Matee Ajavon (born May 7, 1986) is a Liberian American basketball player. A 5'8" guard, Ajavon was chosen by the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

as the fifth overall draft pick in the

2008 WNBA Draft The WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which Women's National Basketball Association teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The 2008 draft was held on April 9. A lottery was held on October ...

Early life

As a child, Ajavon immigrated to the United States with her family from Monrovia, Liberia.

High school

Ajavon graduated from Malcolm X Shabazz High School in Newark, New Jersey. She led the Shabazz girls' basketball team to victory in the State of New Jersey's "Tournament of Champions" in both 2003 and 2004, the first time a school had repeated as champion. Ajavon was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored nine points.

College

Ajavon graduated from Rutgers University in 2008, having majored in Africana Studies. She was a key member of the 2006–2007 Scarlet Knights women's basketball team that reached the NCAA Championship game.

College statistics

Source

USA Basketball

Ajavon played for the USA team in the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The team won all five games, earning the gold medal for the event.

Professional

Ajavon played primarily off the bench during her rookie WNBA season, but averaged 8.0 points per game. When the

folded in 2008, Ajavon was selected second in the dispersal draft by the Washington Mystics. During the 2008–2010 WNBA offseason, Ajavon played in the EuroLeague Women for Fenerbahçe Istanbul. In her first season with Washington, Ajavon put up remarkably similar numbers to her first WNBA campaign. Again mainly playing as a reserve, she scored 8.0 points per game. Ajavon helped the Mystics reach the playoffs, where she played well, scoring 19 points in just 34 total minutes, but Washington suffered a two-game sweep at the hands of the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, align="left" , Houston , 34 , , 2 , , 17.8 , , .332 , , .194 , , .791 , , 1.8 , , 1.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 1.5 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, align="left" , Washington , 34 , , 4 , , 17.3 , , .336 , , .341 , , .673 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 1.4 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, align="left" , Washington , 34 , , 0 , , 14.6 , , .346 , , .184 , , .773 , , 1.6 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 1.5 , , 5.9 , - , align="left" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, align="left" , Washington , 34 , , 33 , , 31.3 , , .391 , , .276 , , .829 , , 2.4 , , 3.1 , , 1.7 , , 0.3 , , 3.0 , , 14.7 , - , align="left" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, align="left" , Washington , 33 , , 22 , , 21.6 , , .299 , , .301 , , .827 , , 1.8 , , 2.0 , , 1.6, , 0.2 , , 1.9 , , 7.9 , - , align="left" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, align="left" , Washington , 34 , , 27 , , 21.6 , , .299 , , .301 , , .827 , , 1.7 , , 2.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 2.2 , , 8.9 , - , align="left" ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, align="left" , Atlanta , 24 , , 1 , , 9.2 , , .278 , , .111 , , .724 , , 1.7 , , 2.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 0.9 , , 2.2 , - , align="left" ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, align="left" , Atlanta , 33 , , 11 , , 17.6 , , .405 , , .167 , , .822 , , 1.8 , , 2.5 , , 1.4 , , 0.1 , , 1.8 , , 5.9 , - , align="left" ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, align="left" , Atlanta , 33 , , 2 , , 10.6 , , .305 , , .231 , , .750 , , 1.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 1.0 , , 3.3 , - , align="left" ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, align="left" , Atlanta , 31 , , 2 , , 8.1 , , .289 , , .000 , , .795 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.9 , , 2.4 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 10 years, 3 teams , 323 , , 104 , , 17.4 , , .347 , , .266 , , .782 , , 1.8 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 6.9

Postseason

, - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Washington , 2 , , 0 , , 17.0 , , .375 , , .250 , , .833 , , 2.5 , , 1.5 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 9.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Washington , 2 , , 0 , , 17.5 , , .440 , , .400 , , .750 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 18.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Washington , 3 , , 3 , , 21.9 , , .235 , , .000 , , .750 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.6 , , 4.7 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Atlanta , 2 , , 0 , , 17.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Atlanta , 2 , , 1 , , 15.6 , , .500 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , , 7.0 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 5 years, 2 team , 11 , , 4 , , 15.7 , , .368 , , .190 , , .806 , , 2.0 , , 1.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , , 7.5

Notes

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20081211021412/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/matee_ajavon/index.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20081030112724/http://scarletknights.com/basketball-women/roster/ajavon.asp {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajavon, Matee 1986 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Romania American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Basketball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey Club Sportiv Municipal Târgoviște players Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Houston Comets players Liberian emigrants to the United States Liberian women's basketball players Malcolm X Shabazz High School alumni Point guards Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Monrovia Washington Mystics players Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games United States women's national basketball team players