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Monarchs release Ruthie Bolton, offer her fan relations position
05/09/05 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Sacramento Monarchs
SACRAMENTO, CALIF., May 9, 2005 – The Sacramento Monarchs today announced that the organization has released long-time Monarchs Guard Ruthie Bolton and offered her a fan relations position with the Monarchs front office. A two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and two-time WNBA All-Star, Bolton averaged 10.0 points, 1.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 23.4 minutes in 218 regular-season games over eight seasons with the Sacramento Monarchs.
Bolton was signed by the WNBA and then assigned to the Monarchs in the initial player allocation. Since then, she has been a mainstay for the franchise, starting in nearly half of her regular season games in the WNBA. During her extensive playing career, Bolton helped the Monarchs advance to the WNBA Playoffs five times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004) including three trips to the Western Conference Finals (2001, 2003, 2004). One of the great shooters of the league, Bolton currently is ranked the WNBA’s fifth all-time leader in three pointers made (315) and in 2004, ranked tenth in three-point field goal percentage (.405). Bolton was named to the First-Team All WNBA in 1997 and was the first-ever WNBA Player of the Week.
“We have been proud to have Ruthie Bolton represent the Monarchs, Maloof Sports and Entertainment and the City of Sacramento for the past eight years,” said Joe and Gavin Maloof, Co-Owners of the Sacramento Monarchs. “There is no way that we can thank her for all that she has given us. We hope that she will decide to continue on with the Monarchs.”
“For so many years Ruthie has been a constant on this team. You could always count on Ruthie to come out and play hard,” said Monarchs General Manager and Head Coach John Whisenant. “This was a very tough decision, the worst part of my job. Ruthie will be missed and we wish her the best.”
“The Monarchs organization has been great to me over the last eight years and they continue to offer me new opportunities with the organization,” said Ruthie Bolton. “If I can keep on playing I want to try, but I am also very interested and very excited about the offer to work with the fans and the front office, regardless of what may happen to me on the court.”
“Ruthie’s contributions both on and off the court to the Sacramento Monarchs over the last eight years are immeasurable,” said Senior Director of Marketing and Monarchs Business Operations Danette Leighton. “The passion and leadership that Ruthie showed on the court is exactly the reason why we have offered her a position in the front office.”
A long-time resident of the Sacramento Valley, in 2004, Bolton began to look beyond her playing career and parlayed her playing experience into a head coaching job at William Jessup University (formerly San Jose Christian College) where four of her Lady Warriors earned United States Collegiate Athletic Association All-American honors.
