Ann Meyers

Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American former basketball player and sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and the professional levels. Meyers was the first player to be part of the U.S. national team while still in high school. She was the first woman to be signed to a four-year athletic scholarship for college, at UCLA. She was also the first woman to sign a contract with a National Basketball Association team, the Indiana Pacers (1979), for $50,000. Her USA World Champion team member Lusia "Lucy" Harris-Stewart was technically the first and only woman to be drafted by an NBA team—the New Orleans Jazz's seventh-round pick in 1977—though she never intended to attend tryouts. Denise Long, from Iowa, was the first woman to be drafted by an NBA team—the San Francisco Warriors' thirteenth-round pick in 1969—but the NBA commissioner voided the pick because the Warriors had no intention of playing her alongside men, so Harris-Stewart is technically the one and only woman drafted by an NBA team and Meyers was the first to sign an NBA contract. Previously a resident of Rancho Mirage, California, Meyers currently resides in Huntington Beach, California. She was president and general manager for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and a vice president for the NBA's Phoenix Suns. She is currently a vice president for the Phoenix Mercury and a color analyst for the Phoenix Suns television broadcasts. For over 26 years, she served as a network television sports analyst for TNT, ESPN, CBS, and NBC. Meyers is a board member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott, and is given annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. In 1993, Meyers was one of the first women players inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and in the inaugural class at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. She was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007 and into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. Early life Meyers was born on March 26, 1955, the sixth of Patricia and Bob Meyers' 11 children. Her father played guard for Marquette University, then for the Shooting Stars, a professional team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. One of her brothers, Dave, was an All-American at UCLA and went on to play for the Milwaukee Bucks.