1996-2000: A standout guard for four seasons at Hutchinson High School, Whalen is recruited to the University of Minnesota by Gophers coach Cheryl Littlejohn.
2000-01: As a freshman, Whalen is the team MVP, but the Gophers finish 1-15 in the Big Ten and Littlejohn is fired. The Gophers average 1,087 fans per game.
2001-02: Under first-year coach Brenda Oldfield, the Gophers go 22-8 (11-5 in the Big Ten) and make the NCAA tournament. Whalen is Big Ten Player of the Year and an All-America.
August 2002: Whalen wins a gold medal with the U.S. at the world under-21 basketball tournament.
2002-03: Oldfield leaves for Maryland, but the Gophers make the Sweet 16 under new coach Pam Borton. Whalen again earns All-America honors.
2003-04: Whalen, an All-America for the third season, misses time because of a broken right hand but returns to combine with center Janel McCarville to lead the Gophers to the Final Four in New Orleans, where they lose to UConn 67-58 in the semifinals. The Gophers average 9,866 per game at Williams Arena.
April 17, 2004: The Lynx trade up to No. 6 in the WNBA draft in hopes Whalen will be available, but she is taken fourth overall by the Connecticut Sun. The Lynx get Nicole Ohlde of Kansas State instead.
2004: The Sun loses to Seattle in the WNBA Finals. Whalen is fifth in the league in assists. The Lynx sets a franchise single-game attendance record (16,227) when Whalen and the Sun play at Target Center.
Jan. 3, 2005: The Gophers retire Whalen's jersey No. 13. She has 2,285 career points, most in school history -- male or female. She gets her bachelor's degree in sports management that spring.
2005: The Sun goes to the WNBA Finals again, losing to Sacramento. Whalen misses one game in the finals and plays sparingly in the others because of a broken bone in her left leg.
2006: Whalen has surgery in January to repair ligaments in her left ankle. She finishes fourth in the WNBA in assists and the Sun gets to the semifinals in the playoffs. She spends the winter playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the Russian SuperLeague.
2007: Whalen leads the WNBA in assist average and narrowly misses becoming the second player in league history to average 10 points, five assists and five rebounds per game.
Oct. 6, 2007: Whalen marries former Gophers golfer Ben Greve at St. Anastasia Catholic Church in Hutchinson. She switches European teams, playing for USK Praha in the Czech Republic, the start of a three-year stint for that team.
2008: Whalen finishes second to Los Angeles' Candace Parker in the closest WNBA MVP voting ever (276.79-242.08), leading the league in assists and averaging more than 10 points, five rebounds and five assists per game. The Sun loses in the first round of the playoffs.
2009: The Sun misses the playoffs for the first time in Whalen's WNBA career.
Jan. 12, 2010: The Lynx trade the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft and guard Renee Montgomery -- the team's No. 1 pick out of UConn in 2009 -- to the Sun for Whalen and the No. 2 pick in the draft.
March 8, 2010: Whalen is named to the 20-player USA Basketball women's roster.
CHRIS MILLER
