Jamie Leigh Carey was born on March 12, 1981 in Hutchinson, Kansas to Mike and Debbie Carey.

High School

Jamie attended Horizon High School in Thornton, Colorado. She graduated as class valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA.

Jamie led the state of Colorado in scoring in 1999, while guiding her high school team to the final eight in the state tournament. She was also named 1999 First Team Parade All-American, and also earned both Regional and Gatorade Player of the Year honors.

She was captain of the 1998 U.S. World Youth Games team which earned a bronze medal.

University

Jamie attended Stanford University for the first three years of her career, playing for Tara VanDerveer, and transferred to the University of Texas at Austin to play for a further three years for Jody Conradt. She majored in sociology.

In her freshman year at Stanford, 1999, Jamie earned the PAC-10 Conference "Freshman of the Year" honors and broke Stanford's single season record for three pointers made with 81. She also suffered several concussions, with repercussions that would affect her for the next year.

Jamie was forced to sit out the 2000-01 season because of post-concussive symptoms and ankle injuries.

Jamie transferred to the University of Texas at Austin in 2002 and played three seasons there after successfully petitioning for a fifth and sixth year of NCAA eligibility.

Jamie was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in 2005 with the 31st overall pick. She was cut during training camp, however, but signed immediately by the Connecticut Sun.