Angel Lajuane McCoughtry (born September 10, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. McCoughtry completed her college career at the University of Louisville in 2009. She was selected first overall by the Atlanta Dream in the 2009 WNBA draft and was considered its franchise player during her tenure with the team. One of the WNBA's most electrifying players of the 2010s, McCoughtry also played overseas in Turkey, Slovakia, Lebanon, Hungary and Russia.
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Biography
McCoughtry was born in Baltimore on September 10, 1986, to Roi and Sharon McCoughtry. Her father had played the forward position at Coppin State University in west Baltimore. She first played basketball at the Northwood recreation center in northeast Baltimore and later became a standout in high school at the St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Maryland) in east Baltimore.
McCoughtry also attended The Patterson School in Lenoir, North Carolina before entering college at the University of Louisville.
McCoughtry led the Big East Conference in scoring, rebounding, and steals, while breaking school records for most steals in a season, most points in a season, and most points in a game. She was named Big East Player of the Year during her sophomore year in 2006–2007. In the summer of 2007, McCoughtry represented the United States on the Pan American Games women's basketball team. During her junior year at Louisville, McCoughtry broke her own records for points and steals on the season, and tied her own single-game scoring record. She played a key role in Louisville's upset of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the 2008 Big East tournament. In addition, McCoughtry was named an All-American as a junior, by organizations including the WBCA, USBWA, ESPN.com.
McCoughtry broke the record for career scoring by a Louisville women's basketball player during the first game of her senior year. She recorded her second triple-double (points, rebounds, steals) in a December 2008 game against the University of Hartford. She was selected 1st overall by the Atlanta Dream in the 2009 WNBA draft.
Louisville statistics
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WNBA career
Upon joining the Atlanta Dream, McCoughtry soon made a name for herself as an outstanding scorer with excellent penetration and a penchant for drawing the foul. In her debut season, McCoughtry won Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 12.8 ppg.
The following season, McCoughtry's stats significantly improved as she averaged 21.1 ppg, helping the Atlanta Dream to a 19–15 record and the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite the number four seed, The Dream were still a championship contender as their starting line-up had consisted of star center Érika de Souza, all-star power forward Sancho Lyttle, Izi Castro Marques as the starting shooting guard, along with McCoughtry at small forward, quickly developing into an all-star caliber player. The Dream advanced all the way to the WNBA Finals, facing the Seattle Storm. En route to the finals, McCoughtry set a WNBA playoff record with 42 points in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Liberty. With the Dream down 2–0, McCoughtry had a historic performance in game 3 of the WNBA finals, scoring 35 points, but the Dream fell short losing to the Storm and being swept 3–0. McCoughtry averaged 26.7 ppg throughout the playoffs.
McCoughtry would have the best season of her career in the 2011 season, as she averaged a career-high 21.6 ppg, helping the Dream to a 20–14 record and the number three seed in the Eastern Conference. McCoughtry was also voted as a WNBA all-star for the first time in her career. The Dream would once again make it back to the WNBA Finals, this time against the Minnesota Lynx. Despite another historic Finals performance, the Dream were swept 3 games to 0. In Game 2 of the Finals, McCoughtry had set Finals records for most points in a quarter (19) and most points in a game (38).
During the 2012 season, McCoughtry was suspended by the Dream indefinitely for unspecified reasons. Despite the suspension, McCoughtry still won her first scoring title, averaging 21.4 ppg. McCoughtry also led the league with 2.5 steals per game. McCoughtry was also still able to play in the playoffs once her suspension expired, but the Dream were eliminated 2–1 in the first round by the Indiana Fever who won the championship that year.
In 2013, McCoughtry re-signed with the Dream to a multi-year deal once her rookie contract expired. In the 2013 season, McCoughtry would win her second scoring title, averaging 21.5 ppg and as well a career-high 2.7 steals per game. It was the fourth consecutive season where McCoughtry averaged 20+ ppg in a regular season. The Dream finished second in the Eastern Conference with a 17–17 record. The Dream would sweep the first and second rounds, making it back to the finals for a rematch against the Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx would once again sweep the Dream in the Finals, as McCoughtry had a less-than stellar performance this time, scoring under 20 points in each game throughout the series.
United States National Team
McCoughtry was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009. The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team travelled to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they competed in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.
McCoughtry earned most valuable player honors at the Ekaterinburg International Invitational Tournament, as she helped the USA Basketball team win the competition.
McCoughtry was one of twenty players named to the national team pool. Twelve of this group were chosen to represent the US in the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics.
McCoughtry was selected to be a member of the National team representing the US at the World Championships held in September and October 2010. The team was coached by Geno Auriemma. Because many team members were still playing in the WNBA until just prior to the event, the team had only one day of practice with the entire team before leaving for Ostrava and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Even with limited practice, the team managed to win its first game against Greece by 26 points. The team continued to dominate with victory margins exceeding 20 points in the first five games. Several players shared scoring honors, with Swin Cash, McCoughtry, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Lindsay Whalen, and Sylvia Fowles all ending as high scorer in the first few games. The sixth game was against undefeated Australia—the US team jumped out to a 24-point lead and ultimately prevailed 83–75. The USA won its next two games by over 30 points, and then faced the host team, the Czech Republic, in the championship game. The US team had only a five-point lead at halftime, which was then cut to three points, but the Czechs never got closer. Team USA went on to win the championship and gold medal. McCoughtry was the second leading scorer with 11.3 ppg. She also led the team in steals with a total of 24.
McCoughtry was named as one of the National team members to represent the USA Basketball team in the WNBA versus USA Basketball game. This game replaced the WNBA All-Star game with WNBA All-Stars versus USA Basketball, as part of the preparation for the FIBA World Championship for Women to be held in the Czech Republic during September and October 2010.
Overseas career
Since being drafted in the WNBA, McCoughtry has played every off-season overseas. In the 2009–10 off-season, McCoughtry played for Good Angels Košice in the EuroLeague. In the 2010–11 off-season played for UNIQA Sopron of the EuroLeague. From 2011 to 2015, McCoughtry played four off-seasons for Fenerbahçe Istanbul of the EuroLeague. In the 2015–16 off-season, McCoughtry played for Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi of the Turkish League. As of August 2016, McCoughtry signed with Dynamo Kursk of the Russian Premier League for the 2016–17 off-season. Dynamo Kursk won the 2017 Euroleague. In May 2017, McCoughtry signed with Homenetmen Antelias of the Lebanese league; which she won the championship with. Also in 2017, McCoughtry returned to Dynamo Kursk for the 2017-18 off-season. In January 2021, McCoughtry signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish league for the 2020-21 off-season.
Personal life
McCoughtry grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from St. Frances Academy, then spent one year at The Patterson School in North Carolina while working to attain NCAA Division I academic eligibility. She is listed at 6'1" tall and wears jersey number 35. McCoughtry came out publicly as gay on Instagram in 2015. She is an honorary member of Zeta Phi Beta.
Business ventures
In November 2016, McCoughtry announced that she's opening an ice cream store called "McCoughtry's Ice Cream" in Atlanta for January 2017. In August 2019, McCoughtry became the first WNBA athlete to host a basketball camp in Ghana.