Swin Cash
Cash in March 2012
New Orleans Pelicans
PositionVice President of Basketball Operations and Team Development
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1979-09-22) September 22, 1979 (age 44)
McKeesport, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight162 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High schoolMcKeesport
(McKeesport, Pennsylvania)
CollegeUConn (1998–2002)
WNBA draft2002: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Shock
Playing career2002–2016
PositionForward
Number32, 2, 8, 4
Career history
2002–2007Detroit Shock
2003–2004VBM-SGAU Samara
2008–2011Seattle Storm
2008–2009ZVVZ USK Prague
2012–2013Chicago Sky
2014Atlanta Dream
2014–2016New York Liberty
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Team competition
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team competition
FIBA World Championship for Women
Gold medal – first place 2010 Czech Republic Team Competition

Swintayla Marie "Swin" Cash Canal (born September 22, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played professionally for 15 seasons[1] in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She currently[2] serves as vice president of basketball operations and team development for the New Orleans Pelicans. A prolific scorer and rebounder, as well as a capable ball handler and defender, she helped lead the University of Connecticut women's basketball team to national titles in 2000 and 2002. In her second WNBA season, she led the Detroit Shock to their first ever WNBA title. In 2015, she was named a studio analyst for MSG Networks covering the New York Knicks pre-games and post-games as well as the weekly coaches show. In 2017, Cash was named the Director of franchise development for the New York Liberty.[3] Cash was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 9, 2022.[4]

Cash is one of 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a Fiba World cup gold and a WNBA Championship.

Personal life

Cash was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKeesport and raised by her mother, Cynthia. She has two brothers named Stephen and Kevin Menifee and one sister, Angelique Menifee. She holds basketball camps and clinics under her company, Swin Cash Enterprise LLC, and is involved in charity events through the WNBA. Cash married longtime boyfriend Steve Canal in Atlanta, Georgia.

High school

Cash attended McKeesport Area High School in McKeesport, where she participated in many activities. She "tried her hands at" baseball, track, and cheerleading, but her true passion was entertainment, which she expressed in school plays and drama class.[5] Cash is best known for her basketball skills, which earned her a place on the national WBCA All-American team. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored fourteen points, and earned MVP honors.[6][7]

College

Cash was an All-American at the University of Connecticut (UConn). She won the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship with the UConn Huskies in 2000 and 2002. She also helped lead UConn to an undefeated 39–0 season in 2002. Swin was a member of the inaugural class (2006) of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.[8]

Professional career

Cash was selected by the Detroit Shock in the 2002 WNBA draft, second overall.[9] After leading the Shock's resurgence in the second half of her rookie season, she then led the Detroit Shock to their first WNBA Championship title in 2003.[10] She played in the 2003 WNBA All-Star Game and won the gold medal with the U.S. women's basketball team at the 2004 Olympic Games.[11]

Swin Cash meets George W. Bush after winning the WNBA Championship with the Detroit Shock in May 2004

In the off-season, Cash has appeared as a studio analyst on ESPN's NBA Fastbreak (according to ESPN.com) and during the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, she alternated with Teresa Edwards in presenting in-game commentary for NBC's presentation of the women's basketball tournament from the network's New York broadcast studios. Swin appeared (as herself) in the movie Bring It On: All or Nothing.[12]

Cash received the Dapper Dan Sportswoman of the Year award given to someone who shows excellence to the Pittsburgh area.[13] She was also honored with Sidney Crosby and Dan Rooney.

Cash left Detroit for the 2008 season after "struggling to build a consistent relationship with Detroit Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer". On February 19, 2008, Cash was traded to the Seattle Storm for the draft rights of No. 4 pick in the 2008 WNBA draft.[14] The Shock selected Alexis Hornbuckle with their draft pick.[15] Cash along with Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson helped the Storm win their second championship in 2010.[16] On January 2, 2012, in perhaps the WNBA's biggest blockbuster trade news thus far, Cash was traded, along with Le'Coe Willingham, to the Chicago Sky joining All- Star Sylvia Fowles.

Cash has been suffering from a herniated disk for more than two years,[17] an injury suffered while helping the Detroit Shock win the WNBA championship in 2006. In 2009, she came back to Connecticut to lead the Western Conference over the Eastern Conference at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. She led all scorers with an All-Star record of 22 points in a 130–118 win. The previous high was 20 by Cash's former Detroit teammate, Deanna Nolan, in 2005.[18]

Cash was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009.[19] The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.[19]

Cash at USA National team versus USA Select team scrimmage.

Cash was one of twenty players named to the national team pool. Twelve of this group will be chosen to represent the US in the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics.[20]

Cash was selected to be a member of the National team representing the US at the World Championships held in September and October 2010. The team was coached by Geno Auriemma. Because many team members were still playing in the WNBA until just prior to the event, the team had only one day of practice with the entire team before leaving for Ostrava and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Even with limited practice, the team managed to win its first games against Greece by 26 points. The team continued to dominate with victory margins exceeding 20 points in the first five games. Several players shared scoring honors, with Cash, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Lindsay Whalen, and Sylvia Fowles all ending as high scorer in the first few games. The sixth game was against undefeated Australia — the USA jumped out to a 24-point lead and the USA prevailed 83–75. The USA won its next two games by over 30 points, then faced the host team, the Czech Republic, in the championship game. The USA team had only a five-point lead at halftime, which was cut to three points, but the Czechs never got closer. Team USA went on to win the championship and gold medal. Cash averaged 8.6 points per game.[21]

Cash was named as one of the National team members to represent the USA Basketball team in the WNBA versus USA Basketball.[22] This game replaces the normal WNBA All-Star game with WNBA All-Stars versus USA Basketball, as part of the preparation for the FIBA World Championship for Women to be held in the Czech Republic during September and October 2010.[23]

Cash was one of 21 finalists for the U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team Roster. The 20 professional women's basketball players, plus one collegiate player (Brittney Griner), were selected by the USA Basketball Women's National Team Player Selection Committee to compete for the final roster which will represent the US at the 2012 Olympics in London.[24] Cash made the final roster and played for the U.S. team that won the 2012 Olympic gold medal.[25]

Washington and Jefferson College awarded Cash with an honorary degree in Doctorate of Public Service at their commencement ceremonies in May 2011 to honor her charity work. Cash is the founder of the Pennsylvania-based Cash for Kids charitable organization.[26]

Cash was waived by New York Liberty on May 11, 2016. On May 24, 2016, it was reported that Cash re-signed with the Liberty for the remainder of the season. She was immediately eligible for their game versus the Atlanta Dream on that day.

On June 7, 2016, Cash announced that she would retire at the end of the 2016 season.[27]

Anti-racism and anti-violence activism

Cash is an advocate against gun violence and police brutality. In 2016, she was fined $500 by the Association, along with her teammates and players from two other WNBA teams, for wearing warm up shirts that read "#BlackLivesMatter" and "#Dallas5", both serving as references to gun violence.[28][29][30] In a post-game debriefing following the incident, Cash stated:

I think it’s a shame that we keep seeing people that want to make this movement as something that’s violent. Five cops gave their lives up trying to protect a peaceful movement. And in this country, I do believe that you can assemble peacefully and protest against injustice. So until the system transforms, we cannot sit here and act like there is not a problem here in America.[31]

She said that part of what motivated her to take a stance against police violence was the Civil Rights Movement era stories her grandmother told her. She recognizes that police brutality is an aspect of racial activism, and she fears that because police are able to kill unarmed people without facing arrests, a regression to pre-Civil Rights laws and practices may occur for black people.[31] In addition, her brother, Kevin Menifee, was allegedly beaten by police officers, who broke his nose.[32]

College statistics

Swin Cash statistics[33] at University of Connecticut
Year G FG FGA PCT 3FG 3FGA PCT FT FTA PCT REB AVG A TO B S MIN PTS AVG
1998–99 22 75 127 0.591 0 0 0.000 59 92 0.634 115 5.2 14 31 15 20 332 209 9.5
1999–2000 37 141 265 0.532 0 0 0.000 85 132 0.644 196 5.3 24 81 26 40 768 367 9.9
2000–01 35 162 292 0.555 0 0 0.000 103 174 0.592 263 7.5 51 76 34 33 832 427 12.2
2001–02 39 220 401 0.549 0 1 0.000 140 200 0.700 336 8.6 86 88 55 55 1085 580 14.9
Totals 133 598 1085 0.551 0 1 0 387 598 0.647 910 6.8 175 276 130 148 3017 1583 11.9

WNBA 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
† Denotes seasons in which Cash won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2002 Detroit 32 32 33.7 .408 .206 .762 6.9 2.7 1.1 0.9 3.1 14.8
2003† Detroit 33 33 33.2 .453 .300 .682 5.8 3.6 1.3 0.7 3.2 16.6
2004 Detroit 32 32 34.5 .469 .348 .721 6.5 4.2 1.3 0.9 2.5 16.4
2005 Detroit 21 21 21.8 .381 .200 .656 4.2 2.0 0.5 0.2 2.2 5.7
2006† Detroit 34 34 29.1 .384 .077 .762 4.9 3.1 0.5 0.3 2.5 10.5
2007 Detroit 31 31 30.9 .410 .000 .760 6.1 2.5 0.6 0.4 2.6 11.1
2008 Seattle 31 28 29.9 .389 .125 .772 5.4 1.9 0.6 1.0 2.2 11.3
2009 Seattle 32 29 34.2 .392 .323 .797 6.7 2.6 0.8 0.5 2.8 12.2
2010† Seattle 34 34 30.8 .435 .407 .807 6.0 2.0 0.5 0.5 2.8 13.8
2011 Seattle 34 34 33.2 .396 .285 .846 6.9 2.4 0.9 0.6 2.7 13.3
2012 Chicago 34 34 30.0 .367 .281 .765 5.8 2.3 1.0 0.5 2.7 10.6
2013 Chicago 34 34 28.3 .415 .270 .853 5.6 2.2 0.9 0.5 1.8 9.3
2014 Atlanta 17 1 8.7 .233 .000 .400 0.9 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.7 1.5
2014 New York 15 4 16.2 .354 .010 .833 2.9 1.4 0.4 0.1 1.4 4.5
2014* Total 32 5 12.5 .294 .005 .617 1.9 1.1 0.4 0.1 1.1 3.0
2015 New York 34 28 17.4 .376 .235 .727 2.4 1.4 0.2 0.0 1.0 4.5
2016 New York 31 23 19.5 .379 .125 .683 3.4 1.4 0.7 0.4 1.3 5.3
Career 15 years, 5 teams 479 432 28.1 .407 .276 .757 5.3 2.4 0.8 0.5 2.4 10.7

Postseason

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2003† Detroit 8 8 36.1 .413 .200 .808 6.4 4.4 0.5 0.6 3.5 16.3
2005 Detroit 2 2 25.5 .308 .000 .727 4.5 3.5 1.5 1.0 2.0 8.0
2006† Detroit 10 10 26.5 .363 .000 .720 6.1 3.2 0.3 0.3 2.2 7.6
2007 Detroit 11 11 25.2 .451 .000 .565 3.8 1.6 0.4 0.1 1.6 8.6
2008 Seattle 3 0 14.7 .333 .000 .000 3.7 0.7 0.3 0.6 1.0 2.7
2009 Seattle 3 3 38.7 .487 .400 .840 5.3 1.7 2.3 1.0 2.0 21.0
2010† Seattle 7 7 31.4 .506 .500 .786 4.9 3.0 1.2 0.7 3.1 16.1
2011 Seattle 3 3 32.0 .333 .286 .750 8.7 2.0 1.0 0.6 1.3 7.0
2013 Chicago 2 2 27.8 .333 .000 .875 1.5 1.0 1.5 0.5 1.0 5.5
2015 New York 6 6 19.0 .316 .200 .714 3.0 1.7 0.8 0.5 1.1 3.8
2016 New York 1 1 11.6 .000 .000 .000 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Career 11 years, 4 teams 56 53 27.5 .418 .319 .758 4.9 2.5 0.8 0.5 2.1 9.9

Awards and achievements

See also

References

  1. ^ "Swin Cash". Archived from the original on January 16, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  2. ^ Lowe, Zach (June 10, 2019). "Pels hire Swin Cash for senior front-office job". ESPN. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  3. ^ "New York Liberty Names Swin Cash Director Of Franchise Development - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  4. ^ "Swin Cash is still adding to her Hall of Fame resume". ESPN.com. September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  5. ^ Nguyen, Sheena (October 11, 2011). "Getting to Know: Swin Cash". DList Magazine. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "WBCA High School All-America Game Box Scores". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  7. ^ "WBCA High School All-America Game Team MVP's". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  8. ^ "Women's Basketball 1995 National Championship Team to be Recognized as "Huskies of Honor"". Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
  9. ^ "2002 Detroit Shock Year In Review". Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  10. ^ "2003 Detroit Shock Year In Review". Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  11. ^ "Games of the XXVIIIth Olympiad -- 2004". Archived from the original on April 24, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  12. ^ "Full cast and crew". IMDb. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
  13. ^ "The Rainbow Gala". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 23, 2007. Archived from the original on May 4, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  14. ^ "2008 WNBA Transactions". Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  15. ^ "2008 WNBA DRAFT". Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  16. ^ Voepel, Mechelle (September 16, 2010). "Second title even sweeter for Storm". ESPN. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  17. ^ York, Ben (December 11, 2009). "The Definition of Class". Source Interlink Magazines. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  18. ^ Evans, Jayda (July 26, 2009). "Storm's Cash wins MVP as West wins WNBA All-Star Game". The Seattle Times.
  19. ^ a b "USA Basketball Women's National Team To Tip-Off Training Tomorrow In D.C." USA Basketball. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  20. ^ "Charles, Moore lead U.S. pool additions". ESPN. March 3, 2010. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  21. ^ "SIXTEENTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN -- 2010". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on April 24, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  22. ^ "Six Olympic Gold Medalists Among 11-Member Team Set To Participate In WNBA vs. USA Basketball: The Stars at the Sun Game". USA Basketball. June 30, 2010. Archived from the original on July 7, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  23. ^ "FIBA World Championship for Women". FIBA. Archived from the original on July 10, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  24. ^ "Twenty-One Finalists In The Mix For Final 2012 U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team Roster". USA Basketball. February 13, 2012. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  25. ^ London 2012 - Women's Basketball - Gold Medal Game results Archived January 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  26. ^ a b Femina, Frank Della (May 19, 2011). "Seattle's Swin Cash to Receive Honorary Degree". WNBA Enterprises.
  27. ^ "Swin Cash WNBA Career Retrospective". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  28. ^ "WNBA players make voices heard on police violence". Detroit News. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  29. ^ "WNBA players stage media blackout after being fined for wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts". For The Win. July 21, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  30. ^ "Liberty's Swin Cash: Minneapolis police must better understand WNBA teams' motives". USA TODAY. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  31. ^ a b Berkman, Seth (July 11, 2016). "Liberty Show Solidarity With Black Lives Matter in Rare Public Stance". The New York Times. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  32. ^ "Storm's Swin Cash overcomes gruesome back injury". The Seattle Times. July 24, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  33. ^ "UConn Media Guide" (PDF). p. 140. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  34. ^ a b c d "BigEast Regular Season Records" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  35. ^ "Alumni Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2012.

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