Mercedes Russell

Last updated

Mercedes Russell
Mercedes Russell (cropped).jpg
Russell in 2019
No. 21Seattle Storm
Position Center
League WNBA
Personal information
Born (1995-07-27) July 27, 1995 (age 28)
Springfield, Oregon, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school Springfield (Springfield, Oregon)
College Tennessee (2013–2018)
WNBA draft 2018: 2nd round, 22nd overall pick
Selected by the New York Liberty
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018 New York Liberty
2018–present Seattle Storm
2019–2020 Southside Flyers
2020–2021 Galatasaray
2023–2024Southside Flyers
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2012 U17 Amsterdam Team competition

Mercedes Brianna Russell (born July 27, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted 22nd overall by the New York Liberty in the 2018 WNBA draft. Russell played center for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team in college. [1] In high school, she was named 2013 Gatorade Girls' Basketball Player of the Year.

Contents

Russell was MVP of the 2013 McDonalds All-American game 20130403 Mercedes Russell MCDAAG Girls MVP.JPG
Russell was MVP of the 2013 McDonalds All-American game

College

Russell played college basketball at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee for the Lady Volunteers. [2]

Statistics

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
2013–14 Tennessee 35518.5.596.000.5145.00.50.41.11.26.3
2014–15 Tennessee Injured
2015–16 Tennessee 363129.3.548.000.5458.30.80.41.81.69.9
2016–17 Tennessee 323234.6.562.000.6719.71.20.71.42.016.1
2017–18 Tennessee 333332.7.583.000.6829.20.81.11.31.415.3
Career13610128.6.570.000.6228.00.80.61.41.611.7

Career

WNBA

At the 2018 WNBA draft, Russell was drafted in the second round by the New York Liberty. After making her WNBA debut with the Liberty, Russell was waived and soon after picked up by the Seattle Storm. [3] In joining the Storm's line-up featuring players such as Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Natasha Howard, Russell would take home a WNBA Championship in her first professional season.

WNBL

In 2019, Russell was signed by the newly rebranded Southside Flyers in Australia's Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). [4] There she would play alongside the likes of Leilani Mitchell and Jenna O'Hea.

With the Flyers in the 2023–24 WNBL season, Russell helped the team win the championship while earning grand final MVP honours. [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
2018 New York 2016.0.333.7501.51.01.00.50.52.5
Seattle 2204.6.484.5001.40.10.00.10.31.6
2019 Seattle 343025.6.520.6466.11.01.10.51.07.5
2020 Seattle 22213.8.410.5603.20.60.40.40.73.5
2021 Seattle 302824.7.617.7666.11.60.90.41.37.3
2022 Seattle 5010.8.500.6671.80.20.00.01.42.0
2023 Seattle 371319.1.516.000.6054.01.30.40.51.55.0
Career6 years, 2 teams1527318.5.525.000.6514.31.00.60.41.05.2

Postseason

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
2018 Seattle 104.0.1.00.00.00.00.00.0
2019 Seattle 2232.0.7691.0008.52.00.01.01.011.5
2020 Seattle 6017.5.6191.0003.81.00.20.20.85.2
2021 Seattle 1145.0.55612.04.00.02.00.010.0
Career4 years, 1 team10321.8.6511.0005.31.40.10.50.76.4

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candace Parker</span> American basketball player

Candace Nicole Parker nicknamed "Ace", is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time, she was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. She spent 13 seasons on the Sparks, two seasons with the Chicago Sky, and as of 2023 has spent one season with the Las Vegas Aces, winning a championship with each team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanisha Wright</span> American basketball player

Tanisha Lovely Wright is an American basketball coach and former player. Wright is currently the head coach of the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA. She began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Charlotte. As a player, Wright played 14 WNBA seasons for the Seattle Storm, New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx and played college basketball for the Penn State Nittany Lions. During her junior season, Tanisha helped led her team to the Elite Eight, where they fell to the eventual national champion, Connecticut. She ranks fourth in school history in points scored with 1,995 points in 134 career games for Penn State. She was drafted in the 2005 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtney Paris</span> American basketball player and coach

Courtney Paris is an American basketball coach and former player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. She last played as a center for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is best known for her accomplishments during her college career at the University of Oklahoma, where she holds career averages of 21.4 points and 15.3 rebounds per game. She holds the NCAA record for most consecutive double-doubles at 112. During her senior season in 2009, Paris received considerable media attention when she announced that she would pay back her tuition to the University of Oklahoma if the Sooners did not win the 2009 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. She would lead Oklahoma to the Final Four before falling short to eventual national runner-up Louisville. Paris was selected with the number seven overall pick by the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs in the 2009 WNBA draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kia Vaughn</span> American-born Czech basketball player

Kia Vaughn is an American-born former professional basketball player. She last played for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) She attended high school at St. Michael's All Girls High School in New York, and later went on to star at Rutgers University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leilani Mitchell</span> American-Australian basketball player

Leilani Seamah Mitchell is an American-Australian professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. Mitchell was drafted 25th overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2008 WNBA draft. A dual citizen of the United States and Australia, she is a member of Australian women's national basketball team. In 2019 Mitchell became the first WNBA player to win the Most Improved Player Award twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristy Wallace</span> Australian basketball player

Kristy Wallace is an Australian basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA and for the Melbourne Boomers of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shavonte Zellous</span> American-Croatian basketball player

Shavonte Zellous is an American-Croatian professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She was a standout basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh. Zellous was drafted 11th in the first round of the 2009 WNBA draft by the Shock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alysha Clark</span> American basketball player

Alysha Angelica Clark is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Israeli team Elitzur Ramla. In college, she led the NCAA in scoring three years in a row. She was drafted in the second round of the 2010 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Silver Stars. In 2018, Clark won a championship with the Seattle Storm as they swept the Mystics in the 2018 WNBA Finals, and in 2020 won her second championship as the Storm swept the Las Vegas Aces. She won her third WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023. She was also the Most Valuable Player in the league in 2018 when her team CCC Polkowice of Poland in the Basket Liga Kobiet Basketball won that league's championship. In 2019, she won a Ligue Féminine de Basketball championship with her French team, Lyon Asvel. Clark is known for her swarming defense and clutch shooting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natasha Howard</span> American basketball player

Natasha Howard is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Fenerbahçe of the Women's Basketball Super League EuroLeague Women. Howard was the 2019 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. She was drafted in 2014 by the Indiana Fever. Born in Toledo, Ohio, she played college basketball for Florida State University, where she finished sixth in the NCAA for field goal percentage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meighan Simmons</span> American basketball player

Meighan Sharee Simmons is a professional basketball Guard. She was selected in the third round of the 2014 WNBA draft, 26th overall. Meighan was born in Cibolo, Texas and attended the University of Tennessee. She was nicknamed "Speedy" by legendary Tennessee Women's Basketball coach Pat Summitt. She played overseas in Romania in 2015 for ICIM Arad leading the team in scoring with 16.4 points per game and averaged almost 4 assists and 4 rebounds as well, shooting 55% from the floor and 36% from 3 point range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Talbot</span> Australian basketball player

Stephanie Talbot is an Australian professional basketball player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewell Loyd</span> American basketball player (born 1993)

Jewell Loyd is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overall in the 2015 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. She played college basketball at Notre Dame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sami Whitcomb</span> American-Australian basketball player

Samantha Allison Whitcomb is an American-Australian professional basketball player for the Townsville Fire of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She is also contracted with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Washington Huskies before making a name for herself in Australia with the Rockingham Flames in the State Basketball League (SBL) and the Perth Lynx in the WNBL. She made her debut in the WNBA in 2017 and won championships with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020. She became an Australian citizen in 2018 and made her debut for the Australian Opals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diamond DeShields</span> American basketball player

Diamond Danae-Aziza DeShields is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the third overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft, and won a championship with the Sky in 2021. She is the daughter of former MLB player Delino DeShields and the younger sister of MLB player Delino DeShields Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Seattle Storm season</span>

The 2019 WNBA season was the 20th season for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on May 25 with a game against the Phoenix Mercury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aari McDonald</span> American basketball player

Aarion Shawnae McDonald is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and for the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in Australia. She was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the 2021 WNBA draft after playing college basketball at the University of Washington and the University of Arizona.

Tiffani Tamara Johnson is an American former professional basketball player. She played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for the Sacramento Monarchs, Houston Comets and Seattle Storm. Johnson won a WNBA championship with the Comets in 2000. She played college basketball for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers and won two NCAA championships in 1996 and 1997.

Evina Westbrook is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. She most recently played for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at UConn and Tennessee. She was selected in the 2nd Round of the 2022 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. During her time in the WNBA, Westbrook has played for the Minnesota Lynx and the Washington Mystics.

Rae Burrell is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers after attending Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada, where she was named the Las Vegas Review-Journal Best of Nevada Preps Female Athlete of the Year in 2018.

Teana Muldrow is an American professional basketball player. She was drafted by the Seattle Storm in the 2018 WNBA Draft and played for the Storm and the Dallas Wings in her career. She played college basketball at West Virginia.

References

  1. Greif, Andrew (April 14, 2018). "Marie Gulich leads 4 players with Oregon ties selected in 2018 WNBA draft". The Oregonian. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  2. "Mercedes Russell - Women's Basketball - University of Tennessee Athletics". utsports.com.
  3. "Seattle Storm Signs Mercedes Russell". storm.wnba.com.
  4. "Southside Flyers on Facebook". Facebook . Archived from the original on April 30, 2022.[ user-generated source ]
  5. "WNBL24 SOUTHSIDE FLYERS CYGNETT WNBL CHAMPIONS". wnbl.basketball. March 17, 2024. Retrieved March 17, 2024.