Leilani Mitchell

Leilani Mitchell
WNBA's Phoenix Mercury
Guard
Born June 15, 1985
Richland, Washington
Nationality American / Australian
Listed height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Listed weight 128 lb (58 kg)
High school Kennewick (Kennewick, Washington)
College Idaho (2003–2006)
Utah (2007–2008)
WNBA draft 25th overall, 2008
Phoenix Mercury
WNBA career 2008–present
Profile WNBA player profile
WNBA teams
New York Liberty (2008–2013)
Phoenix Mercury (2015–present)
Awards and honors
WNBA Most Improved Player (2010)

Leilani Seamah Mitchell (born June 15, 1985) is an American-Australian professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted 25th overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2008 WNBA Draft.[1] Having dual Australian and US citizenship, Mitchell pledged her allegiances to Australia before the 2014 World Championships in Turkey.[2][3]

Early life

Mitchell is the only daughter of Dennis Mitchell and Eleanor Majid. She has 5 brothers Tyler, Troy, Travis, Reggie, and Robbie. Mitchell is multiracial. Her father is American and her mother is Australian of Asian descent (specifically Filipino, Malaysian, Singaporean, Indian, and others).[4][5] Mitchell has dual citizenship in the United States of America and Australia.[6][7]

High School Career

Mitchell attended Kennewick High School in Kennewick, Washington. Mitchell was a four-year starter at Kennewick High School. Mitchell was named first-team all-state and all-conference as a junior and senior at Kennewick High School and earned Big Nine Conference Player of the Year honors as a senior. In four consecutive years, Mitchell led Kennewick High School to state championship games, including Kennewick's title-winning season of 2000.

College career

Mitchell played her first three years of college basketball at the University of Idaho. Mitchell rose to national prominence in her sophomore year, and was named honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press and the WBCA in 2005-06 She was named one of 11 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation's top point guard She led the WAC and ranked second in the nation in steals in 2005-06, averaging 4.0 per game. She ranked first in the WAC and 18th nationally in assists, averaging 5.6 per contest, and scored 17.6 points per game.

As a junior for Idaho, ranking second in the WAC and 50th in the nation Mitchell left Idaho with the school's career record for steals (323) and also a single-game record for three-pointers (seven). She was in the top 10 on four single-season and five career charts at Idaho Mitchell holds the WAC single-season record for steals. She also on four WAC career top 10-charts.

Mitchell then transferred to the University of Utah. She sat out the 2006-07 season under NCAA rules, and then played the 2007-08 season for Utah.[8] At Utah she dishes out 7.23 assists per game, and won five Mountain West Conference Player of the Week awards, more than any other player in the MWC. She has eight 20-point games this year. That count includes five 24-point outings and two season-high-tying 26-point games (at BYU and UNLV).

One of only six NCAA Division I players since 1999-2000 to compile 2,000 points/500 rebounds/500 assists/300 steals in her career others were Alana Beard (Duke), Shenise Johnson (Miami-Fla.), Maya Moore(Connecticut), Courtney Vandersloot(Gonzaga) and Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame).

College Statistics

  Leilani Mitchell College Statistics at Idaho/Utah
Year G FG FGA PCT 3FG 3FGA PCT FT FTA PCT REB AVG A TO B S MIN PTS AVG
2003–04 28 125 263 0.475 46 114 0.404 142 165 0.861 127 4.5 167 68 7 90 1043 438 15.6
2004-05 30 154 324 0.475 55 141 0.390 168 192 0.875 138 4.6 178 75 3 118 1122 531 17.7
2005-06 29 162 369 0.439 63 166 0.380 123 157 0.783 143 4.9 162 103 7 115 1124 510 17.6
2006–07 0 Did not play – transfer
2007-2008 32 182 386 0.472 43 112 0.384 129 161 0.801 131 4.1 240 108 3 65 1167 536 16.8
Totals 119 623 1342 0.464 207 533 0.388 562 675 0.833 539 4.5 744 354 20 382 4456 2015 16.9

Professional career

Mitchell was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury twenty-fifth overall in the second round of 2008 WNBA Draft.[9] Mitchell was then traded to the New York Liberty learned during the 2008 pre-season that the Mercury planned to cut Mitchell, the Liberty acquired Mitchell in a trade in exchange for a 2009 third round draft pick.[10]

Initially a bench player, Mitchell made her first professional start on June 6, 2008 in place of the injured Loree Moore. In her career start she had team-high 18 points going perfect 6-6 from the floor including 3-3 from three point range. During the 2008 season she developed a strong fan following and a reputation for fearlessness in grabbing loose balls and occasionally driving to the basket.

Mitchell scored 14 points in the Liberty's narrow loss to the Detroit Shock in Game 3 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals.

Mitchell became the regular starting point guard in the 2010 season, after the Liberty released Moore in the offseason. Mitchell led the WNBA in 3-point percentage at 48%, scored 9.3 points per game, and had 3.8 assists per game en route to winning the 2010 WNBA Most Improved Player Award.[11]

On September 2, 2011, Mitchell scored a career high 24 points in a win against the Minnesota Lynx. Mitchell voluntarily decided to skip the 2014 WNBA season to spend time with her family in Australia.

On April 21, 2014, Mitchell announced that she was taking the 2014 WNBA season off to spend the summer in Australia. As a result, on August 7, 2014, the Liberty waived Mitchell. [12]

On February 4, 2015, Mitchell signed with the Phoenix Mercury.[13]

European career

Mitchell has played for ASPTT Arras in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB), a French professional league, during the WNBA off-season.[5] For the 2009-10 season, Mitchell won the Import Player of the Year Award and was named to the LFB 1st Team.[14]

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

2008 New York 34 5 15.2 .371 .404 .810 2.9 1.7 0.5 0.1 1.26 3.9
2009 New York 34 2 14.3 .300 .269 1.000 2.2 1.2 0.3 0.1 1.35 2.4
2010 New York 34 30 28.8 .441 .486 .814 3.8 2.6 1.6 0.2 2.32 9.3
2011 New York 34 34 25.4 .375 .364 .800 2.9 2.1 1.3 0.1 2.26 5.6
2012 New York 34 25 26.7 .409 .411 .750 3.0 2.5 1.0 0.2 2.12 6.5
2013 New York 34 9 18.6 .406 .376 .857 1.9 2.1 0.8 0.1 1.09 5.0
Career New York 204 105 19.8 .435 .407 .824 2.8 2.0 0.9 0.1 1.74 5.4

Postseason

2008 New York 6 0 15.2 .371 .404 2.000 0.0 4.0 0.5 0.0 3.00 3.9
2010 New York 5 5 22.5 .545 .600 1.000 0.0 2.0 0.7 0.5 2.00 8.0
2011 New York 3 3 14.5 .414 .750 4.000 0.0 4.0 0.4 0.4 5.00 5.5
2012 New York 2 0 20.5 .505 .870 1.000 0.0 5.0 0.6 0.3 4.00 7.5
Career New York 17 0 22.5 .545 .600 1.000 0.0 4.0 0.5 0.4 3.00 8.0

See also

Reference list

External links