Taj McWilliams-Franklin

Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player.

A two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock and Minnesota Lynx and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has spanned three decades, and began before the WNBA was founded. She retired from the WNBA after the 2012 season. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

College career After attending T. W. Josey High School in Augusta, Georgia, McWilliams-Franklin attended Georgia State University in 1989 and played on the school's basketball team for one season. However, she had become pregnant during her senior year in high school, and after the coach who recruited her to Georgia State was let go, the incoming staff told her "school was no place for kids." McWilliams-Franklin moved to Austin, Texas, where a friend connected her with St. Edward's University coach Dave McKey. She enrolled at St. Edwards as a Rhetoric major.

While at St. Edward's, she set school records and individual achievements, including: NAIA National Player of the Year in 1993 Selected to the 1993 Kodak NAIA All-American team Member of the 1992 NAIA All-America second team Set school records for career scoring (1,837 points), most points scored for a single season (760), highest scoring average (24.5 ppg) and highest field goal percentage (.640)

McWilliams-Franklin said that after her first year at St. Edward's, she had the potential opportunity to transfer to a Division I school, but declined to pursue it, because she "felt loyalty is rewarded with loyalty."

USA Basketball McWilliams-Franklin was named to the USA national team in 1998. The national team traveled to Berlin, Germany, in July and August 1998 for the FIBA World Championships. The USA team won a close opening game against Japan 95–89, then won their next six games easily. In the semifinal game against Brazil, the American team was behind by as much as ten points in the first half, but went on to win 93–79. The gold medal game was a rematch against Russia. In the first game, the American team dominated almost from the beginning, but in the rematch, the team from Russia took the early lead and led much of the way. With under two minutes remaining, the USA was down by two points, but held on to win the gold medal, 71–65. McWilliams-Franklin played as the team's starting center throughout the season, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game and 11.6 points per game. Lynx Assistant Coach Jim Petersen credited McWilliams-Franklin with having an outsize impact on the team both on and off the court, saying, "You can talk all you want about the things she has done on the floor, but it is in the locker room, in the scouting reports, in the film sessions and just even around the airport -- she's somebody to talk to that has been there and done that. She has seen it all."

Teammate Candice Wiggins agreed, noting that the team had nicknamed her "Mama Taj", and that "she is like a coach, a big sister for us, off the court and on. She has taken us all in. We are like her little chickies and she is the mother hen." On October 4, 2012, McWilliams-Franklin played in her 59th postseason game, the most of any player in league history.

McWilliams-Franklin retired at the end of the 2012 season, though in a 2013 interview, she said she had not completely ruled out a comeback as a player in 2014.

Born Taj McWilliams, she married Reggie Franklin in 2000 and assumed a hyphenated surname.

Career statistics

†Denotes seasons in which McWilliams-Franklin won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Postseason

College

Overseas career McWilliams-Franklin began her playing career overseas. She played in Wolfenbuettel, Germany (1993–94); Contern, Luxembourg (1994–95); and Galilee, Israel (1995–96).

She also spent the off-season in 1999–2001 playing in a professional league in Italy for Familia Schio. After the birth of her daughter, she went to Spain to play for Puig D'En Valls, Ibiza in 2003. Next she played for Brno, Czech Republic in 2004, and Lavezzini Parma (Italy) in 2005.

In the winter of 2005, McWilliams-Franklin played in the Women's Korean Basketball League with the Ansan Shinhan Bank S-Birds, and toured Australia, matching up with Dandenong Rangers in Melbourne. After the Korean season, she went to Salamanca, Spain, where she won a title, beating Barcelona in five games. She played half a season in Spartak Region, Moscow, Russia, then returned to the Ansan Shinhan Bank S-Birds in Korea for the Women's Korean Basketball League in 2006. She won the Korean title and was MVP of the finals in 2007 Winter League, beating the Yongin Samsung Bichumi and Lauren Jackson. After having knee surgery in the 2007 offseason, she played in the winter of 2007 in Israel. In 2008, she played for Galatasaray, Turkey, which won the Turkish President's Cup. In the winter of 2009, she returned to Famila Schio Beretta. She then returned to Brno for the whole season of 2009–2010.

In 2011, she played with the Spanish club Ros Casares Valencia on a short-term deal, and finished out the season with the WBC Spartak Moscow Region team that finished second in Euroleague Women. In 2012, she signed with Wisła Can-Pack Kraków.

In January 2014, at the age of 43, she returned to the courts to play in Portugal, with CAB Madeira.

Honors Women's Korean Basketball League – 2007 Winter League Finals MVP 2007–2008 Turkish Presidents Cup winner with Galatasaray

Coaching career

In May 2012, it was announced that McWilliams-Franklin would join the Rice University coaching staff as an assistant to head coach Greg Williams. She was to join the team after the conclusion of the WNBA season. While there was speculation that this meant McWilliams-Franklin would retire at the end of the 2012 season, McWilliams-Franklin made no formal announcement, saying only that she was "looking forward to becoming a contributing member of [the] staff."

In March 2013, after formally retiring, McWilliams-Franklin joined the New York Liberty as an assistant coach under Bill Laimbeer.

After leaving the New York Liberty in October 2013, McWilliams-Franklin became an assistant coach for Boston University's Women's Basketball team in July 2014.

In May 2015, she was named the head coach for Post University women's basketball. During the off-season, McWilliams-Franklin was not retained. Brian Agler was hired from the Los Angeles Sparks to become the team's new head coach.

Head coaching record

Personal life McWilliams-Franklin was born in El Paso, Texas. She has three daughters, and is married to Reginald Franklin. She lives in the San Antonio area.

McWilliams-Franklin was a vegan during some of her time as a player. In a 2008 article, she said, "I just wanted to make sure I had a healthy body because I wanted to continue playing for a longer period than most of my peers."