Chamique Holdsclaw--the six-foot-two-inch forward for the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team--is a winner. She has won seven straight championships--four at Christ the King High School and three consecutive national championships at the University of Tennessee. Holdsclaw has earned All-American honors in her first three collegiate seasons, and many basketball experts believe she could develop into the greatest female player in history.

Growing up

Raised by grandmother

Chamique (sha-MEE-kwah) Holdsclaw was born August 9, 1977. She grew up in Queens, New York. When Holdsclaw was 11 years old her parents, Bonita and Willie, separated. She and her brother, Davon, went to live with their grandmother, June Holdsclaw, because their mother could not afford to take care of them. Davon eventually returned to live with his mother, but Holdsclaw had grown too close to her grandmother to leave.

Ballerina on the court

Holdsclaw took ballet and tap dancing classes as an...