Year Honored: 2007
Biography
Val Whiting first began playing basketball at Ursuline Academy after experiencing harsh bullying in her middle school years. Though she struggled at first, Whiting said “the team provided her a place where she felt like she belonged.” Whiting continued to play basketball during her college years at Stanford University where she was a member of the Stanford National Championship team in 1990 and 1992. She was named a two-time Kodak All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1992 and 1993.
Whiting played with the USA Basketball Senior Team in 1995, during an 8-game tournament in China. She also went on to play basketball professionally first in Italy and Brazil, before being drafted by Detroit in the 1999 WNBA Draft. She retired in 2003.
In a 2018 interview, Whiting said, “I said I was going to show these bullies, these people who said that I wasn’t good enough, that I was good enough. Basketball empowered me. It gave me leadership skills. Sports showed me what hard work can do.” After moving to Washington, Whiting created an after-school basketball program for elementary kids where she teaches them the same lessons that she learned.
Whiting was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
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Sources and Additional Readings
Delaware Sports Museum and hall of fame in Wilmington, Delaware - 2007. Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in Wilmington, Delaware - 2007. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from http://www.desports.org/inductees/2007/
Johnson, D. (2018, July 24). Bullied as a child, former pro helps girls gain self-esteem through basketball. The Woodinville Weekly. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.nwnews.com/sports/bullied-as-a-child-former-pro-helps-girls-gain-self-esteem-through-basketball/article_8b4e459f-4aab-5ce7-ab50-b42656cca21b.html
Taylor, P. (1992, November 23). Rx for Success - Sports Illustrated Vault. SI.com. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://vault.si.com/vault/1992/11/23/rx-for-success-premed-student-val-whiting-is-stanfords-prescription-for-another-winning-season
YouTube. (2020, May 24). The Dan Wilkins show episode 3 - val whiting. YouTube. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awlmcAA6hhg
