Ashley Walker (basketball)

Last updated

Ashley Walker
Personal information
Born (1987-02-24) February 24, 1987 (age 37)
Stockton, California
NationalityAmerican / Romanian
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school Grace M. Davis
(Modesto, California)
College California (2005–2009)
WNBA draft 2009: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Seattle Storm
Position Power forward / center
Career history
2009 Seattle Storm
2010 Tulsa Shock
2013 Connecticut Sun
2019 Los Angeles Sparks
Career highlights and awards
  • Third-team All-American – AP (2009)
  • All-American – USBWA (2009)
  • 2x First-team All Pac-10 (2008, 2009)
  • 2x Pac-10 All-Defensive Team (2008, 2009)
  • All Pac-10 (2007)
  • Pac-10 All-Freshman Team (2006)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Ashley Walker (born February 24, 1987) is an American-Romanian professional basketball player. She plays the forward position for the Reyer Venezia in the Italian Serie A1.

Contents

Personal life

She was born Ashley Jeneen Walker on February 24, 1987, in Stockton, California. Walker is the daughter of Tiran and Jackie Walker. She has an older brother, Tiran Jr., who plays basketball in England. Her relative James Hardy played basketball for the New Orleans/Utah Jazz of the NBA. She was an American Studies major at the University of California, Berkeley.

High School career

Ashley attended Grace M. Davis High School in Modesto, California. [1] She was named to the Cal-Hi Sports all-state team and league MVP as a senior after averaging 21 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and six blocks per game at Grace Davis. Walker also competed on the varsity volleyball team for four years and the track and field team for one year. She claimed the 2004 conference high jump title and was picked to the all-conference volleyball team three times. [2]

College career

Walker attended the University of California. She played four seasons with the Bears of Cal. She played the forward position and the center position. Walker was the only player in Cal history to score at least 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 200 assists, and 100 blocks. She recorded 47 career double-doubles. She is ranked first in Cal history for rebounds, free-throws made, and free-throws attempted.

As a freshman, she was one of three Cal players picked to the Pac-10 All-Freshman squad, marking the first time a conference team had more than two selections. As a sophomore Walker was selected to the All-Pac-10 team along with Devanei Hampton, marking only the second time in school history that the Bears placed two players on the All-Pac-10 squad. When she became a junior she became one of only four Cal players to garner first-team All-Pac-10 honors at least twice. She was named to the Pac-10 All-Defensive team and Sports Illustrated second-team All-American. As a junior, she became the 17th Cal player to reach the 1,000-point milestone. As a senior at Cal she was the 2008–09 Pac-10 scoring leader averaging 19.8 points per game. She was named to the First team All-Pac-10 and First team Pac-10 All-Defensive team. [3]

WNBA career

Walker declared for the WNBA draft after 4 seasons at the University of California. She was selected 12th overall in the 2009 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. [4] She joined WNBA veterans Sue Bird, Swin Cash, and Lauren Jackson. Seattle waived Ashley during the start of the 2010 season. She would then sign with the Tulsa Shock, but was later waived by them as well. In February 2011 she was signed to a training camp contract with the San Antonio Silver Stars for the upcoming season, but would be waived. She signed with the Washington Mystics for the 2012 season. Then, after a short period in Romania, she joined the Connecticut Sun in 2013. In February 2019, Walker signed with the Los Angeles Sparks. [5] She scored 28 points and eight rebounds in two games before being cut in training camp. Walker returned to the Sparks roster in June 2019 as a result of an injury hardship exception. [6] In her regular season debut with the Sparks on June 6, Walker posted two points, two rebounds, three assists, and one steal in a loss to the Connecticut Sun. [7]

International career

Walker signed to play with Maccabi Ashdod in Israel for the 2009–2010 off-season. [8] She would go on to take the league MVP honor after her season there, as her team was runner-up in the Israeli league finals. For the 2010–2011 season she would go back to Israel to play for Maccabi Ramat Hen. Prior to going back to Israel in 2010 she played in the Ukraine for Dynamo NPU. For the 2011-2012 WNBA off-season she would go to Turkey to play for Ceyhan Belediyespor. In 2013, she signed for CSM Târgovişte in Romania.

Statistics

College

Source [9]

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage 3P%  3-point field goal percentage FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2005-06 California 30 398 49.5 25.0 68.0 7.7 1.6 1.51.713.3
2006-07 California 32 552 53.2 - 76.7 8.7 2.2 1.3 1.3 17.3
2007-08 California 34520 51.4 - 78.19.32.41.2 1.3 15.3
2008-09 California 3467255.341.976.2 8.6 1.7 1.4 1.0 19.8
Career California 130 2142 52.7 35.0 75.3 8.6 2.0 1.4 1.3 16.5

WNBA

Legend
  GPGames 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 best°League leader

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
2009 Seattle 1306.9.250.167.8001.80.30.20.20.51.8
2010 Tulsa 204.5.000.000–0.00.01.00.01.00.0
2013 Connecticut 707.9.294.2501.0002.30.30.30.40.91.9
2019 Los Angeles 307.3.091.000–1.01.00.30.00.00.7
Career4 years, 4 teams2507.0.220.150.8181.70.40.30.20.61.5

Playoffs

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
2009 Seattle 101.0–––0.00.00.00.01.00.0

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References

  1. ↑ "Ashley Walker - Women's Basketball". California Golden Bears Athletics. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Cal player profile High School Section". Archived from the original on July 27, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Cal player profile". Archived from the original on July 27, 2011.
  4. ↑ Evans, Jayda (April 10, 2009). "Seattle Storm take Walker with the 12th pick". seattletimes.nwsource.com. The Seattle Times Company. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Sparks Sign Ashley Walker". sparks.wnba.com. February 6, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  6. ↑ Swanson, Mirjam (June 3, 2019). "Sparks bring back Ashley Walker using injury hardship exception". dailynews.com. Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Los Angeles Sparks @ Connecticut Sun: June 6, 2019". ESPN . June 6, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  8. ↑ Ansley, Erin (November 18, 2021). "Ashley Walker Scores Big as Assistant Basketball Coach at Boston University". uagc.edu. University of Arizona Global Campus. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
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