Sydney Colson

Sydney Colson
Sydney Justine Colson (born August 6, 1989) is an American basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Texas A&M University, where she helped the Aggies win the NCAA title during her senior year. She has previously played for the New York Liberty, San Antonio Stars, Minnesota Lynx, and the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, and overseas in Poland and Israel. Colson is a two time WNBA Champion, winning with the Aces in 2022 and 2023.
Early life and high school career
Colson was born in Houston, Texas, to Simmie and Stephanie Colson. She grew up watching the Houston Comets, who began playing in 1997, when Colson was in elementary school.
She attended Westside High School, where she was a National Honor Society member. During her sophomore year in 2005, she was named 5A All-District First Team and All-Greater Houston Second Team selection. As a junior, Colson earned All-Greater Houston honors, averaging 16.2 points and 4.2 assists per game. A heavily-recruited prospect, Colson was rated the 29th overall prospect and the no. 8 point guard in the Class of 2007.
Colson committed to Texas A&M University over offers from LSU and Oklahoma.
College career
Colson was a four-year letter winner for the Aggies between 2008 and 2011, and is tied for being the winningest player in program history. She majored in sociology.
Colson spent her freshman season as a reserve on the first Texas A&M team to reach the Elite Eight in program history, backing up point guard A'Quonesia Franklin. She played in all 37 games that season, with two starts against Indiana and Stephen F. Austin, and was one of just three Aggies to see action in every game that year.
As a sophomore, Colson tore her ACL during a pickup basketball game in June 2008 after working as a counselor at a Texas A&M basketball camp. Colson successfully rehabilitated the injury, returning to play eight minutes in the Aggies' season opener on November 14, 2008 against Mercer, 128 days after undergoing surgery to repair the torn ligament.
During her junior season, Colson captained the Aggies to a Big 12 Tournament Championship in 2010.
As a senior, Colson played a key role in the Aggies' 2011 NCAA tournament run, as A&M defeated number one seeds Baylor and Stanford enroute to the national championship game against Notre Dame. During the championship final at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Colson recorded 10 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in A&M's 76-70 win over Notre Dame, helping Texas A&M capture its first national championship.
Professional career
WNBA
Colson was selected in the second round of the 2011 WNBA draft (16th overall) by the Connecticut Sun. She was then traded to the New York Liberty for Kalana Greene. Colson played sparingly in sixteen games for New York her rookie season, but shot 42.9 percent from three-point range. On May 16, 2012, Colson was waived by the Liberty during the WNBA preseason.
After several seasons out of the WNBA, Colson signed a training camp contract with the San Antonio Stars on May 15, 2015, shortly after joining Rice University as an assistant coach. Over the next three seasons, Colson played 96 games with the Stars.
Colson signed with the Minnesota Lynx on August 14, 2018, with three games left in the regular season. In her Lynx debut on August 14, 2018, Colson tallied three points, two rebounds, two assists and a block in five-plus minutes of play against the Chicago Sky.
On February 13, 2020, Colson was signed by the Chicago Sky. In June 2020, Colson tested positive for COVID-19, missing the beginning of the abbreviated 2020 WNBA season. After recovering from her bout with coronavirus, Colson joined the Sky in July 2020 in the Wubble at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Overseas
After being cut by New York during the 2012 preseason, Colson spent the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons playing overseas in Poland for Lider Pruszkow in the Polska Liga Koszykówki Kobiet. During the 2011-12 season, she scored in double figures on 12 occasions, including a season-high 21 points against BI SSA Gdynia on January 22. The next year, Colson scored in double figures in 11 of the 21 games she played in the 2012-13 season, helping Lider Pruskow advance to the Polish Cup Semifinals.
During the 2017-18 season, Colson played overseas in Israel for Hapoel Rishon LeZion in the Ligat Ha'al. She played 21 games, scoring 20 or more points on eight occasions, including a season-high 25 points against Bnot Hertzeliya on December 7, 2017. At the end of the season, Colson was named All-Israeli League Honorable Mention by Eurobasket.com.
Colson returned to Poland for the 2018-19 season, playing 35 games for Ślęza Wrocław. She helped the team advance to the Polish Basket Liga Kobiet semifinals.
During the 2021-22 WNBA offseason, Colson played in Las Vegas with developmental league Athletes Unlimited, serving on the player executive committee. In October 2022, it was announced that Colson would rejoin Athletes Unlimited for the 2023 season.
Coaching career
After playing overseas in Poland, Colson returned to her alma mater Texas A&M in January 2014 as a graduate assistant, reuniting with her college coach Gary Blair. During her first
season as a graduate assistant, the Aggies made a run to the Elite Eight before falling 69-54 to no. 1 seed and eventual champions UConn. She served as video coordinator for the 2014-15 season.
On May 4, 2015, Colson was hired as an assistant coach for the Rice University Owls, joining head coach Tina Langley. Colson joined Langley's coaching staff with the stipulation that she would have permission to pursue opportunities to play professionally; she signed with the San Antonio Stars eleven days after joining the Rice coaching staff.
While playing for the San Antonio Stars, Colson spent the 2015-16 and 2016-17 offseasons as an assistant coach at Rice, with the Owls improving by 13 wins from her first to her second season. In 2017, Rice won the Women's Basketball Invitational for the first time ever, defeating UNC Greensboro 74-62.
Career statistics
College
Source
WNBA
Regular season
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2011
| style='text-align:left;'|New York
| 16 || 0 || 5.4 || .350 || .429 || .833 || 0.4 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 1.1 || 1.4
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2015
| style='text-align:left;'|San Antonio
| 34 || 5 || 15.9 || .411 || .318 || .686 || 1.1 || 2.8 || 0.8 || 0.3 || 1.2 || 3.5
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2016
| style='text-align:left;'|San Antonio
| 34 || 0 || 16.9 || .431 || .192 || .831 || 1.6 || 2.6 || 1.1 || 0.0 || 1.5 || 5.1
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2017
| style='text-align:left;'|San Antonio
| 28 || 4 || 11.6 || .330 || .200 || .688 || 0.5 || 2.0 || 0.5 || 0.1 || 1.0 || 2.9
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2018
| style='text-align:left;'|Minnesota
| 2 || 0 || 8.5 || .429 || .000 || .500 || 1.0 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 0.5 || 2.0 || 3.5
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2019
| style='text-align:left;'|Las Vegas
| 33 || 0 || 11.5 || .440 || .450 || .818 || 0.7 || 1.8 || 0.9 || 0.1 || 0.8 || 3.3
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2020
| style='text-align:left;'|Chicago
| 17 || 0 || 6.5 || .429 || .333 || .875 || 0.4 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 0.0 || 0.8 || 1.6
|-
|style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| 2022†
| align="left" | Las Vegas
| 18 || 0 || 6.8 || .313 || .273 || 1.000 || 0.4 || 1.0 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 0.4 || 1.6
|-
| style='text-align:left;'| Career
| style='text-align:left;'| 8 years, 4 teams
| 182 || 9 || 11.8 || .400 || .299 || .778 || 0.9 || 1.9 || 0.7 || 0.1 || 1.0 || 3.1
Playoffs
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2011
| style='text-align:left;'|New York
| 1 || 0 || 2.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2019
| style='text-align:left;'|Las Vegas
| 5 || 0 || 2.8 || .167 || .000 || .500 || 0.2 || 0.2|| 0.0 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 0.6
|-
| style='text-align:left;'|2020
| style='text-align:left;'|Chicago
| 1 || 0 || 0.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| 2022†
| align="left" | Las Vegas
| 4 || 0 || 4.8 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.3 || 0.0
|-
| style='text-align:left;'| Career
| style='text-align:left;'| 4 years, 3 teams
| 7 || 0 || 2.3 || .167 || .000 || .500 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 0.4
Personal life
Colson has two siblings, Simmie IV and Simone. She began taking acting classes in January 2021.
She is openly lesbian.
References
External links
Career information and statistics from WNBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
1989 births
Living people
American women's basketball players
Basketball players from Houston
Chicago Sky players
Connecticut Sun draft picks
Las Vegas Aces players
Minnesota Lynx players
New York Liberty players
Point guards
San Antonio Stars players
Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball players