Monica Wright Rogers Named First General Manager of Toronto Tempo

TORONTO — Virginia’s all-time leading scorer, Monica Wright Rogers, has been named the first general manager of the Toronto Tempo, Canada’s first WNBA team, the club announced Thursday (Feb. 20).

Wright Rogers will lead basketball operations for the Tempo including the hiring of a head coach and building out the roster for the team’s inaugural season. A WNBA champion and All-American at Virginia, Wright Rogers joins the Tempo from the Phoenix Mercury, where she held the position of assistant general manager.

Wright Rogers holds Virginia’s career scoring record with 2,540 points and ranks fourth in career steals with 372. She scored a single-season program record 734 points while collecting 115 steals in her senior campaign on her way to AP, WBCA State Farm Coaches, and USBWA All-American honors in 2010. She was also named WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. She returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach for two seasons (2020-21) and her retired No. 22 jersey hangs in the rafters at John Paul Jones Arena.

After playing at UVA, Wright Rogers was selected by the Minnesota Lynx as the second overall pick in the 2010 WNBA draft. She was named to the 2010 WNBA All-Rookie Team averaging 11.1 points per game in her first season in the league. She won WNBA titles with the Lynx in 2011 and 2013. During Minnesota’s 3-0 sweep of the Atlanta Dream in the 2013 WNBA Finals, she averaged 11.7 points and 1.7 steals per game. Wright Rogers, who also spent time with the Seattle Storm during her WNBA career, served as secretary/treasurer for the WNBA Players Association during the 2015 season.

“The excitement about this team, and around women’s sports in general in Canada right now is palpable,” Wright Rogers said. “To have the opportunity to play such a key role in building this team in this country at this moment is an honor. I am truly fortunate to be leading this franchise alongside impressive figures like Teresa and Larry and I thank them for entrusting me to put together a team as vibrant, passionate and dynamic as the city it calls home. Sports fans around the world should keep an eye on us.”

About Toronto Tempo
In May 2024, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced its expansion into Canada by awarding Toronto an expansion team, the league’s first outside the United States. The new team, owned and operated by Kilmer Sports Ventures, will begin play in the 2026 season as the WNBA’s 14th franchise. Sephora Canada is the team’s first announced founding partner. Larry Tanenbaum, Chairman of Kilmer Sports Ventures and a 30-year veteran of building championship-caliber teams, is also Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors and Chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, MLS’ Toronto FC and other professional sports franchises. Under his leadership, the Raptors won their first NBA championship in 2019.