Danielle E'Shawn Adams (born February 19, 1989) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

forward-center Forward–center is a basketball basketball positions, position for players who play or have played both Basketball positions#Frontcourt (forwards and center), forward and center (basketball), center on a consistent basis. Typically, this means ...

who played in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). She played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. She is the first Texas A&M player to be named an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. She also captured first team All-American honors from the WBCA. She was the Most Outstanding Player in the

2011 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 2011 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 19, 2011, and concluded on April 5, 2011. The 2010-11 Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team, Texas A&M Aggies won the championship, defeating the 2010–11 Notre Dame Fight ...

championship, scoring 30 points. The 30 points rank second in NCAA Championship Game history.

College career

Born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, Adams began her college career at Jefferson College. She earned Junior College All-American honors both years at the school, and as a sophomore, led her team to a runner-up finish at the NJCAA DI Women's Basketball Championship and a 34–1 record. Following the completion of her sophomore year at the two-year school, she contemplated where to play the next two years. Two of the schools she considered were

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

and Texas A&M. Although her coach recommended Louisville, she decided that Texas A&M would be a better choice to prepare her for the future. She came into A&M weighing 280 pounds. With support from the coaching staff, including conditioning coach Jen Jones, she slimmed down to 230 pounds her senior year. As a result, she was able to play "longer and harder" which helped her to become a first team All-American. In her junior year, she came off the bench and played just over 23 minutes per game. As a senior, she started, and was able to play 35 minutes per game. To get to the Final Four, Adams would have to help her team beat Baylor, a task that has been difficult recently. Baylor beat Texas A&M in both regular season meetings, and in the Big Twelve conference tournament game. In that game, Texas A&M held a lead late, but could not hold on to win. In the Dallas regional Final, Texas A&M pulled out to a large lead, and was leading by 16 points almost halfway through the second half, when Baylor tried to mount a comeback. Baylor cut the margin to seven points, but could not get any closer, and Texas A&M went on to win the first game in their last nine meetings, and move on to the Final Four. In the National Championship game against Notre Dame, the Irish were leading at halftime by two points, but extended the lead with a 7–3 run to start the second half. During a media time out the Texas A&M coaching staff told Adams to go inside. She ended up scoring 30 points, second most in NCAA Championship history and earning the award for Most Outstanding Player. She is only the second player, after

Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2 ...

to come from the junior college ranks and go on to win a Most Outstanding Player award. Swoopes is also the only player to score more than Adams in a title game. After scoring only eight points in the first half, she scored ten consecutive points by herself in the second half, as part of a 15–5 run that gave the Aggies the lead. Notre Dame would tie the game later, but Adams responded with two consecutive baskets to give her team a lead it would never relinquish.

Professional career

Adams was selected in the second round of the

2011 WNBA draft The 2011 WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 11, 2011, at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut. The first round ...

(20th overall) by the

San Antonio Silver Stars The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before th ...

. On June 11, 2011, she scored 32 points against the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Dream compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded for the ...

, setting the franchise's rookie record. She was also named the Rookie of the Month for the month of June. Adams was named as a reserve to the roster of the All-Star team for the 2011 WNBA All-Star game, along with

Silver Stars The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an ...

teammate

Becky Hammon Rebecca Lynn Hammon (Russian: Ребекка Линн Хэммон; born March 11, 1977) is a Russian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Assoc ...

. The reserves were selected by the twelve head coaches of the WNBA teams; each coach is not permitted to vote for their own players. At the time of the decision, Adams was the leading scorer among rookies in the league, with a scoring average of 15.6 points per game. She also received more write-in votes than any other player. Adams was one of four rookies on the All-Star team, the other three being

Maya Moore Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American social justice advocate and former professional basketball player. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the "greatest winner in the hist ...

Courtney Vandersloot Courtney Vandersloot (born February 8, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a five-time WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA champion. She has also playe ...

and

Liz Cambage Elizabeth Folake "Liz" Cambage ( ; born 18 August 1991) is a British-born Australian professional basketball player for the Sichuan Yuanda of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association. She won the Women's National Basketball League in 2011 and ...

. Adams was suspended on July 29, 2015, by the WNBA for three games without pay due to violation of the league's Anti-Drug Policy for unspecified charges. Adams admitted she was guilty and apologized to her teammates and the community. She was waived by the San Antonio Stars in April 2016. In February 2017, Adams signed a training camp contract with the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

. In April 2017, she made the final roster for the team.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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, 34, , 5, , 20.2, , 44.1, , 33.9, , 75.9, , 4.7, , 1.0, , 0.7, , 0.7, , 1.2, , 11.8 , - , align="left" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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, 34, , 24, , 26.4, , 42.6, , 32.6, , 70.7, , 4.7, , 1.2, , 0.9, , 0.7, , 1.8, , 14.4 , - , align="left" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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, 34, , 14, , 20.6, , 40.7, , 30.7, , 79.7, , 4.1, , 0.9, , 0.6, , 0.7, , 1.3, , 10.9 , - , align="left" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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, 30, , 2, , 16.1, , 41.4, , 32.4, , 82.7, , 3.3, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 0.3, , 1.2, , 7.4 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , ''2016'' , style="text-align:center;" colspan="13" , ''Did not play (waived)'' , - , align="left" ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, 19, , 0, , 4.4, , 35.6, , 38.7, , 100.0, , 0.6, , 0.2, , 0.2, , 0.2, , 0.4, , 2.6 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" rowspan=2, Career , align="left" , 6 years, 2 teams , 174, , 45, , 19.1, , 42.2, , 33.2, , 75.7, , 3.9, , 0.8, , 0.6, , 0.6, , 1.2, , 10.5 , - class="sortbottom" , align=center, All-Star , 1, , 0, , 8.0, , .200, , .000, , —, , 4.0, , 0.0, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 2.0

Playoffs

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, 3, , 0, , 23.0, , 48.0, , 25.0, , 75.0, , 3.3, , 0.7, , 0.7, , 0.3, , 0.7, , 10.7 , - , align="left" ,

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, 2, , 0, , 22.0, , 50.0, , 28.6, , 87.5, , 6.5, , 0.5, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 1.0, , 14.5 , - , align="left" ,

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, 2, , 2, , 30.0, , 56.5, , 33.3, , 75.0, , 8.5, , 1.5, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 1.5, , 17.5 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 3 years, 1 team , 7, , 2, , 24.7, , 51.5, , 29.2, , 79.2, , 5.7, , 0.9, , 0.6, , 0.7, , 1.0, , 13.7

College

Personal life

She is the daughter of Tiffany Hill and also has a younger sister.

Awards and honors

* 2009—State Farm/WBCA Junior College Player of the Year * 2010—Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player * 2011—NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player * 2011—WNBA All-Rookie Team * 2016—National Junior College Athletic Association's women's basketball Hall of Fame

References

External links

WNBA player page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Danielle 1989 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American women's basketball players Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri Centers (basketball) Connecticut Sun players Jefferson College (Missouri) alumni Junior college women's basketball players in the United States Power forwards San Antonio Silver Stars draft picks San Antonio Stars players Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball players WNBA All-Stars

College career

Professional career

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

Playoffs

College

Personal life

Awards and honors

Further reading

References

External links