Ryneldi Becenti (born August 11, 1971) is a retired American 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 ...

player. She became the first Native American to play in the WNBA when she played for the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

High school

Becenti attended Window Rock High School in

Fort Defiance, Arizona Fort Defiance ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Apache County, Arizona, Apache County, Arizona, United States. It is also located within the Navajo Nation. The population was 3,624 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History ...

, and in 1989,

Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale Community College is a Public college, public community college just outside of Scottsdale, Arizona. It is on the city's eastern boundary, on 160 acres (650,000 m2) of land belonging to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. ...

in Phoenix. She was the country's top

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

in 1990–91, and left Scottsdale a two-time

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

All-America 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 ...

College

Becenti was an All-Pac 10 First Team selection in both her seasons at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, and a two-time honorable mention All-America honoree. She also turned out for the US at the 1993

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, where her team won the bronze medal.

Professional career

In 1995, Becenti was playing professional basketball in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. She also played in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and, briefly,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. She was the first Native American woman to play professional basketball for a foreign nation. In 1997, she signed with the

in the WNBA as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

and played in their inaugural season. In 1998, she was drafted by the

Chicago Condors The Chicago Condors were a very short-lived member of the American Basketball League (ABL). Their hometown was much larger than usual for the ABL, which mainly targeted mid-market cities, and initial team merchandising was successful. The team a ...

in the American Basketball League.

Honors

In 1996, she became the first and only female basketball player to be inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. in 2013, she was the first women's basketball player to have her jersey (No. 21) retired by ASU.

Career statistics

WNBA

Source

Regular season

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College

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Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

, 29, , -, , -, , 36.6, , 28.1, , 68.9, , 4.6, , 6.9, , 2.9, , 0.2, , -, , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1992–93 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 27, , -, , -, , 37.9, , 34.0, , 72.9, , 3.5, , 7.2, , 2.6, , 0.1, , -, , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 56, , -, , -, , 37.3, , 31.3, , 70.3, , 4.1, , 7.1, , 2.8, , 0.2, , -, , 13.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from

Sports-Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Ref ...

References

External links

2013 Interview
for Indian Country Today * at the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame
1993 Article
from the

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

vault {{DEFAULTSORT:Becenti, Ryneldi 1971 births Living people 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American people 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American people American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball players Basketball players from Arizona Guards (basketball) Medalists at the 1993 Summer Universiade Native American basketball players Navajo sportspeople People from Fort Defiance, Arizona Phoenix Mercury players Scottsdale Community College alumni FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the United States Summer World University Games medalists in basketball United States women's national basketball team players Native American sportswomen