Helen Darling
Birthdate: August 29, 1978
Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio
High School: Brookhaven, Columbus (1995)
College: Penn State (2001)
Year Inducted: 2014
An All-American at Brookhaven High School in Columbus where her team won a state championship in 1995, Helen Darling played four years at Penn State University and 10 years in the Women’s National Basketball Association.
Darling started four years at point guard for Penn State, averaging 10.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.49 steals. She was the first Penn State player to be selected as Big Ten Player of the Year and is the only Nittany Lion to collect 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 600 assists in her career.
With Darling in the lineup, Penn State made its first Final Four appearance in 2000.
Selected by the Cleveland Rockers in the second round of the 2000 WNBA draft, Darling played in all regular season games in 2000 and started all 32 games in 2001. She was pregnant with triplets during the 2002 season and did not play, but she started all 34 of Cleveland’s games in 2003.
The Cleveland franchise folded after the 2003 season and Darling went to Minnesota in a dispersal draft. After one season in Minnesota she was traded to Charlotte. She played two seasons in Charlotte and the Sting folded. Darling went to San Antonio in another dispersal draft and played four more years.
