Carolyn Moos


Carolyn Moos is an American former collegiate and professional basketball player.
Moos won a gold medal playing for the United States in the Junior Olympics traveling to Frankfurt, Slovakia, Brazil and Chetumal. She lived in France for a time where she played professional basketball after completing her B.A. at Stanford. In the WNBA she played for three teams: the Phoenix Mercury, Miami Sol and Minnesota Lynx. Moos has an M.A. from USC and is a nutritional consultant and personal trainer.

Early life and high school

Moos was born on May 23, 1978 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the daughter of Melinda and Charles Moos. She has an older brother, Dan Moos. During her youth, she was a dedicated show horse jumper from the age of nine until she turned thirteen, along with enjoying tennis, soccer, hockey, swimming and dance.
She began playing basketball in the sixth grade as even in her youth, she was quite tall, standing over six feet tall at 13 years old. She was influenced by her family and her older brother Dan and was later approached by her school's coach, Julie Grim, who later became her mentor, and who convinced her to play the game. She played for the North Tartan AAU team that won nationals and earned the Sporting News Top Student Athletes in the Country among other awards.
Moos played for The Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored eight points.
Moos was also one of the finalists for the Naismith National Player of the Year in 1997, some of which joined her on the USA Jr. Olympic team that won a gold in Brazil.
She totaled 2,040 points and 1,360 rebounds in four years, while shooting 62.0% from the field. She also scored 50.0% from three-point range. As a senior, Moos averaged 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks per game. She graduated from Blake School in 1997.

USA Basketball

Moos was named to the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team. The team participated in the third Junior World Championship, held in Chetumal, Mexico in late August and early September 1996. The US team won their early games easily, but lost by four points to the team from Brazil, ending up with the silver medal for the event.
Moos was also in the Junior Team when it was invited to the 1997 FIBA Junior World Championship held in Natal, Brazil. After beating Japan, the next game was against Australia, the defending champion. The US team pulled out to a 13-point lead in the second half, but gave up the lead and lost the game 80–74. The US rebounded with a close 92–88 victory over Cuba, helped by 23 points each from Maylana Martin and Lynn Pride. The US then beat previously unbeaten Russia. After winning the next two games, they faced Australia in the gold medal game. The USA team has a three-point lead late, but the Aussies hit a three-pointer with three seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Although the Aussies scored first, the US came back, then pulled into the lead and held on to win 78–74 to earn the gold, and the first gold for a US team at a Junior World Championship. Moos averaged 2.0 points per game.

College

Moos attended Stanford University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Communications and played on its women's basketball team.
In her senior year, she averaged 8.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg in 111 career games with the Cardinal and finished as Stanford's 23rd all-time leading scorer and the 20th all-time leading rebounder. Her 110 blocked shots ranked 10th on the Pacific-10 Conference's all-time list. As a junior, Moos was named honorable mention All-Pac 10 after leading Stanford with 12.4 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

Career highs

WNBA

In 2001, Moos was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, as the 53rd pick, in the fourth round. Moos played overseas professionally in France in the FIBA for the 2001-2002 season. In the 2002 WNBA season she played for the Miami Sol.

International career

Moos has played basketball abroad representing the US in numerous countries including France, Austria, Slovakia, Mexico and Brazil. She played for the US team and won a gold medal at the Junior Olympics in Brazil.

Achievements

Moos was engaged to fellow Stanford alumnus and NBA basketball player Jason Collins, with whom she had an eight-year relationship. The wedding was cancelled in the summer of 2009 by Collins. In 2013, Collins came out as gay in a personal essay published in Sports Illustrated. Moos was unaware of Collins' sexual orientation until a few days before he publicly came out.