Rhonda Blades

Rhonda Blades Brown

Personal information
Born	(1972-10-29) October 29, 1972 Springfield, Missouri
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Listed weight	137 lb (62 kg)
Career information
High school	Parkview (Springfield, Missouri)
College	Vanderbilt (1991–1995)
WNBA draft	1998: Expansion round, 1st overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Shock
Playing career	1997–1998
Position	Guard
Number	10
Career history
1997	New York Liberty
1998	Detroit Shock
Career WNBA statistics
Points	146 (2.6 ppg)
Assists	71 (1.2 apg)
Steals	26 (0.5 spg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Rhonda Blades Brown (born October 29, 1972) is a former professional basketball player. She was the first pick in the 1998 WNBA expansion draft. Blades was a 4-year starting point guard and captain at Vanderbilt University. She was a first round draft pick for the New York Liberty, starting her six-year career in the WNBA and abroad.

College

Rhonda Blades played basketball for Vanderbilt. During her four seasons (1992–95), she totaled 1,017 points and was named Honorable Mention All-American during her senior year. Blades completed a master's degree in Nursing (MSN) and RN from VUSN in 1996.

WNBA

Rhonda Blades played for the New York Liberty, Detroit Shock, and Washington Mystics. Drafted in the early days of the league, Brown became the first WNBA player to score a 3-point shot. Brown continued playing professionally in Israel and Turkey, winning the Israeli cup in 2000-2001.

WNBA per game stats

Year	Tm	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	2P	2PA	2P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1997	NYL	28	0	10.4	0.9	2.5	.357	0.6	1.9	.315	0.3	0.6	.500	0.5	0.7	.650	0.2	0.5	0.8	1.1	0.5	0.0	1.4	2.0	2.9
1998	DET	29	2	11.7	0.7	2.7	.256	0.4	1.7	.240	0.3	1.0	.286	0.5	1.0	.483	0.2	0.9	1.1	1.4	0.4	0.0	1.4	1.6	2.3

Life after Professional Basketball

After basketball, Blades became the head varsity girls' basketball coach at Brentwood Academy, in Brentwood, Tennessee. She has coached a winning program for 17 seasons (361-162 record), including 5 state championships and 4 more state championship appearances. She also teaches Anatomy and Health at Brentwood Academy, for which additional sessions were added to meet demand. Brown is married to Parke Brown (22 years), with two children, Blades (son, age 10) and Millie (daughter, age 14).