| WNBA's Washington Mystics – No. 22 | |||||||||||||
| Guard | |||||||||||||
| Born | May 7, 1986 | ||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Liberian | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg) | ||||||||||||
| College | Rutgers | ||||||||||||
| Draft | 5th overall, 2008 Houston Comets |
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| Profile | WNBA Info Page | ||||||||||||
| WNBA Teams | |||||||||||||
| Houston Comets (2008) Washington Mystics (2009–present) |
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Medal record
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Matee Ajavon (born May 7, 1986) is a Liberian American player in the WNBA for the Washington Mystics. A 5'8" guard, Ajavon was chosen by the Houston Comets as the fifth overall draft pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft.
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As a child, Ajavon immigrated to the United States with her family from Monrovia, Liberia.[1]
Ajavon graduated from Malcolm X Shabazz High School in Newark, New Jersey. She led the Shabazz girls' basketball team to victory in the State of New Jersey's "Tournament of Champions" in both 2003 and 2004, the first time a school had repeated as champion. Ajavon was named a WBCA All-American.[2] She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored nine points.[3]
Ajavon graduated from Rutgers University in 2008, having majored in Africana Studies. She was a key member of the 2006–2007 Scarlet Knights women's basketball team that reached the NCAA Championship game and subsequently found themselves caught up in media furor over racially tinged comments by radio host Don Imus.
Ajavon played for the USA team in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The team won all five games, earning the Gold Medal for the event.[4]
Ajavon played primarily off the bench during her rookie WNBA season, but averaged 8.0 points per game. When the Houston Comets folded in 2008, Ajavon was selected second in the dispersal draft by the Washington Mystics.
During the 2008–2010 WNBA offseason, Ajavon played in the EuroLeague Women for Fenerbahçe Istanbul.[5]
In her first season with Washington, Ajavon put up remarkably similar numbers to her first WNBA campaign. Again mainly playing as a reserve, she scored 8.0 points per game. Ajavon helped the Mystics reach the playoffs, where she played well, scoring 19 points in just 34 total minutes, but Washington suffered a two-game sweep at the hands of the Indiana Fever.
| Legend | |||||||||||||
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| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game |
| PPG | Points per game | TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | Bold | Career high | League leader | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Houston | 34 | 2 | 17.8 | .332 | .194 | .791 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.59 | 8.0 |
| 2009 | Washington | 34 | 4 | 17.3 | .336 | .341 | .673 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.47 | 8.0 |
| 2010 | Washington | 34 | 0 | 14.6 | .346 | .184 | .773 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.53 | 5.9 |
| 2011 | Washington | 34 | 33 | 31.3 | .391 | .276 | .829 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 3.09 | 14.7 |
| Career | 4 years, 2 teams | 136 | 39 | 20.2 | .358 | .262 | .769 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 1.92 | 9.2 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Washington | 2 | 0 | 17.0 | .375 | .250 | .833 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.00 | 9.5 |
| 2010 | Washington | 2 | 0 | 17.5 | .440 | .400 | .750 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1.00 | 18.0 |
| Career | 2 years, 1 team | 4 | 0 | 17.3 | .415 | .308 | .773 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 1.00 | 13.8 |
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