Deanna Nolan

Deanna Nicole "Tweety" Nolan (Деанна Нолан; born August 25, 1979) is an American-Russian professional basketball player for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the Russian Premier League as well as the Russia women's national basketball team. Her primary position is shooting guard, but occasionally plays the point guard position. Her original name was Deana, but was legally changed to Deanna in 2000. She went to Flint Northern High School where she graduated and took that school state to state champs. Nolan is being inducted October 2024 into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in Detroit.

High school years
Nolan attended Flint Northern High School where she led her team to back to back Michigan state championships in 1994 and 1995, and was crowned as Michigan's 1995 Miss Basketball.

College years
Nolan graduated in December 2001 with a degree in child and family development from the University of Georgia. Overall, she helped the Lady Bulldogs achieve an 86–12 record overall during her collegiate career.

As a senior, Nolan earned 2001 All-SEC Tournament Team honors.

WNBA career
In the 2001 WNBA draft, Nolan was selected by her home state team, Detroit Shock in the first round (sixth overall). She has been nicknamed "Tweety", and is well known by fans for her amazing vertical leap.

Nolan also helped the Detroit Shock win their first championship in 2003. In 2006, she won another championship with Detroit and was named MVP of the 2006 WNBA Finals.

In 2008, she helped the Shock win their third WNBA Championship. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, she was named the Detroit Shock Player of the Year in voting by members of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.

International career
In the 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2012–13 WNBA off seasons, she played for the UMMC Ekaterinburg club in Russia.

In the seasons 2005-06, she played for the A.S. Ramat-Hasharon club in Israel.

She obtained a Russian passport in order to not count against the team's allowed number of foreign players. She stated during 2008 that she hoped to play for the Russian Olympic team, but was passed over in favor of Becky Hammon.