USC/Sparks icon Lisa Leslie to be honored with statue outside Crypto.com Arena
The three-time WNBA MVP and four-time Olympic gold medalist remains the team’s leader in points, rebounds, blocked shots and a host of other categories. The statue will be unveiled on Sept. 20.
Sparks icon Lisa Leslie, here in June 2006, will be honored with a statue in Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena. It will be unveiled before a Sept. 20 game against Portland. (AP/Branimir Kvartuc)
AP — LOS ANGELES — The Sparks announced Thursday that they will honor Hall of Fame player Lisa Leslie with a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena.
Leslie became the second player in league history, joining Sue Bird, to be honored with a statue by her franchise. The three-time WNBA MVP and eight-time All-Star remains the Sparks’ leader in points, rebounds, blocked shots and a host of other categories.
“To be cemented in Los Angeles, the city that raised me, I couldn’t be more proud to be a role model forever!” Leslie said in a statement. “God has blessed me and I have truly given my all to this sport and our community. I am thankful to my coaches, teammates, incredible fans, and, most importantly, my family and friends. As the saying goes, ‘The wolf is only as strong as the pack,’ and I’ve been fortunate to have an amazing pack supporting me every step of the way.”
Leslie, who helped the Sparks win their first two WNBA championships in 2001 and 2002, played all 12 of her seasons with the franchise and was a 12-time All-WNBA selection, two-time Finals MVP, two-time Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-Star Game MVP. She ranks No. 13 in league history in career points (6,263), No. 6 in rebounds (3,307) and No. 3 in blocked shots (822).
Leslie attended USC from 1990 to 1994. During her time with the Trojans, she became one of the program’s most decorated players, earning All-Pac-10 first-team honors all four years. She was the 1991 National Freshman of the Year, the 1994 Naismith National Player of the Year and a three-time All-American (’92, ’93, ’94). Set Pac-10 conference records for career points (2,414), rebounds (1,214), and blocked shots (321).
Leslie, who came to USC from Inglewood’s Morningside High, also won four gold medals with the U.S. Olympic team.
“I’ve known Lisa for nearly three decades and believe that she is beyond deserving of this incredible honor. She was the driving force behind bringing back-to-back championships to the Los Angeles Sparks franchise in 2000 and 2001,” Magic Johnson said. “Lisa’s hard work and commitment has made her one of the best to ever play the game. Lisa’s legacy isn’t just measured by championships and accolades, though; it’s defined by the doors she opened and the standard she set for generations to come.”
The first WNBA player to dunk in a game, Leslie’s No. 9 jersey was retired by the team in 2010. She will join Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Wayne Gretzky, Pat Riley, Oscar De La Hoya, Chick Hearn, Jerry West,Luc Robitaille, Bob Miller, Elgin Baylor, Dustin Brown and Gigi Bryant as sports figures with statues at the arena.
The ceremony to unveil the statue will take place on Sept. 20 prior to the Sparks’ game against Portland.
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Bye Bye Eli Woodard USC just lost the commitment of 2027 four-star Temecula WR Eli Woodard (6-0, 185) earlier today. He had been committed since Feb. 10 but wants to visit other schools, against USC’s policy. “After a lot of talks with my family and praying, I have decided to decommit from USC and fully reopen my recruitment. Excited to see where God takes me,” Woodard wrote on social media. Top 100 four-star WRs Quentin Hale and Roye Oliver III remain committed to the Trojans. USC seemingly never lacks talented WRs to be honest. “UCLA, Cal and Miami are three schools… Read more »
Eli sees all the competition he will have to overcome to play on the field. A player who is not in the least afraid to compete wouldn’t back out of a commitment like this. Or he feels other programs will pay his price to play?
Personally, I don’t think many of these guys are afraid of competition. That’s not exactly a strong path to success, and certainly not how they got offers from elite schools like USC in the first place. And two or even three WRs can have successful seasons at the same time in today’s pass happy CFB world. Sooner or later, if you’re any good, you’re gonna get your legit crack to make your mark over a three or four year career. Injuries can get you to #1 in a heartbeat as well. But I do think money and opportunity can now… Read more »
Mason Edwards is the man … Record-setting USC JR Mason Edwards unanimously earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors. Left-handed starter Edwards sports an 8-0 record with a 1.49 ERA in 84.1 innings pitched. The Los Angeles native leads the NCAA in strikeouts (154) and hits allowed per nine innings (4.59) while ranking second in ERA (1.49) and seventh in WHIP (0.95). Edwards has recorded 10-or-more strikeouts 12 times and set the Big Ten record for strikeouts in a conference season (113). The Golden Spikes Award semifinalist was also named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week four times, matching… Read more »
Jaden Maiava needs to step it up a notch this coming year. In 2025, in the home games he threw for 74.4% for 2016 yards with 16 TD’s and 2 Int. But not nearly as good on the road. On the road he threw for 58% for 1695 yards with 8 TD’s and 8 int. That’s 7 home games and 5 road games. Needs to step up on the road a little. When you look at his games against winning teams and against losing teams his record is not bad. SC played 9 winning teams and only 3 losing teams… Read more »
One of the best things Maiava can do for himself is stop throwing critical picks, which not only change team possessions, but also frequently completely change a game’s momentum. Basically, he’s got a slightly above average, but not great arm, and his lower body mechanics have often been criticized. But it’s been Maiava’s noticeably poor decision-making that’s been his biggest problem. His tendency to sometimes force risky passes or hold onto the ball too long leads to head-scratching throws in high pressure road games, like against Notre Dame. PFF metrics actually ranked him near the bottom 30 in the country… Read more »
He’s a fairly good runner….better than Moss but not anything like the TAM QB….I definitely wouldn’t call him a dual QB. But SC needs to fix the interception problem and also the special teams kick return problem.
I actually felt sorry for Moss when he was the starting USC QB, as I’ve said here before. His offensive line simply couldn’t protect him, especially in view of his limited mobility, and some of LR’s shaky, questionable play calls seemed to set him up for sacks/failure. JMHO. And I totally agree with your point about the huge need for USC to improve its special teams. It’s just been a shame that LR woefully neglected this aspect of USC football for four years. Truly bizarre. We certainly paid the price. But now with Mike Ekeler on the job, I have… Read more »
Exactly……I may be confused but a big part of this is called coaching….no need to discuss it further for two reasons…
Some think he is a QB whisperer. No winning there.
Unfortunately, It may be a long season with plenty of opportunities.
Lincoln Riley says, “Every year is big,” Guess what Lincoln. This year is bigger. USC only has predictions to get better in 2026 Andrew Hughes (The Sporting News) — Lincoln Riley’s program is expected to take a big step forward in 2026. Anything short of 10 wins, or nine and a surprising CFP appearance as the first three-loss team to make it, will be a disappointment. Ending up in the Alamo Bowl has to be a thing of the past. USC spends like a big winner, but hasn’t made the CFP for the entirety of its existence. That’s 12 years… Read more »
Sunday afternoon, the Trojans got another big, top priority commitment. As expected, four-star safety Gavin Williams (6-1, 185, La Verne Damien, 35 miles from the USC campus) announced his commitment to USC over MICH, ND, UCLA and UW. Williams has been one of the more important DB targets on USC’s board for a long time because of his versatility and ballhawk skills. Over three seasons he already has 11 picks, showing outstanding ability to track the ball and create turnovers (six forced fumbles as well) in space. Williams’ commitment moves USC to #4 in 247’s 2027 rankings, between ND and… Read more »
I didn’t see the game and I’m not sure how good Oregon is but SC is every bit as good as Oregon. The final cumulative score of the 3 games was 11-10 in favor of Oregon and they played the game in Eugene. I think things would have been a lot different if they had played here at SC where SC rarely loses. Oregon…..another team I can’t stand…..right up there with ND.
The runner from 3rd base had such a huge lead-off I was surprised USC’s pitcher didn’t pick him off. But I don’t know much really about baseball and what might have affected this. The bunt was perfect, but even if it hadn’t been, the Duck runner seemed like he had an easy money sprint to the plate. The play wasn’t even close.
I remember last season in the baseball playoffs Oregon State beat the Trojan team with bunts. Seems our coaching staff can’t come up with a better defense on this tactic as Oregon uses it again successfully against us?
Calling it questionable is way too charitable. The home plate ump was awful. A bunch of our guys were out on called 3rd strikes way out of zone. When we were pitching, we didn’t get those calls. It seemed like that ump had an agenda, and he cost us the game, and a chance to host a regional
Trojans and Ducks on BIGNetwork at 3pm PT, winner decides the series. A Trojan win clinches 3rd place in Big10, if Ducks win looks like a tie breaker for 3rd.
Sorry…I got it from a site that has a pay wall….so I’d prefer not to share…..but…..there are a lot of estimates out there. Who knows if they have the exact numbers….it’s just that I’am amazed that the numbers have gotten so big so quick. It has to be some what accurate when the Michigan QB got 13 million or so.
Good Question…..after the numbers for the next BIG conference TV contract are published (whenever that is) the players might get smarter, use that college education, and start demanding money that is astounding.
$2 million below the 10th place school. $2 million will buy a lot. $14.7 million below Texas….that will really buy a lot. Personally, I think $34.2 million is too much but you have to compete financially nowadays if you want to compete on the football field with the big spenders. They’re destroying college football
Yep! At least the game we all grew up on and treasure. One of the reasons so many people seem to treasure Cignetti……If Indiana plays Texas next year understandably the State of Texas folks will be pulling for the cash box at Texas, the rest of the country, my guess, will be screaming for Indiana to smash them into the ground. It’s just refreshing and reinforces what Allen has been saying……it’s coaching stupid.
I could not find a total NIL expenditure for USC. All I could find was they are spending the full $20.5 million in revenue sharing, the incoming freshman class got NIL of $12 million and Maiava is getting $2 million.
I don’t follow Texas much aside from one daughter in law having graduated from there but……sounds like Sark had better start delivering. The pan is going to get hot. As you know, not too many laid back Texan types around. They want to see results if they pay.
We don’t have that problem at Illinois….we get to the final four…..once…. and the guy goes up on a statue for all time.
5 2027 NFL Draft QB Prospects Capable of Jumping Into Top-10 Conversation (Brent Sobleski/Bleacher Report) 1 Julian Sayin, Ohio State 2 CJ Carr, Notre Dame 3 Jayden Maiava, USC — Lincoln Riley used to be viewed as a kingmaker among quarterback developers after turning Baker Mayfield, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray and Caleb Williams into high draft picks, with three being No. 1 overall selections. However, his latest protege, Jayden Maiava, appears to be overshadowed among the 2027 crop despite displaying enough ability to become a high first-round selection. It’s not like Maiava didn’t play well last season. The USC quarterback… Read more »
Cignetti speaking to an audience in Carmel IN last night…..not direct quotes but what he said that I remember. I did meet him later for a second in a smaller group. So humble. Just a nice guy that evaluates objectively what is happening. So his comments…..sorry this is a jumble. I tried to keep up. You can’t carry momentum from one year to the next. The balance of power between conferences has shifted….the BIG is the place to be….but we have to continue to earn it. Coaching one season now is like 4 years in the past. Instant gratification is… Read more »
No. 17 USC has now won eight straight and is 42-12 (and 32-1 at Dedeaux) after last night’s extra inning 2-1 win over the No. 16 Ducks (36-15) in Eugene. Isaac Cadena (20) homered in the 11th inning to give the trojans their best away game win of the season. Mason Edwards (struck out 12), Sax Matson and Andrew Johnson allowed nine Ducks hits.
Dominant Trojan soph right-hander Grant Govel (10-1, 2.59 ERA) is expected to take the mound tonight (6 pm PT) against ORE right-handed JR Will Sanford (6-1, 3.64 ERA).
Last nights win was huge.But the Trojans still need one more this weekend to have a chance to host a regional, which is critical to their postseason fortunes. Oregon is so tough in Eugene. Winning the series is no small order. But you have got to love what Stank is doing with a roster that is far from elite.
“To be cemented in Los Angeles, the city that raised me, I couldn’t be more proud to be a role model forever!” Leslie said in a statement. “God has blessed me and I have truly given my all to this sport and our community. I am thankful to my coaches, teammates, incredible fans, and, most importantly, my family and friends. As the saying goes, ‘The wolf is only as strong as the pack,’ and I’ve been fortunate to have an amazing pack supporting me every step of the way.”
Leslie attended USC from 1990 to 1994. During her time with the Trojans, she became one of the program’s most decorated players, earning All-Pac-10 first-team honors all four years. She was the 1991 National Freshman of the Year, the 1994 Naismith National Player of the Year and a three-time All-American (’92, ’93, ’94). Set Pac-10 conference records for career points (2,414), rebounds (1,214), and blocked shots (321).
The dems want to get black athletes in red states to boycott football.
Bye Bye Eli Woodard USC just lost the commitment of 2027 four-star Temecula WR Eli Woodard (6-0, 185) earlier today. He had been committed since Feb. 10 but wants to visit other schools, against USC’s policy. “After a lot of talks with my family and praying, I have decided to decommit from USC and fully reopen my recruitment. Excited to see where God takes me,” Woodard wrote on social media. Top 100 four-star WRs Quentin Hale and Roye Oliver III remain committed to the Trojans. USC seemingly never lacks talented WRs to be honest. “UCLA, Cal and Miami are three schools… Read more »
Eli sees all the competition he will have to overcome to play on the field. A player who is not in the least afraid to compete wouldn’t back out of a commitment like this. Or he feels other programs will pay his price to play?
Personally, I don’t think many of these guys are afraid of competition. That’s not exactly a strong path to success, and certainly not how they got offers from elite schools like USC in the first place. And two or even three WRs can have successful seasons at the same time in today’s pass happy CFB world. Sooner or later, if you’re any good, you’re gonna get your legit crack to make your mark over a three or four year career. Injuries can get you to #1 in a heartbeat as well. But I do think money and opportunity can now… Read more »
Mason Edwards is the man … Record-setting USC JR Mason Edwards unanimously earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors. Left-handed starter Edwards sports an 8-0 record with a 1.49 ERA in 84.1 innings pitched. The Los Angeles native leads the NCAA in strikeouts (154) and hits allowed per nine innings (4.59) while ranking second in ERA (1.49) and seventh in WHIP (0.95). Edwards has recorded 10-or-more strikeouts 12 times and set the Big Ten record for strikeouts in a conference season (113). The Golden Spikes Award semifinalist was also named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week four times, matching… Read more »
Jaden Maiava needs to step it up a notch this coming year. In 2025, in the home games he threw for 74.4% for 2016 yards with 16 TD’s and 2 Int. But not nearly as good on the road. On the road he threw for 58% for 1695 yards with 8 TD’s and 8 int. That’s 7 home games and 5 road games. Needs to step up on the road a little. When you look at his games against winning teams and against losing teams his record is not bad. SC played 9 winning teams and only 3 losing teams… Read more »
One of the best things Maiava can do for himself is stop throwing critical picks, which not only change team possessions, but also frequently completely change a game’s momentum. Basically, he’s got a slightly above average, but not great arm, and his lower body mechanics have often been criticized. But it’s been Maiava’s noticeably poor decision-making that’s been his biggest problem. His tendency to sometimes force risky passes or hold onto the ball too long leads to head-scratching throws in high pressure road games, like against Notre Dame. PFF metrics actually ranked him near the bottom 30 in the country… Read more »
He’s a fairly good runner….better than Moss but not anything like the TAM QB….I definitely wouldn’t call him a dual QB. But SC needs to fix the interception problem and also the special teams kick return problem.
I actually felt sorry for Moss when he was the starting USC QB, as I’ve said here before. His offensive line simply couldn’t protect him, especially in view of his limited mobility, and some of LR’s shaky, questionable play calls seemed to set him up for sacks/failure. JMHO. And I totally agree with your point about the huge need for USC to improve its special teams. It’s just been a shame that LR woefully neglected this aspect of USC football for four years. Truly bizarre. We certainly paid the price. But now with Mike Ekeler on the job, I have… Read more »
amen
Exactly……I may be confused but a big part of this is called coaching….no need to discuss it further for two reasons…
Some think he is a QB whisperer. No winning there.
Unfortunately, It may be a long season with plenty of opportunities.
Lincoln Riley says, “Every year is big,” Guess what Lincoln. This year is bigger. USC only has predictions to get better in 2026 Andrew Hughes (The Sporting News) — Lincoln Riley’s program is expected to take a big step forward in 2026. Anything short of 10 wins, or nine and a surprising CFP appearance as the first three-loss team to make it, will be a disappointment. Ending up in the Alamo Bowl has to be a thing of the past. USC spends like a big winner, but hasn’t made the CFP for the entirety of its existence. That’s 12 years… Read more »
Sunday afternoon, the Trojans got another big, top priority commitment. As expected, four-star safety Gavin Williams (6-1, 185, La Verne Damien, 35 miles from the USC campus) announced his commitment to USC over MICH, ND, UCLA and UW. Williams has been one of the more important DB targets on USC’s board for a long time because of his versatility and ballhawk skills. Over three seasons he already has 11 picks, showing outstanding ability to track the ball and create turnovers (six forced fumbles as well) in space. Williams’ commitment moves USC to #4 in 247’s 2027 rankings, between ND and… Read more »
I didn’t see the game and I’m not sure how good Oregon is but SC is every bit as good as Oregon. The final cumulative score of the 3 games was 11-10 in favor of Oregon and they played the game in Eugene. I think things would have been a lot different if they had played here at SC where SC rarely loses. Oregon…..another team I can’t stand…..right up there with ND.
USC and ORE tied 5-5 in bottom of the 12th for a rubber match win. Come on Trojans. Make it happen.
ORE wins in bottom of the 14th, 6-5, and the series on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt play.
The suicide squeeze is one of the most exciting plays in baseball. JMHO.
The runner from 3rd base had such a huge lead-off I was surprised USC’s pitcher didn’t pick him off. But I don’t know much really about baseball and what might have affected this. The bunt was perfect, but even if it hadn’t been, the Duck runner seemed like he had an easy money sprint to the plate. The play wasn’t even close.
I remember last season in the baseball playoffs Oregon State beat the Trojan team with bunts. Seems our coaching staff can’t come up with a better defense on this tactic as Oregon uses it again successfully against us?
Absolutely. USC obviously needs to work on this. It’s a weakness.
Oregon getting some home cooking with the questionable strike zone.
2 things I hate most about baseball, the movable strike zone and extra innings. It’s 2026 can’t we have a consistent strike zone?
I thought that too. Several balls for Ducks hitters were called strikes on USC on exact same spot.
Calling it questionable is way too charitable. The home plate ump was awful. A bunch of our guys were out on called 3rd strikes way out of zone. When we were pitching, we didn’t get those calls. It seemed like that ump had an agenda, and he cost us the game, and a chance to host a regional
Trojans and Ducks on BIGNetwork at 3pm PT, winner decides the series. A Trojan win clinches 3rd place in Big10, if Ducks win looks like a tie breaker for 3rd.
1. Texas – $47.9M
2. Miami – $44.0M
3. Ohio State – $43.5M
4. LSU – $42.8M
5. Oregon – $42.8M
6. Notre Dame – $40.4M
7. Texas A&M – $38.9M
8. Alabama – $37.2M
9. Tennessee – $36.7M
10. Texas Tech – $36.3M
Wow….these are the top NIL expenditures according to some odd site. The cash is flowing.
I wonder where SC is ranked
13th….34.2 million
What’s the site?
Sorry…I got it from a site that has a pay wall….so I’d prefer not to share…..but…..there are a lot of estimates out there. Who knows if they have the exact numbers….it’s just that I’am amazed that the numbers have gotten so big so quick. It has to be some what accurate when the Michigan QB got 13 million or so.
No worries, thanks for the info. Still a lot less than the NFL salary cap of $300 million, but for how long? 😃
Good Question…..after the numbers for the next BIG conference TV contract are published (whenever that is) the players might get smarter, use that college education, and start demanding money that is astounding.
$2 million below the 10th place school. $2 million will buy a lot. $14.7 million below Texas….that will really buy a lot. Personally, I think $34.2 million is too much but you have to compete financially nowadays if you want to compete on the football field with the big spenders. They’re destroying college football
Yep! At least the game we all grew up on and treasure. One of the reasons so many people seem to treasure Cignetti……If Indiana plays Texas next year understandably the State of Texas folks will be pulling for the cash box at Texas, the rest of the country, my guess, will be screaming for Indiana to smash them into the ground. It’s just refreshing and reinforces what Allen has been saying……it’s coaching stupid.
I could not find a total NIL expenditure for USC. All I could find was they are spending the full $20.5 million in revenue sharing, the incoming freshman class got NIL of $12 million and Maiava is getting $2 million.
No wonder there is apparent pressure on Sark. The money per National Championship ratio is ZERO by my calcunations.
I don’t follow Texas much aside from one daughter in law having graduated from there but……sounds like Sark had better start delivering. The pan is going to get hot. As you know, not too many laid back Texan types around. They want to see results if they pay.
We don’t have that problem at Illinois….we get to the final four…..once…. and the guy goes up on a statue for all time.
Sark’s overall record at TEXAS is 48-20. He has has led the ‘Horns to multiple CFP appearances and a Big 12 Championship.
5 2027 NFL Draft QB Prospects Capable of Jumping Into Top-10 Conversation (Brent Sobleski/Bleacher Report) 1 Julian Sayin, Ohio State 2 CJ Carr, Notre Dame 3 Jayden Maiava, USC — Lincoln Riley used to be viewed as a kingmaker among quarterback developers after turning Baker Mayfield, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray and Caleb Williams into high draft picks, with three being No. 1 overall selections. However, his latest protege, Jayden Maiava, appears to be overshadowed among the 2027 crop despite displaying enough ability to become a high first-round selection. It’s not like Maiava didn’t play well last season. The USC quarterback… Read more »
Cignetti speaking to an audience in Carmel IN last night…..not direct quotes but what he said that I remember. I did meet him later for a second in a smaller group. So humble. Just a nice guy that evaluates objectively what is happening. So his comments…..sorry this is a jumble. I tried to keep up. You can’t carry momentum from one year to the next. The balance of power between conferences has shifted….the BIG is the place to be….but we have to continue to earn it. Coaching one season now is like 4 years in the past. Instant gratification is… Read more »
Fantastic report illinoisusc.
Thanks so much for clueing us all in to what this amazing coach had to say. So much of what he says makes perfect sense. What a playbook.
So many coaches bring up Saban, who has turned so many students into teachers.
This is one of the things that makes the TDB so great. Nowhere else can anyone find this great recount of Cignetti Unplugged. Thank you again. ✌
Have a good day!
No. 17 USC has now won eight straight and is 42-12 (and 32-1 at Dedeaux) after last night’s extra inning 2-1 win over the No. 16 Ducks (36-15) in Eugene. Isaac Cadena (20) homered in the 11th inning to give the trojans their best away game win of the season. Mason Edwards (struck out 12), Sax Matson and Andrew Johnson allowed nine Ducks hits.
Dominant Trojan soph right-hander Grant Govel (10-1, 2.59 ERA) is expected to take the mound tonight (6 pm PT) against ORE right-handed JR Will Sanford (6-1, 3.64 ERA).
Trojans now 2 games up on 4th place Ducks and one game behind Nebraska.
Last nights win was huge.But the Trojans still need one more this weekend to have a chance to host a regional, which is critical to their postseason fortunes. Oregon is so tough in Eugene. Winning the series is no small order. But you have got to love what Stank is doing with a roster that is far from elite.