Candice Wiggins

Candice Dana Wiggins (born February 14, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. She played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, becoming the all-time leading scorer in Stanford and Pac-10 women's basketball history. Throughout her playing career, Wiggins played for the Minnesota Lynx, Tulsa Shock, Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and has played overseas in Spain and Greece. Wiggins has won a WNBA championship and a WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year (2008).

Early life Candice Wiggins was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1987 where her father, Alan Wiggins, played Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles. After playing for the Orioles, her father, with wife Angela, son Alan Jr., and daughters Cassandra and Candice moved back to the San Diego, California area, where he had previously played for the San Diego Padres.

When Wiggins was three years of age, she was hit by a car backing out of a driveway and almost lost one of her eyes. When Wiggins was in the first grade, she scored 30 points playing against fourth graders in basketball. By the time she was in fifth grade, she had to play on boys' teams so she could play at a competitive level.

Wiggins' father died of AIDS when Wiggins was only four years old. "It was a scary time. No one would talk about it," Wiggins recalls. "A young girl wants to know about her Dad dying of AIDS. But it was taboo," she said. Wiggins has partnered with Until There's A Cure (UTAC), a non-profit organization that raises awareness and funds to combat AIDS through the sale of The Bracelet.

High school career Wiggins attended La Jolla Country Day School in La Jolla, California for high school. She was a four-year letter-winner in both volleyball and basketball. In all four years of high school she was named CIF Division IV Player of the year for basketball. Wiggins was a McDonald's All-American as a Senior. She also led La Jolla Country Day to the state championship game in each of her four seasons, winning it twice. She also captained the United States Junior National Team that won gold. Many high school recruiting services listed her as the best shooting guard in the nation and a top five player in the Class of 2004.

College career

Freshman year When Wiggins came to Stanford University, she was offered a scholarship for both basketball and volleyball. As a freshman on the basketball team, Wiggins led the Cardinal to a 32–3 record and an Elite Eight appearance. She averaged 17.5 points per game and was named both the Pac-10 Conference Freshman of the Year and Player of The Year. This was the first time in the conference history that a freshman won the Player of the Year Award. Wiggins, along with Georgia's Tasha Humphrey, was named National Co-Freshman of the Year. She made second team All-American and was a Kodak All-American, the only freshman on either list.

Sophomore year During her sophomore year, Wiggins led Stanford to a 26–8 record and another Elite Eight appearance where they lost to LSU. She averaged 21.8 points per game and made 90 three-pointers over the course of the season. She was again named Pac-10 Player of The Year and Second team All-American, as well as Kodak All-American.

Junior year As a junior, Wiggins led Stanford to a 29–5 record and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but the Cardinal were upset in Round 2 by Florida State, 68–61. She missed 5 games due to ankle and hamstring injuries, but averaged 16.9 points per game. Devanei Hampton of Cal won the Pac-10 Player of the Year Award this season. However, Wiggins was the only Pac-10 Player to be a Kodak All-American as she again made second team.

Wiggins played for the USA team in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The team won all five games, earning the gold medal for the event. Wiggins went on to win the 2008 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Award and was also named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team after averaging a career-high 15.7 ppg off the bench for the Lynx.

In her second season, Wiggins became the starting point guard for the Lynx. On June 29, 2009, Wiggins was awarded the Player of the Week Award for the Western Conference.

In the 2010 season, Wiggins was moved back to the bench as a backup point guard after the Lynx traded for all-star Lindsay Whalen. In June 2010, Wiggins ruptured her Achilles tendon with just eight seconds remaining in a game against the New York Liberty; the injury ended her season after eight games.

Later career and WNBA championship (2011–2016) Wiggins returned to action in 2011 as a primary backup at the guard position. The Lynx were much improved, and in September, Wiggins saw the first playoff action of her career. In October 2011, Wiggins won her first WNBA championship after the Lynx defeated the Atlanta Dream in the Finals.

On March 1, 2013, Wiggins was traded to the Tulsa Shock in a three-team deal.

Wiggins signed with the Los Angeles Sparks on April 2, 2014.

On March 9, 2015, Wiggins signed with the New York Liberty.

Retirement On March 22, 2016, Wiggins announced her retirement from the WNBA after eight seasons. Despite being only 29 years old and without a career-threatening injury, Wiggins expressed in a letter about her retirement that she was ready to move on from playing professional basketball.

Wiggins' remarks led to a major backlash from many WNBA players and other sports figures, but she largely stood by them. She did clarify her "98 percent" remark, saying: "It was my way to illustrate the isolation that I felt personally. I felt like the 2 percent versus the 98 percent."

Career statistics

WNBA

†Denotes seasons in which Wiggins won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Playoffs

College Source

Wiggins was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009. 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. though Wiggins was ultimately not selected for the senior national team.

Sports diplomacy In September 2013 and November 2014, Wiggins traveled to Nicaragua and then Chile as a SportsUnited Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. In this function, she worked with Jennifer Lacy and Alex English to conduct basketball clinics and events for more than 850 youth and women from underserved areas.