Jordan (Ligons) Robinson (16) knows women’s basketball better than almost anyone, but even she was surprised by some of what she learned while writing her debut book, Court Queens: Celebrate the Players, Teams, and History of Women’s Basketball.
“Even as a super fan, I was learning names and stories I’d never heard before,” Robinson said.
That Robinson learned so many new facts and stories is significant considering her experience. A former PLNU basketball player and journalism major, Robinson is now a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist, analyst, and play-by-play announcer. She co-hosts The Women’s Hoops Show on Audacy alongside legend Sheryl Swoopes and previously worked as a fact-checker and writer at The Ringer, where she helped advance coverage of women’s sports.
Robinson’s coauthor, Emma Baccellieri, is a staff writer at Sports Illustrated who has covered women’s basketball, including the Final Four and WNBA Finals.
It might seem natural that these two women’s sports experts would team up to write a book. However, the idea of the book and partnership actually came from the publisher.
“The publisher, Hachette, and the imprint, Black Dog & Leventhal, wanted a book on women’s basketball and found my literary agent and said, ‘Find us authors who could write this book,’” Robinson explained. “That is not typical. Usually you’re pitching and trying to get your idea out there. But this came to me.”
Robinson had always hoped to write a book — even recently pitching a children’s book about women’s basketball — so the opportunity felt like a perfect fit.
Although Robinson and Baccellieri had never met and neither had written a full-length book before, their process quickly became fun, effective, and efficient.
“I loved how we were both so new and coming at it with fresh eyes. We had thousands of words to fill, photos to find, and we’d never written a book before. We just chipped away at it.”
They were given four months to complete the book, including doing all the research and tracking down rare photographs. They met the deadline, surprising the publisher.
“We started with the pillars. If we were going to read a book on women’s basketball history, who are the big hitters we have to talk about? Cheryl Miller at USC. Title IX. What happened before the WNBA?” Robinson explained. “But the best part was going to those pillars and finding stories we didn’t even know existed. That’s when the rabbit holes started.”
From high school phenom Denise Long, who once scored more than 100 points in a single game, to the rise and fall of early professional leagues before the WNBA, Court Queens brings long-overlooked stories to light.
“One big one: before the WNBA existed, there were women drafted to the NBA. I don’t think a lot of people know that,” Robinson said.
Court Queens has something for sports fans and history buffs alike. The book also features rare images, many drawn from players’ personal collections. One of Robinson’s favorite sections is on the Women’s Basketball League (WBL), which was formed shortly after Title IX.
“We’re preserving history here,” she said. “These flyers and photos are going to flood memories back to people.”
Robinson noted her gratitude for public libraries and for her mentor, Dr. Dean Nelson, director of PLNU’s journalism program. Her parents, LaShawn and Jerold Ligons, and husband, Fred Robinson, lent her vital support.
“Without the support of my family, I wouldn’t have had the belief to say yes to something like this,” she said.
Court Queens is available through major book retailers.
