- Elena Delle Donne
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Elena Delle Donne 
College University of Delaware Conference Colonial Athletic Association Sport Basketball, Volleyball Position Guard/forward, middle hitter Jersey # 11, 6 Class Sophomore Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Born September 5, 1989 High school Ursuline Academy Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is an American college basketball and volleyball player at the University of Delaware.
Delle Donne was a high school basketball player at Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, Delaware. She led Ursuline to three straight Delaware State Championship titles and was ranked as the number-one overall high school recruit by Scout.com.[1] She was the first and only student at Ursuline so far to score 2,000+ points during her high school career. Delle Donne is 6'5" and set the girls' high school national record for consecutive free throws made (80) in 2005–2006.[2]
Following her senior season in high school (2007–2008), Delle Donne received a basketball scholarship from the University of Connecticut. On August 16, 2008, Delle Donne announced she would not accept the scholarship due to burnout, and instead decided to enroll at the University of Delaware and join their volleyball team as a walk-on.[3]
Contents
High school
Delle Donne was named a WBCA All-American.[4] She participated in the 2007 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored 17 points,[5] and earned MVP honors for the Red team.[6]
Volleyball
Delle Donne won the volleyball DIAA state championship with Ursuline in 2007. She posted a season high 20 kills against Padua during a game involving the number one and two teams in the state. In college, she played middle hitter at UD for the 2008–2009 season.[7] The 2008 Delaware Blue Hens finished their season with a record of 19–16. They were 9–5 in their conference (Colonial Athletic Association) and won the Conference tournament. They earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but lost to Oregon in the first round.[8] Delle Donne did not continue on the volleyball team in 2009, but joined the basketball team.
Basketball
Elena playing for the University of Delaware
Following an outstanding prep career during which she became the most highly-touted women's basketball recruit since Candace Parker, Delle Donne received a basketball scholarship from the University of Connecticut. However, in early June 2008 Delle Donne abruptly dropped out of Connecticut's summer school program after just two days in Storrs.
A week after leaving Connecticut, Delle Donne said by telephone from her home in Wilmington that she has "a lot of personal issues to fix. Only my family understands what's going on. Right now I am going to take a long personal break."[9] She took a similar break prior to the 2007-08 season in high school.[10]
On June 2, 2009 Delle Donne announced that she would play basketball for the Blue Hens in the 2009-10 season as a redshirt freshman.
Delle Donne had a very productive freshman season. She averaged 26.7 points per game, the third-highest of all Division I women's basketball players.[11] She scored 54 points against James Madison on February 18, 2010, which was the highest single-game point total by any Division I female basketball player that season.[12] She was named the CAA Rookie of the Week six times, and the player of the week once during 2009-10.[13]
She was voted the CAA's "Player of the Year" and "Rookie of the Year" in women's basketball by CAA coaches, sports information directors and media. This was the first time a player had won both awards in one year since Old Dominion's Lucienne Berthieu did so in 1999. No men's player has ever won both awards in the same season.[14]
Elena was selected to the 2011 USA Basketball Team for the World University Games played August 12–23 in Shenzhen, China. Delle Donne led the team to a Gold Medal with a perfect 6-0 record and averages of 15.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists. In the Championship game won by the USA 101-66 over Taiwan, Elena scored 18 points on 8-14 shooting and led the team with 11 rebounds and 8 assists.
Elena with gold medal earned in ChinaBasketball awards and honors
Elena before a Delaware volleyball game
Elena at Springfield Hoophall Classic- McDonald's All-American Team 2008[15]
- USA Today National Player of the Year 2008[15]
- Naismith Prep Player of the Year 2008[15]
- Gatorade National Player of the Year 2008[15]
- EA SPORTS Player of the Year 2008[16]
- Third Team, All-America, Parade Magazine, 2007
- Gatorade State Player of the Year, 2007
- First-ever cover subject of GIRL magazine, 2007
- Slam Magazine All-American First Team, 2006[15]
- Women's Basketball Magazine All-American First Team, 2006
- Parade All American First Team, 2006[15]
- Sports Illustrated All-American Second Team, 2006[15]
- EA Sports All-American, 2006[15]
- USA Today All-American Third Team, 2006[15]
- Gatorade State Player of the Year, 2006[15]
- All-State First Team 2006[15]
- Scout/FCP SUPER SIX, 2005
- Parade All-America Fourth Team, 2005
- EA Sports All-America, 2005[15]
- Gatorade Delaware Player of the Year, 2005
- DSBA Delaware Player of the Year, 2005
- Street & Smith All-American Third Team, 2005[15]
- All-State First Team 2005[15]
- USA Today Freshman All-America, 2004
- Nike All-America Camp, 2004
- Honorable Mention, Street & Smith Preseason All-America, 2004[15]
- All-State First Team 2004[15]
- USA Today First Team All-America 2008
Personal
Her parents are Ernie, a real estate developer, and Joanie. Her older brother Gene is currently a tight end at Middle Tennessee State University after transferring from Duke University. Her older sister Elizabeth (Lizzie) is blind and deaf and suffers from autism and cerebral palsy.[17]
References
- ^ http://girlshoops.scout.com/a.z?s=209&p=9&c=4&yr=2008&cfg=wbb
- ^ "Delle Donne happy to be back". ESPN. 16 October 2009. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=4564860. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ 'Della Donne Admits Basketball "Burnout", Joins Delaware Volleyball Team', Women's Hoops Guru blog
- ^ "2008 WBCA High School All-Americans". WBCA. http://www.wbca.org/education/wbca-events/wbca-high-school-all-america-game/past-hsaa/. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- ^ "2008 WBCA High School All-America Game". WBCA. http://www.wbca.org/education/wbca-events/wbca-high-school-all-america-game/box-scores/l. Retrieved 21 April 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "WBCA High School All-America Game Record Book - MVPs". WBCA. http://www.wbca.org/education/wbca-events/wbca-high-school-all-america-game/past-mvps/. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- ^ "Elena DelleDonne joins UD volleyball team". University of Delaware. 26 August 2008. http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2009/aug/delledonne082608.html. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ "2009 University of Delaware Volleyball Media Guide". University of Delaware. http://www.bluehens.com/sportsinfo/volleyball/09mediaguide/vb09-mediaguide4.pdf. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=3437988
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2927470&type=Story&imagesPrint=off
- ^ "Delaware Women's Basketball National Ranking Summary Through Games 3/30/2010". NCAA.com. http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
- ^ "NCAA Women's Basketball". NCAA. 18 February 2010. http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/rankings. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ "Delaware women's basketball: Delle Donne wins CAA rookie of the week honors for sixth time". delawareonline.tv. 10 February 2010. http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100210/SPORTS07/2100347/1002/SPORTS. Retrieved 21 February 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Byrne, Tom (11 March 2010). "Delle Donne pulls off rare CAA awards double". WHYY. http://whyy.org/cms/news/regional-news/delaware/2010/03/11/delle-donne-pulls-off-rare-caa-awards-double/33146. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Roster - Women's Basketball". University of Delaware. http://www.bluehens.com/sportsinfo/womens_basketball/roster10-delledonne.html. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ Kallam, Clay (23 December 2009). "All-Decade Girls Basketball Team". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/girls/news/story?id=4686595. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ Delaware Today Magazine, November 2009
External links
Categories:- 1989 births
- American basketball players
- Living people
- Delaware Fighting Blue Hens women's basketball players
- Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball)
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