Ukari Figgs
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 31, 1977 Georgetown, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Scott County (Georgetown, Kentucky) |
| College | Purdue (1995–1999) |
| WNBA draft | 1999: 3rd round, 28th overall pick |
| Selected by the Los Angeles Sparks | |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 5 |
| Career history | |
| 1999–2001 | Los Angeles Sparks |
| 2002 | Portland Fire |
| 2003 | Houston Comets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Ukari Okien Figgs (born March 31, 1977) is an American former collegiate and professional women's basketball player.
Early life and college
[edit]Born in Georgetown, Kentucky, Figgs led the Scott County girls' basketball team to a state title in 1995, and she was named Kentucky's Miss Basketball.[1]
Figgs then went to school on a scholarship, starring on the women's basketball team at Purdue University, averaging 11.6 points and 3.3 assists in her four-year career. In her senior season, Figgs averaged 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Purdue handily won the NCAA Championship that year (winning all of its tournament games by a margin of at least 10 points) and Figgs was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 NCAA Final Four.[2] Figgs' other accomplishments while at Purdue included making the 1999 All-Big Ten team and the 1998 and 1999 NCAA Regional All-Tournament Teams and winning the 1997 Best Defensive Player award. Figgs graduated from Purdue in 1999 with a degree in mechanical engineering, taking full advantage of her scholarship.[3]
Purdue statistics
[edit]Source[4]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | Purdue | 30 | 117 | 37.0% | 29.8% | 80.0% | 2.3 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 3.9 |
| 1996–97 | Purdue | 27 | 258 | 33.9% | 34.4% | 76.1% | 3.5 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 9.6 |
| 1997–98 | Purdue | 33 | 510 | 43.5% | 36.4% | 85.9% | 5.1 | 3.7 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 15.5 |
| 1998–99 | Purdue | 35 | 570 | 39.7% | 34.2% | 86.3% | 4.5 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 16.3 |
| Career | Purdue | 125 | 1455 | 39.4% | 34.4% | 84.1% | 3.9 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 11.6 |
WNBA career
[edit]Figgs was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks in the third round (28th overall) of the 1999 WNBA draft,[5] and played for the Sparks for three seasons, which included a WNBA Championship in 2001.[6] Figgs then played one season each for the Portland Fire and Houston Comets.[7]
Prior to the start of the 2004 season, Figgs retired from the WNBA; she had averaged 6.5 points, 3.1 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and had played in 15 games on three different teams.[6]
WNBA career statistics
[edit]| 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 |
Regular season
[edit]| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Los Angeles | 22 | 10 | 15.0 | 36.6 | 29.8 | 87.5 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 4.3 |
| 2000 | Los Angeles | 32 | 32 | 25.1 | 43.1 | 35.4 | 83.1 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 6.7 |
| 2001 | Los Angeles | 32 | 29 | 29.1 | 42.5 | 46.2 | 81.0 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 8.0 |
| 2002 | Portland | 31 | 31 | 27.9 | 35.8 | 32.5 | 90.8 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 8.5 |
| 2003 | Houston | 34 | 30 | 28.0 | 41.9 | 37.7 | 86.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 4.4 |
| Career | 5 years, 3 teams | 151 | 132 | 25.7 | 39.9 | 37.2 | 85.4 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 6.5 |
Playoffs
[edit]| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Los Angeles | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2000 | Los Angeles | 4 | 4 | 26.5 | 30.4 | 36.4 | 100.0 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.8 | 6.0 |
| 2001 | Los Angeles | 7 | 7 | 34.1 | 34.0 | 27.8 | 75.0 | 2.1 | 5.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 8.3 |
| 2003 | Houston | 3 | 3 | 27.0 | 40.0 | 71.4 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.7 |
| Career | 4 years, 2 teams | 15 | 14 | 28.7 | 33.7 | 34.5 | 81.8 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 6.6 |
Life after the WNBA
[edit]Figgs worked as a production engineer at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky in her hometown of Georgetown, Kentucky,[3] and as an assistant coach with the boys' varsity basketball team at Scott County High School. Figgs was appointed as an assistant coach to Purdue University's women's basketball team on April 13, 2009.[8] On June 6, 2011, it was announced Figgs would become an assistant athletics director for women's basketball at the University of Kentucky.[9]
On November 1, 2013, Figgs announced that she was leaving UK to return to Toyota in Georgetown as an engineer. She cited the need to spend more time with her family as the reason for this move.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ukari Figgs". Kentucky High School Basketball Hall Of Fame. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ Nixon, Rick. "Official 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Ukari Figgs: Basketball Champion and Mechanical Engineer". Mechanical Engineering - Purdue University. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ "Purdue Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-09-05.
- ^ "SPARKS: Where Are They Now: Ukari Figgs". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ a b "Ukari Figgs – Women's Basketball". Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ "Ukari Figgs Announces Her Retirement". OurSports Central. 2004-04-26. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ "Former Boilermaker Ukari Figgs Named Assistant Coach". April 13, 2009. Purdue University. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ^ "Figgs Named Assistant AD for UK Hoops". University of Kentucky Athletics. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ "Figgs Accepts Engineering Position at Toyota". 1 November 2013. University of Kentucky. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
External links
[edit]- 1977 births
- Living people
- American women's basketball coaches
- American women's basketball players
- Basketball players from Kentucky
- Houston Comets players
- Los Angeles Sparks draft picks
- Los Angeles Sparks players
- People from Georgetown, Kentucky
- Point guards
- Portland Fire players
- Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball players