the Phoenix Mercury and Charlotte Sting.

Edwards began her coaching career by returning to her alma mater, Northwestern Community High School in Flint, Michigan, for five seasons (1990–1995). She guided her team to the 1993 state championship with perfect 28–0 record, a 1992 state champion runner-up finish, and compiled a 78-23 overall record (.772). She was named 1993 "High School Coach of the Year" in the state of Michigan.

In 2004, she became a radio commentator for the Phoenix Mercury games, and later became an assistant coach in the National Women's Basketball League.

In 2006, she was inducted to the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame. That same year, she was named as an assistant coach to the women's basketball team at University of Detroit Mercy.

After two years at Detroit, Edwards was head coach at Alcorn State from 2008 to 2015. Edwards was SWAC Coach of the Year in 2011 and led Alcorn State to the SWAC Championship Game in 2012. In seven seasons, Edwards went 60–147 at Alcorn State. On March 23, 2015, Alcorn State announced it would not extend Edwards' contract, which would expire at the end of the month.

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

WNBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Minnesota	32	32	32.2	.357	.344	.806	3.5	2.6	0.8	0.4	2.1	14.8
2000	Phoenix	32	32	28.9	.376	.307	.782	2.4	1.8	1.1	0.3	2.0	10.6
2001	Phoenix	10	9	20.8	.366	.357	.787	1.9	1.8	0.5	0.1	2.2	9.4
2001	Charlotte	22	0	16.9	.340	.227	.730	2.0	1.4	0.6	0.3	1.8	4.5
2002	Charlotte	29	0	10.4	.364	.280	.717	1.4	0.8	0.6	0.1	0.6	3.9
Career	4 years, 3 teams	125	73	22.7	.362	.322	.775	2.3	1.7	0.8	0.2	1.7	9.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2000	Phoenix	2	2	30.5	.250	.231	.667	3.0	2.5	2.0	0.0	1.0	8.5
2001	Charlotte	8	0	14.9	.429	.500	1.000	2.0	1.5	0.6	0.0	1.4	2.8
2002	Charlotte	2	0	9.5	.200	.333	.000	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.5
Career	3 years, 2 teams	12	2	16.6	.326	.300	.600	1.9	1.5	0.8	0.0	1.2	3.5

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1987–88	Tennessee	34	-	-	45.8	50.0	75.2	4.9	3.3	2.3	0.3	-	12.9
1988–89	Tennessee	20	-	-	45.0	11.1	79.7	3.0	3.4	2.3	0.2	-	9.7
1989–90	Tennessee	33	-	-	41.9	36.8	76.1	3.2	3.4	1.7	0.1	-	11.3
Career		87	-	-	44.2	36.1	76.4	3.8	3.3	2.1	0.2	-	11.6
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.

USA Basketball

Edwards was named to the team representing the US at the 1987 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The team won all seven games to win the gold medal for the event. The USA was down at halftime in the opening game against Japan, but came back in the second half to win, helped by 15 points from Campbell. Edwards was the second leading scorer on the team, averaging 12.4 points per game over the seven games. She was one of three players from the USA team to be named to the Jones Cup All-Tournament Team.

In the following year, 1988, Edwards was also named to the Jones Cup team. The USA team was not as successful, with a 3–2 record, but that was enough to secure the silver medal. Edwards was the leading scorer on the team, averaging 15.4 points per game, and tied for the team lead in steals with 15.

Head coaching record

Edwards' score are as following:

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Alcorn State Lady Braves (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (2008–2015)
2008–09	Alcorn State	5–26	4–14	10th
2009–10	Alcorn State	8–20	8–10	T–6th
2010–11	Alcorn State	13–15	12–6	3rd
2011–12	Alcorn State	14–20	9–9	7th
2012–13	Alcorn State	2–26	2–16	10th
2013–14	Alcorn State	8–22	7–11	T–7th
2014–15	Alcorn State	10–18	9–9	6th
Alcorn State:		60–147	51–75
Total:		60–147

Sources

• WNBA Player Profile
• September 11, 2006 press release on Edwards joining the University of Detroit Mercy coaching staff
• Profile from the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame