Tanisha Wright

Tanisha Lovely Wright (born November 29, 1983) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions. She played college basketball at Penn State. During her junior season, Wright helped led her team to the Elite Eight, where they fell to the eventual national champion, Connecticut. She ranks fourth in school history in points scored with 1,995 points in 134 career games. She was selected 12th overall in the 2005 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. Wright played in the WNBA for 14 seasons with the Storm, New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx.

Wright began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Charlotte while still playing in the WNBA. After her retirement, she served as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces from 2020 to 2021. After the 2021 WNBA season, Wright was named the head coach of the Atlanta Dream, a position she held until 2024.

High school career Born in West Mifflin, she attended the suburban Pittsburgh West Mifflin Area High School, where she played basketball and soccer. She led the team to the W.P.I.A.L (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League) basketball district finals in her junior year. The team lost a close game 81–78 to Blackhawk High School in Triple Overtime. Tanisha fouled out in the beginning of the final overtime. She led the game with 51 points. She went on to lead her team to the next seasons finals once again against Blackhawk, where she led the team in a 63–53 victory. She went on to take her team to the state finals, where they lost a close game to Allentown Central Catholic high school 56–45. The team's record was 31–1, their only loss coming in the state finals.

College career

Penn State statistics Source

Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

2001-02 Penn State 35 355 45.4 10.5 78.2 4.0 2.8 1.8 0.6 10.1

2002-03 Penn State 35 560 50.7 25.0 76.2 5.4 4.0 2.6 0.5 16.0

2003-04 Penn State 34 502 48.3 25.0 83.2 4.7 4.1 1.7 0.3 14.8

2004-05 Penn State 30 578 41.4 20.0 80.3 4.5 3.6 1.9 0.4 19.3

Career Penn State 134 1995 46.3 20.0 79.5 4.6 3.6 2.0 0.5 14.9

WNBA career

Wright in 2018Wright helped the Seattle Storm win their second championship in 2010.

On February 2, 2015, Wright signed as a free agent with the New York Liberty

In 2017, it was announced that Wright would be sitting out part of the 2017 WNBA season to rest.

On March 13, 2018, Wright signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Lynx.

Wright was traded back to the New York Liberty on April 11, 2019, in exchange for a second-round draft pick in the 2020 WNBA draft. Following the 2019 season, Wright announced her retirement.

Coaching career Wright began her coaching career while still playing in the WNBA as an assistant at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers in 2017.

The Las Vegas Aces announced the hiring of Wright as an assistant coach in 2020. Wright was known as a defensive specialist and helped coach the Aces into one of the league's best defensive teams.

On October 12, 2021, Wright was announced as the head coach of the Atlanta Dream. On October 2, 2024, the Dream announced that it had parted ways with Wright.

On January 4, 2025, Wright was named an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky under head coach Tyler Marsh.

WNBA career statistics

†Denotes seasons in which Wright won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

Overseas career