Miami Sol

Miami Sol
Conference	Eastern
Founded	2000
Folded	2002
Arena	American Airlines Arena
Location	Miami, Florida
Team colors	Fiery Red, Yellow, Black, White
Championships	None
Conference titles	None

The Miami Sol was a women's basketball team which joined the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena. The team folded after the 2002 season because of financial problems. They were the former sister team to the Miami Heat.

Uniforms

Fiery red, with the team name emblazoned in white on the chest and a WNBA ball in place of the hole in the letter "O". The home jerseys featured the same design, only with the colors inverted.

Playoff history

Playoff Appearances: 2001

Conference Championships:

WNBA Championships:

History

In their short history, the Miami Sol put together a talented roster of players. Coached for three seasons by Ron Rothstein, their combination of veteran leadership in Debbie Black, Elena Baranova and Sandy Brondello as well youth in Ruth Riley and Sheri Sam, lead them to the playoffs in 2001, but lost in the first round to the New York Liberty in 3 games. This was the only playoff appearance for the Sol.

After losing to the New York Liberty in the playoffs, the Miami Sol finished the 2002 season with a 15-17 record. This season proved to be the Sol's last. Citing the inability to raise enough funds to continue operation under the WNBA's new restructuring agreement, the organization ceased operations. The team finished with a franchise record of 48 wins and 48 losses.

The other Florida team, the Orlando Miracle, also folded at the end of the 2002 season.

A new team, the Connecticut Sun, joined the league in 2003 with a nickname and logo which were extremely reminiscent of the Miami Sol. However, the new Connecticut Sun franchise was actually the successor to the Orlando Miracle, who managed to find new ownership.

Since the folding of the Miami Sol, former members of the team have found success elsewhere. After being reassigned to the Detroit Shock, Ruth Riley won two WNBA championships in 2003 and 2006. Betty Lennox and Sandy Brondello won a WNBA championship with the Seattle Storm in 2004, with Lennox winning the WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player award.

Trivia

• The team's nickname, Sol, is Spanish and Portuguese for "sun". The name played off the city of Miami's Hispanic population and its parent NBA team, the Heat.

Selected former players

• Marlies Askamp
• Elena Baranova
• Sandy Brondello, now head coach for the San Antonio Silver Stars
• Katrina Colleton
• Debbie Black, now an assistant coach for the women's basketball team at Ohio State University
• Milena Flores, now an assistant coach at Princeton University
• Pollyanna Johns-Kimbrough
• Betty Lennox, now a member of the Los Angeles Sparks
• Carolyn Moos
• Vanessa Nygaard, now an assistant coach with the San Antonio Silver Stars
• Kristen Rasmussen
• Ruth Riley, now a member of the San Antonio Silver Stars
• Sheri Sam

Coaches and others

Head Coaches:

• Ron Rothstein (2000–2002)

External links

• WNBA website