We’ve seen players turn coaches, models turn designers, and actors turned singers. In the case of Stacey Dales, she’s moved from playing basketball to talking it as a sports reporter. Stacey Dales was a Canadian-born basketball player. While in college, she played in Canada and went pro in the US. Dales’ promising career in basketball was however short-lived when she finally called it quits in 2008 after suffering a knee injury during a storm in Seattle and was diagnosed with Raynaud’s phenomenon; a condition that frequently caused spasms in her hands, reduced blood flow, and loss of feeling.
Whether she’s playing or reporting it, Stacey Dales has stayed close to sports for as long as possible. As a player turned reporter, Dales is a shining proof that one can remain in the same industry and still serve in varying capacities.
Stacey Dales’ Biography
Stacey Dales was born in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada on 5th September 1979, to parents Heather and Jim Dales. She and her younger brother, Burke Dales, a former Canadian Football Player, were raised in Brockville. The Dales moved from Collingwood to Brockville shortly after Stacey was born. She attended Thousand Islands Secondary School (TISS), a public high school in the Brockville, Ontario. While at TISS, she played in the Forward-Guard position for the school team, the TISS Pirates Ladies basketball team. Dales’ contributions were the push her team needed to clinch the Ontario ‘AA’ high school senior girls basketball championships for three years in a row; 1994, 1995 & 1996.
After graduating high school in 1997, she moved to the United States where she attended the University of Oklahoma. While there, Dales represented Canada in the 2000 Olympics. Her sporty prowess continued to grow as she clinched more and more titles and records including being a first-team All-American between 2001 and 2002. She was then named the 2001 and 2002 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. In 2002, she was also named the all-sports Academic All-American of the Year. Dales became the first Oklahoma player to record 1,700 points, 600 rebounds, and 700 assists. Her final year at the University of Oklahoma saw her at the helm of her team, the Sooners, at the NCAA Championship game. However, they lost the game to Connecticut.
After leaving Oklahoma, Dales was drafted as the third overall pick by the Washington Mystics in 2002; the highest pick ever for a Canadian citizen. It was at Washington Mystics that Dales was diagnosed with the devastating Raynaud’s phenomenon that would eventually halt her active playing career to a standstill. In 2004, she retired from basketball for the first time but bounced back barely a year later to join the Chicago Sky this time. Due to repeated struggle with spasms on her palm, Dales officially hung her boots at the close of the 2008 WNBA season. She was inducted into Brockville’s Hall of Fame in June 2016.
Retirement and Journalism Career
Although retired, Dales’ career would take a whole different turn. Her on-field experience now features American sports analysis. In 2005, she served as a men’s and women’s college basketball analyst and was soon made a sideline reporter for college football games, on ESPN. She eventually left ESPN in November 2008 after a brief contract dispute in which she was denied first class flight privileges during ESPN’s cutbacks owing to the recession.
However, on 31st August 2009, the NFL Network announced Dales as co-host of Gameday Morning. She was soon reassigned as Gameday reporter on location each week. Dales was also hired by Universal Sports as a correspondent For the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
See Also: Who Is Josina Anderson of ESPN? Her Husband and Family Facts
Stacey Dales’ Salary & Net Worth
A player of Dales’ profile must have carted home a sizeable pay. Her reporting career must have added millions of dollars more to whatever basketball and her several movie roles earned her. Sources put the average salary of a sports reporter in the US at $35,402 per year, but at the moment, her net worth has not been pegged to a particular figure.
Is She Married or Divorced, Who is the Husband or Ex-Husband?
At the peak of her basketball career, Dales began dating Chris Schuman. It is not clear when and how they met but friends soon turned soul mates as they finally strode down the aisle on 13th April 2002. However, the marriage did not last long. The couple got divorced during Dales’ year off from playing between 2004 and 2005.
