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Catching Up on Former OU Basketball Star Courtney Paris

By Chip Rouse

Mar 7, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Sherri Coale and the bench during the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Sherri Coale and the bench during the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former Sooner basketball star Courtney Paris was one of the best college players in the country when she played at Oklahoma.

She was an instant star the minute she took the court at Oklahoma in the fall of 2005. Her size, strength and 6-foot, 4-inch height made her a force to be reckoned with in the paint and she made the most of it.

Paris averaged 21.4 points and over 15 rebounds a game over her career at Oklahoma. She still holds the NCAA record for the most consecutive double-double games at 112 and is the only player in NCAA men’s or women’s history to have 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots in a single season.

Courtney wasn’t the only Paris sister to make the long trek from Northern California to the Oklahoma plains to play basketball at OU. She was joined by her twin sister Ashley. Courtney was a starter all four seasons, and Ashley joined her in the starting lineup in their junior season.

Present Sooner head coach Sherri Coale recruited both Paris sisters and coached them all four years they were there. Oklahoma’s record while Courtney and Ashley were at OU was a combined 113-24 (.825) overall and 54-9 (.857) in the Big 12. The Sooners finished first three times during that span and tied for third one season (2007-08).

Both Paris sisters were selected in the 2009 WNBA Draft. Courtney was taken in the first round by the Sacramento Monarchs with the seventh overall pick. Sister Ashley was a second-round selection, taken by the Los Angeles Sparks with the 22nd overall pick, but was waived just prior to the start of the 2009 season.

Courtney had a difficult time adjusting to basketball at the next level in her first few professional seasons. She saw limited action on a veteran Sacramento team before the franchise discontinued operations in her rookie season and struggled finding her place in the league after a stellar college career.

She was actually out of the WNBA for a full season in 2010 before being picked up by the Atlanta Dream. She returned to the state of Oklahoma, signing with the Tulsa Shock in the 2012 season after being released by Atlanta.

In 2014 and 15, Courtney began coming into her own, starting every game for the Shock in both of those seasons. The 2014 season was her best in the professional ranks, scoring 9.2 points and pulling down 10.2 rebounds per game.

This season, Courtney is playing for the Dallas Wings, and she is off to a solid start, averaging 7.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game and enjoying herself again doing what she does best, playing winning basketball.

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