DeMya Walker

Last updated

DeMya Walker
Personal information
Born (1977-11-28) November 28, 1977 (age 47)
Mount Holly, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school Rancocas Valley
(Mount Holly, New Jersey)
College Virginia (1995–1999)
WNBA draft 1999: undrafted
Playing career1999–present
Position Forward
Career history
2000–2002 Portland Fire
2003–2009 Sacramento Monarchs
2010–2011 Connecticut Sun
2011 Washington Mystics
2012–2013 New York Liberty
Career highlights
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Medals
Women's Basketball
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Pan American Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1999 Winnipeg Team

DeMya Chakheia Walker (born November 28, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player.

Contents

High school

Walker was born and grew up in Mount Holly, New Jersey, where she attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School and she set school records for career rebounds (851), rebound average per game (14.2 rpg), most rebounds in a game (29), most points in a season (675), and most career points (1,546). [1]

In her senior year, she was named to the 1995 All-American first team by Street & Smith's New Jersey High School "Female Athlete of the Year", and Parade Magazine All-America Second Team as a high school senior.

University of Virginia

Walker attended the University of Virginia and played on the women's basketball team (known as The Cavaliers) from 1995 to 1999.

By the time she graduated, she became Virginia's all-time leader in field goal percentage, as well as 332 career blocked shots [2] which at the time was ranked 12th in the NCAA record books. She averaged 13.0 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game during her career.

Her 1,583 points ranks her ninth in school history.

She was named the "Cavalier of the Year", and was an Honorable Mention All-America selection in her senior year (1998-99 season) after leading the team in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots.

She is also a member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.

USA Basketball

Walker was selected to play with the USA team at the 1999 Pan American Games. The team finished with a record of 4–3, but won the bronze medal with an 85–59 victory over Brazil. Walker averaged 1.6 points per game. [3]

WNBA career

Despite her impressive career in college, Walker was not selected by any of the WNBA teams during the 1999 WNBA draft, mainly due to the influx of former players from the just-disbanded American Basketball League (ABL), a rival professional women's league. Several of the ABL's star players were selected in that year's draft.

However, prior to the start of the 1999 WNBA season, Walker was assigned to the Minnesota Lynx for its pre-season training camp, but was cut from the team final roster shortly afterwards. Walker spent that summer playing overseas on a professional women's league team in Italy.

In 2000, she signed a free agent contract with the Portland Fire, and played with them for three seasons until the team was disbanded due to financial difficulties at the end of the 2002 season.

On April 24, 2003, the WNBA held a dispersal draft, where various former players from the newly-defunct Portland Fire and Miami Sol teams were chosen by the existing WNBA teams. [4] Walker was selected by the Sacramento Monarchs as the fifth overall pick in this draft. [4] Walker played the 2003–08 seasons with the Monarchs, and even helped the team win the 2005 WNBA Finals by defeating the Connecticut Sun, three games to one.

When the Monarchs folded prior to the 2010 WNBA season, Walker was selected by the Connecticut Sun in the 2010 dispersal draft. [5]

Career statistics

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

WNBA

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
2000 Portland 30110.439.80.046.81.60.60.60.21.23.1
2001 Portland 21014.144.066.757.52.80.50.30.61.75.4
2002 Portland 312927.448.416.762.15.01.60.81.12.910.9
2003 Sacramento 342121.845.913.358.04.41.40.70.72.09.0
2004 Sacramento 343426.041.60.060.24.22.50.80.42.58.4
2005 Sacramento 221927.253.4100.064.55.32.21.30.63.114.1
2006 Sacramento 23818.943.60.065.54.01.40.70.31.69.3
2007 Sacramento 5521.040.50.071.45.01.20.60.63.08.8
2008 Sacramento 707.445.50.050.00.90.10.70.01.41.6
2009 Sacramento 343024.147.60.072.64.61.90.80.52.78.6
2010 Connecticut 31211.041.90.082.62.10.80.50.21.34.1
2011 Connecticut 1008.042.10.072.71.60.00.20.01.12.4
Washington 20520.539.20.073.74.01.20.40.41.76.3
2012 New York 33815.939.40.059.32.81.00.50.51.93.0
Career13 years, 5 teams33516219.245.114.063.53.61.30.70.52.07.1

Playoffs

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
2003 Sacramento 6628.343.60.055.04.51.70.20.53.59.8
2004 Sacramento 6628.855.60.064.73.32.31.01.33.011.8
2005 Sacramento 6027.550.00.075.03.03.50.50.02.810.2
2006 Sacramento 9924.444.10.056.54.12.60.70.62.210.6
2008 Sacramento 3015.750.00.080.04.70.30.70.02.06.7
2012 New York 209.50.00.050.03.00.00.00.51.00.5
Career6 years, 2 teams322124.847.60.062.03.82.20.60.52.69.6

College

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
1995–96 Virginia 33--52.20.052.16.30.60.92.1-7.6
1996–97 Virginia 31--59.80.072.77.51.41.52.7-13.7
1997–98 Virginia 29--55.214.363.28.41.92.03.3-16.3
1998–99 Virginia 29--54.928.666.04.62.81.92.9-15.0
Career122--55.721.764.96.71.61.62.7-13.0
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference. [6]

Personal

References

  1. Staff. "Monarchs' Newton and Walker have work to do", The Philadelphia Inquirer , September 14, 2005. Accessed March 1, 2011. "Walker, who is from Mount Holly, Burlington County, starred at Rancocas Valley High School in the early 1990s and then at Virginia."
  2. "The Ultimate Virginia Basketball Players: A roundup of the best to ever take the floor for the Cavaliers". Virginia Magazine (Winter 2007). Retrieved December 20, 2024.
  3. "Thirteenth Pan American Games -- 1999". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "PLUS: W.N.B.A.; Dispersal Draft Scatters 2 Rosters". The New York Times . April 25, 2003. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  5. "Sacramento Monarchs Dispersal Draft Analysis". WNBA. December 14, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  6. "DeMya Walker College Stats". Sports-Reference . Retrieved July 7, 2024.