Former Stanford All-American Candice Wiggins has announced her retirement from the WNBA. The 29-year-old said she spent the winter contemplating ending her basketball career and finally decided on March 2 that it was time to leave the game.
“I looked back and I have nothing left to prove,” Wiggins told The Associated Press. “I’ve done so much, not realizing how much I accomplished. I gave it my all. When you do something 100 percent and give it all the gas in your tank, you don’t have any regret.”
Wiggins announced her retirement from basketball Tuesday on The Players’ Tribune website.
She played eight years in the WNBA, including the first five with the Minnesota Lynx. She earned Sixth Woman of the Year honors her rookie season and helped the Lynx win a title in 2011, a year after she ruptured an Achilles’ tendon.
Wiggins, who was selected No. 3 overall in the WNBA draft in 2008, went on to play for Tulsa, Los Angeles and New York. She helped the Liberty to the best record in the league this past season, providing key minutes as a reserve. She matched her season high with 15 points in the decisive third game against Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals that New York lost. That was her last game as a pro.
One of the first people Wiggins talked to after making her decision was her college coach Tara VanDerveer.
“I got to talk to her,” Wiggins said. “She had just won Pac-12 Coach of the Century. It was cool to just see we were reflections of each other. A lot of who I am is because of Tara.”
Wiggins joined VanDerveer on the All-Century team. Wiggins starred at Stanford from 2005-08, where she won the Wade Trophy and was named the WBCA National Player of the Year in 2008.
Wiggins was the 2005 USBWA National Freshman of the Year and the only three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2008) in addition to being a four-time WBCA first team All-American (2005-08). She was the 2005 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and a four-time All-Pac-10 selection. She left as the conference and Stanford career leader with 2,629 points and career leader with 295 three-pointers. She also set the Stanford record for career steals (281) and led the Pac-10 in scoring twice, averaging 21.8 points per game in 2005-06 and 16.9 points in 2006-07. She set a then-Pac-10 and Stanford single-season record with 787 points her senior season.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports