Rushia Brown
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 5, 1972 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Summerville (Summerville, South Carolina) |
| College | Furman (1989–1994) |
| Position | Forward |
| Number | 34 |
| Career history | |
| 1997–2002 | Cleveland Rockers |
| 2003 | Charlotte Sting |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Stats at WNBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Rushia Brown (born May 5, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She played college basketball for the Furman Paladins and professionally for the Cleveland Rockers and Charlotte Sting of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Early life
[edit]Brown was born May 5, 1972, in New York City, New York. She attended Summerville High School in Summerville, South Carolina.[1]
College career
[edit]Brown played college basketball for the Furman Paladins from 1989 to 1994. Her freshman season, she played in 29 games and recorded a field goal percentage of 56.8%, both of which led all Southern Conference players. She was first in the conference in her junior year in rebounds (9.3), steals (3.2), and points (21.0) per game. In her fifth-year senior season, she led the conference in blocks per game, with 1.7. She was selected first-team All-Southern in 1990, 1992, 1993, and 1994, and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year in 1992.[2]
Brown was inducted into the Furman Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. Furman retired her no. 34 jersey and she holds school records in career field goals (908), points (2,169), points per game (19.0), blocks (193), blocks per game (1.69), steals (341), and steals per game (2.99).[3]
Brown was inducted into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame in 2014.[4]
Professional career
[edit]Brown played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for seven seasons. Playing for the Cleveland Rockers from 1997 to 2002 and the Charlotte Sting in 2003, she appeared in 210 WNBA games with 75 starts, averaging 5.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game.[1] She also played for ten years overseas for professional teams in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and South Korea.[3]
Executive career
[edit]On March 16, 2018, Brown was hired by the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces as the team's player programs and franchise development manager.[5]
In May 2020, the Los Angeles Sparks hired Brown as the team's director of community relations and youth sports.[6]
Philanthropy
[edit]Brown founded Servcom, a community-focused nonprofit organization whose "Play Like a Girl' initiative hosts clinics that train girl athletes where participants meet role models such as female professional athletes and female police officers.[7] The organization has held these clinics in Cleveland[8] and Indianapolis.[9]
After learning of a fellow former WNBA player with a decorated career who had become homeless, Brown founded the Women's Professional Basketball Alumnae to help other former professional women's basketball players transition into life after retiring from sports.[6]
Personal life
[edit]Brown has a daughter.[6]
Career statistics
[edit]| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
WNBA
[edit]| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Cleveland | 28° | 3 | 18.3 | .520 | – | .734 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 6.3 |
| 1998 | Cleveland | 30° | 7 | 17.4 | .460 | .000 | .776 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 6.5 |
| 1999 | Cleveland | 30 | 12 | 14.5 | .427 | .000 | .676 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 4.4 |
| 2000 | Cleveland | 30 | 22 | 22.6 | .497 | .500 | .846 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 8.4 |
| 2001 | Cleveland | 30 | 24 | 25.3 | .518 | 1.000 | .730 | 4.4 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 8.3 |
| 2002 | Cleveland | 28 | 2 | 16.7 | .400 | .000 | .737 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 4.0 |
| 2003 | Charlotte | 34° | 5 | 14.2 | .457 | .000 | .826 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 3.7 |
| Career | 7 years, 2 teams | 210 | 75 | 18.4 | .475 | .250 | .765 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 5.9 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Cleveland | 3 | 0 | 7.0 | .333 | – | .500 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| 2000 | Cleveland | 6 | 6 | 27.8 | .467 | .000 | .875 | 5.7 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 10.5 |
| 2001 | Cleveland | 3 | 1 | 20.7 | .667 | – | .833 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 8.3 |
| 2003 | Charlotte | 2 | 1 | 23.0 | .429 | – | .500 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 |
| Career | 4 years, 2 teams | 14 | 8 | 21.1 | .493 | .000 | .824 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 7.1 |
College
[edit]| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–90 | Furman | 29 | – | – | .568 | – | .568 | 8.1 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 1.4 | – | 15.8 |
| 1990–91 | Furman | 4 | – | – | .549 | – | .630 | 7.0 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 3.3 | – | 18.3 |
| 1991–92 | Furman | 26 | – | – | .582 | .000 | .630 | 9.3 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 2.3 | – | 21.0 |
| 1992–93 | Furman | 28 | – | – | .602 | .000 | .546 | 9.6 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 1.2 | – | 18.8 |
| 1993–94 | Furman | 27 | – | – | .614 | .000 | .607 | 9.1 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 1.7 | – | 21.0 |
| Career | 114 | – | – | .591 | .000 | .594 | 9.0 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 1.7 | – | 19.0 | |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Rushia Brown WNBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
- ^ "Rushia Brown College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ a b "Rushia Brown (1999)". Furman University athletics. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ "Hall of Fame". Southern Conference. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ "Las Vegas Adds Ronde Jackson, Rushia Brown To Front Office Staff". Las Vegas Aces. March 16, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ a b c Samuel, Naya (January 14, 2022). "How Former WNBA Star Rushia Brown Is Creating Networks of Care for Retired Players". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ Padilla, Noe (July 28, 2024). "Ex-WNBA star Rushia Brown, IMPD host special girls' basketball clinic". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ Murrey, Remi (April 8, 2024). "WNBA legends give back to CMSD students through free basketball clinic". news5cleveland. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ Woods, Naja (July 27, 2024). "Basketball clinic puts power behind the phrase 'Play Like A Girl'". WRTV. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ "Rushia Brown College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 11, 2025.