Shavonte Zellous (born August 28, 1986) is an American-Croatian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who is currently a free agent. She was a standout basketball player at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

. Zellous was drafted 11th in the first round of the 2009 WNBA Draft by the Shock.

Professional career

As a rookie in 2009, Zellous ranked second among rookies in points (11.9), was second overall in the league in free throws made (155) and averaged 1.8 assists per game. Zellous scored in double digits in 21 of the 34 games played during her first season and earned honors by making the

WNBA All-Rookie Team The WNBA All-Rookie Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches, who are not allowed to vote fo ...

, the lowest draft selection to ever make the All-Rookie team up until that point. Zellous was a member 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 ...

team that won the WNBA championship in 2012 and was named a WNBA All-Star in 2013. In 2013, Zellous almost doubled her scoring average, from 7.5 ppg in 2012 to 14.7 ppg in 2013. This improvement, coupled with increases in rebounding and shooting percentage helped her to win the WNBA Most-Improved player award in 2013. On February 1, 2016, Zellous signed with the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was ...

. Her WNBA averages include 39.5% in Field Goals, 80.3% in free throws, and 9.2 PPG. On April 11, 2019, Zellous signed with the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

. On March 31, 2021, Zellous signed with the Washington Mystics, appearing in 28 games during the season.

College career

While in college, Zellous was a standout guard for the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team from 2005 to 2009. While there, she helped lead her team to a WNIT "Final Four" in 2006 and three straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2007 to 2009, during which her team advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" in 2008 and 2009. While at Pitt, she earned Third Team AP All-American honors in 2009 and was the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Most Improved Player in 2007. Zellous finished her career at Pitt ranked third on the university's all-time scoring list with 2,253 points. Zellous also became the first player in Pitt history (men's or women's) and the ninth in Big East history (men's or women's) to score 600 points in three separate seasons.

College statistics

Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zellous, Shavonte 1986 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American emigrants to Croatia American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Croatian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Croatian people of African-American descent Croatian women's basketball players Detroit Shock players Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Indiana Fever players Jones High School (Orlando, Florida) alumni LGBT basketball players LGBT people from Florida Lesbian sportswomen Naturalized citizens of Croatia New York Liberty players Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball players Seattle Storm players Shooting guards Basketball players from Orlando, Florida Tulsa Shock players Washington Mystics players Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars Women's National Basketball Association players from Croatia