Osaretin Evelyn Akhator (born 3 February 1995) is a Nigerian 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 for Landerneau Bretagne Basket of the

Ligue Féminine de Basketball The Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB; ''Women's Basketball League'') is the top women's France, French professional basketball league. The LFB authorities announced that the championship is renamed La Boulangère Wonderligue (LBWL) as for the se ...

. She was drafted by the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Wings compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team is owned by a group ...

of 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) as the 3rd overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft.

WNBA career

Evelyn was drafted as the 3rd overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft by the

. She played 15 games in her rookie season for the Dallas side where she averaged 0.9 points per game, 0.2 blocks per game, 0.1 steal per game. She was waived by the

on 13 May 2018. On 13 February 2019, Akhator returned to the WNBA by signing for the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2006 season. Th ...

on a training camp deal.

International career

Evelyn Represents the

Nigerian national basketball team The Nigeria men's national basketball team represents Nigeria in international basketball, and it is governed by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). In March 2021, the global governing body FIBA ranked Nigeria as Africa's top men's baske ...

. She made her first appearance for the team during the 2017

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

Afrobasket tournament in Mali. Evelyn averaged 15.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game during the tournament and also made the top 5 players list. Evelyn was part of the

at the

2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup The 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, the 18th edition of FIBA's premier international tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain from 22 to 30 September 2018. This was the first edition to ...

where she averaged 12.6 points,9 rebounds and 1.4 assists during the tournament.

Overseas career

Akhator signed with the Russian side WBC Dynamo Novosibirsk in 2017. She averaged 12.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. On 22 August 2018, Akhator signed with the Turkish Besiktas basketball team. She averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds per game in the Turkish league, and she averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds in the Eurocup tournament, having played more than 30 minutes per game in both competitions. Ahkator signed with the Spanish side

CB Avenida Perfumerías Avenida Baloncesto formerly C.B. Halcón Viajes, is a women's professional basketball team based in Salamanca, Spain. The team currently plays in the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto. In 2011 Perfumerías Avenida won the Euroleague Women, ...

on 15 May 2019. In November, 2019, Ahkator signed with the French side

Flammes Carolo The Flammes Carolo Basket Ardennes is a French professional women's basketball club from Charleville-Mezieres, that currently plays in the La Boulangère Wonderligue (French's first division for women's basketball). Team history Honours * Li ...

basketball team. Akhator signed with

Basket Landes The Basket Landes is a French professional women's basketball club from Mont de Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Populati ...

for the 2022–2023 season. In June 2023, she signed with Landerneau Bretagne Basket.

Career statistics

College

Source

WNBA regular season

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Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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Awards and recognition

In the 2018 Nigerian Sports Awards, Akhator won the Best Sportwoman award and the Basketball player award.

Personal life

Akhator is from a family of three. Her parents and her older sibling reside in Nigeria. Her mother Benedicta died in a road accident.

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhator, Evelyn 1995 births Beşiktaş women's basketball players Centers (basketball) Chipola Indians women's basketball players Dallas Wings draft picks Dallas Wings players Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball players Living people Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Russia Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Nigerian women's basketball players 21st-century Nigerian sportswomen Power forwards Basketball players from Lagos Nigeria women's national basketball team players