Ann Wauters

Ann Wauters
Free Agent
Position Center
Personal information
Born (1980-10-12) October 12, 1980
Sint-Gillis-Waas, Belgium
Nationality Belgian
Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight 195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
WNBA draft 2000 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Cleveland Rockers
Playing career 1999–present
Career history
1999–2004 USV Olympic
2000–2002 Cleveland Rockers
2004–2005 New York Liberty
2005–2006 VBM-SGAU
2007–2009 WBC CSKA Moscow
2008–2009 San Antonio Silver Stars
2009–2010 UMMC Ekaterinburg
2011–2012 Ros Casares Valencia
2012 Seattle Storm
2012–2013 Galatasaray S.K.
2013–2014 UMMC Ekaterinburg
2014–2015 ESB Villeneuve-d'Ascq
2015–2016 Royal Castors Braine
2016 Galatasaray S.K.
2016 Los Angeles Sparks
2016–present AGÜ Spor
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Medals
EuroBasket
2017 Czech Republic

Ann Hilde Willy Wauters (born October 12, 1980) is a Belgian professional basketball player who is currently a playing overseas in Turkey for AGÜ Spor. Her primary position is center.

Early life

Born in Sint-Gillis-Waas, Belgium, Wauters began playing basketball at age 12. Her international professional basketball career began immediately after high school. She speaks Dutch, French and English. She wears jersey No. 12 because of her birthdate.

Professional career

WNBA

Wauters was drafted first overall in the 2000 WNBA Draft by the Cleveland Rockers at the age of 19, becoming the youngest player in the league at the time. She was also the first Belgian-born player in the WNBA. When the team selected her, she was considered a project and raw talent. Having only played basketball for 7 years prior to the draft, Wauters quickly blended in with the big-name centers.

In her rookie season, Wauters was a reserve on the Rockers' roster, averaging 6.7 ppg off the bench. The Rockers were second in the East with a 17-15 record, and were one win away from advancing to the Finals, but were defeated in 3 games by the New York Liberty in the Conference Finals.

After her second season, Wauters sat out the 2003 WNBA season in order to rest. The Rockers folded in 2003 and Wauters was moved to the New York Liberty the following year in a dispersal draft.[1] She played two seasons for the Liberty before taking another break from the WNBA in 2006. During her time with the Liberty, she was selected to play in the 2005 WNBA All-Star Game as a reserve.

In 2008, Wauters returned to the WNBA and was selected by the Atlanta Dream in the expansion draft.

On April 9, 2008, Wauters, along with Morenike Atunrase and a 2009 second round draft pick, was traded to the San Antonio Silver Stars for Camille Little, Chioma Nnamaka, and the Silver Stars' first round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft.[2] During her first season with the Silver Stars, she averaged a career-high 14.7 ppg as the team's starting center. Playing alongside Becky Hammon, the Silver Stars were also a championship contender in 2008, having finished first in the West with a 24-10 record and advancing all the way to the Finals but would get swept by the Detroit Shock.

Wauters played for the Silver Stars once again in 2009, but decided not to rejoin the team in 2010 to take another break; she also did not join the team in 2011 as she became pregnant.[3] In 2012, Wauters signed with the Seattle Storm. Wauters did not rejoin the Storm for the 2013 WNBA season in order to spend time with her family. After a 3-year break from the WNBA, Wauters signed with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016 and won her first WNBA Championship with the team after defeating the Minnesota Lynx in the Finals.[4]

Overseas

Throughout her basketball career, Wauters has gained more overseas experience than any other female player. Prior to her WNBA career, Wauters played in France for USV Olympic. After her rookie season in the WNBA, she played with the team for four more years during the off-season and won four consecutive championships. In the 2005-06 off-season, Wauters played in South Korea for VBM-SGAU and won a championship. From 2007 to 2009, Wauters played two off-seasons in Russia for CSKA Moscow. In the 2009-10 off-season, Wauters played for UMMC Ekaterinburg and won a championship with the team. In the 2011-12 off-season, Wauters played in Spain for Ros Casares Valencia, winning two championships with the team. In the 2012-13 off-season, Wauters played in Turkey for Galatasaray S.K. and won a Turkish Cup with the team. In the 2013-14 off-season, Wauters returned to UMMC Ekaterinburg and won her second Russian League championship with the team. In the 2014-15 off-season, Wauters played in France for ESB Villeneuve-d'Ascq, winning a EuroCup championship with the team. In the 2015-16 off-season, Wauters played in her home country for Royal Castors Braine in the first portion of the off-season and spent the second portion of the off-season playing for Galatasaray S.K. As of May 2016, Wauters signed with AGÜ Spor for the 2016-17 off-season.[5]

WNBA career statistics

Legend
  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

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2000 Cleveland 32 0 18.7 .523 .000 .741 4.0 1.2 0.6 0.7 1.9 6.2
2001 Cleveland 24 14 25.9 .569 .000 .800 4.8 1.5 0.7 0.5 2.0 9.8
2002 Cleveland 28 25 28.6 .553 .000 .851 5.0 1.4 0.5 0.7 2.1 11.2
2004 New York 13 4 20.8 .439 .333 .793 3.1 1.6 0.3 0.6 1.6 6.3
2005 New York 28 28 31.4 .541 1.000 .752 6.6 1.5 0.6 0.8 2.5 13.7
2008 San Antonio 32 31 30.6 .553 .355 .714 7.5 1.8 1.1 1.1 2.1 14.7
2009 San Antonio 17 16 27.2 .548 .167 .673 5.6 1.1 0.7 0.3 2.5 12.9
2012 Seattle 25 17 23.0 .519 .450 .737 5.8 1.4 0.5 0.7 2.2 9.6
2016 Los Angeles 21 1 4.6 .545 .000 .750 1.1 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.3 1.4
Career 9 years, 5 teams 220 136 24.0 .536 .358 .759 5.0 1.3 0.7 0.7 2.0 9.9

Postseason

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2000 Cleveland 6 0 17.8 .481 .000 .333 3.0 0.8 0.5 0.5 1.3 4.7
2001 Cleveland 3 3 28.7 .489 .000 .889 3.3 0.7 0.6 1.0 1.3 11.3
2008 San Antonio 9 9 33.3 .444 .083 .889 5.8 1.6 0.6 1.3 1.8 13.4
2009 San Antonio 3 3 27.3 .389 .000 .800 7.7 3.3 0.0 0.0 1.3 10.7
2012 Seattle 3 0 12.7 .250 .000 .500 2.3 1.0 0.3 0.3 0.0 2.7
2016 Los Angeles 2 0 2.3 .500 .000 .000 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 1.0
Career 6 years, 4 teams 26 15 23.8 .451 .067 .784 4.3 1.3 0.5 0.8 1.3 8.7

Personal life

In November 2010, Wauters' management announced she was 3 months pregnant with her first child, adding that this would not mean the end of her career. After the birth of her child, Wauters signed with Ros Casares Valencia in Spain. Her wife, Lot Wielfaert, was also pregnant and gave birth a month before Wauters.[6]

Awards and honors

Team

Individual

References

  1. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/sports/basketball/imported-wauters-boosts-the-liberty.html
  2. ↑ "WNBA: Silver Stars again make splash with draft-day trade".
  3. ↑ Silver Stars Center Ann Wauters Will Not Play In WNBA In 2010 Archived April 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ http://sparks.wnba.com/sparks-sign-veteran-center-ann-wauters/
  5. ↑ http://www.eurobasket.com/Turkey/news/447139/Abdullah-Gul-inks-Ann-Wauters
  6. ↑ "Echtgenote van Ann Wauters: 'Samen zwanger zijn is heerlijk'". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). November 16, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.