Christy Winters-Scott
Christy Winters Scott is a basketball color analyst for college basketball games for ESPN, FSN, The Big Ten Network (BTN), NBC Sports Washington, and Raycom Sports. She has been the lead analyst for BTN Women’s Basketball since 2016. Prior to that, served as an analyst for ACC Women's games, the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament, and SEC games as well as serving as an analyst for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament since 2012. She also calls WNBA games for the Washington Mystics.[1] She has been the host of the NBA's Washington Wizards pre and post game shows on NBC Sports Washington since 2012, and has also served as an NBA Analyst for the Wizards for NBCSW.
Early life
Christy Winters-Scott was born in Reston, Virginia and played high school basketball at South Lakes High School. Winters-Scott was the greatest female player to play at South Lakes. During her senior season Winters-Scott led the Seahawks to a 29-0 record and helped them win the 1986 Virginia AAA State Title. Winters-Scott was named DC Metro Area All-Met player of the year by the Washington Post, The Washington Times, and The Fairfax Journal, while averaging 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 blocks per game. For her high school career Winters-Scott scored 1,785 points, 1,075 rebounds, and 492 blocks. Winters-Scott, then known as Christy Winters, would eventually be placed in the South Lakes Athletics Hall of Fame alongside Grant Hill, who said, "it feels good to be recognized as the male Christy Winters" during his acceptance speech.[2]
Collegiate & Professional Career
Winters-Scott earned a full scholarship to play collegiate basketball at the University of Maryland from 1986-1990. While at Maryland, Winters-Scott recorded 1,679 points (second in Maryland history), 723 rebounds (fourth in Maryland history), and played 123 career games (first in school history). Winters is one of only two players to score more than 700 field goals (703) at Maryland. Winters also ranks in the all-time top 10 at Maryland in games started (4th with 100), blocked shots (5th with 91) and field goal percentage (8th with .537).[3]
In 1989 Winters-Scott helped Maryland win their eighth ACC Championship and led the team to their third Final Four appearance. As a senior Winters-Scott was named First Team All ACC and Kodak All-East Region while leading the Terps with 533 points.[3]
After graduating from Maryland, Winters-Scott headed overseas where she spent a year playing in Pistoia, Italy and another two years in Fribourg, Switzerland. During her final professional season in Switzerland she averaged 37 points and 12 rebounds per game and had a career high of 48 points while competing for the Euro Cup.[4]
Broadcasting & Coaching
After her playing career, Winters-Scott decided to change her focus to coaching. She became an assistant coach for George Mason from 1993-1997, Maryland from 1997-2002, and Georgetown from 2004-2005. In 2005 Winters-Scott left Georgetown to accept a head coaching position for her alma mater, South Lakes High School. The South Lakes team had a record of 0-21 in the year prior to her arrival, but by 2009 she turned the program around to 19-4 and earned the Liberty District Coach of the Year Award. The South Lakes team qualified for the Virginia State Tournament in 2013 with a 24-6 record. It was the school's first trip to the state tournament since Winters-Scott won the state championship as a player in 1986. (27 years earlier).
That year, Winters-Scott earned the "Women In Sports" Coach of the Year Award which recognized the top female coach, in any sport, in Fairfax County, Virginia.[5] In 2014, her South Lakes team earned their first district championship since 1997, with a record of 26-4.
During her coaching tenure at South Lakes, Winters-Scott began broadcast and produce shows for the Roundball Report, on CTV76 in Maryland.[6]
The Roundball Report shows quickly caught the attention of the DC broadcasting market. Michael Wilbon did an interview with Winters-Scott that showed her personality and passion.[1] In 2012, Winter Scott became the new Wizards studio host, and called collegiate (men's and women's) basketball. Comcast SportsNet.[6][7]
Today, Winters-Scott lives with her husband, Jerome Scott, and three children: Jerome, Brianna, and Jordan, in Reston, Virginia. Winters-Scott broadcasts 20 to 30 college games a year, all Mystics TV games, Wizards games, and coaches her high school alma mater. Winters-Scott also holds an impressive resume of awards: ACC 50th Anniversary Team, South Lakes Athletic Hall of Fame, University of Maryland Hall of Fame, ACC Women's Basketball Legend, Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, Distinguished Terrapin Award, and was most recently recognized by ESSENCE Magazine as one of the top 12 African American female sports reporters in the Country.[8]
References
- "Ex-Terp Christy Winters-Scott talks good game for Mystics".
- "Top 100: Christy Winters, South Lakes Basketball, 1986".
- "Bio: Christy Winters-Scott". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- "South Lakes High School Staff Bios". www.southlakesathletics.org. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
- Staff, Times. "South Lakes' greatest female basketball player to be honored". Fairfax County Times. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
- "South Lakes Coach Christy Winters Scott juggles high school basketball, a broadcasting career and family".
- "Christy Winters-Scott: professional basketball broadcast analyst".
- "Our talent".