Elena Delle Donne
Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is an American professional basketball player with the Chicago Sky in the Women’s National Basketball Association.
Delle Donne gained national recognition as a high school basketball star 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 as well as a McDonald’s All-American. She was the first and only student at Ursuline so far to score 2,000+ points during her high school career and also set the girls’ high school national record for consecutive free throws made (80) in 2005–2006.
Delle Donne was also named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2007 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored 17 points, and earned MVP honors for the Red team.
She also participated in 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.
College
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. Delle Donne was very close to her family, especially her older sister Lizzie, who has cerebral palsy and is blind and deaf. She was not ready to be separated from her family. Gene, Elena’s brother and the middle child of the Delle Donne family, would say in a 2012 ESPN story on his younger sister:
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.
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. She played middle hitter at UD for the 2008–09 season. 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. Delle Donne did not continue on the volleyball team in 2009, but joined the basketball team.
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. In 2012, ESPN writer Graham Hays said about her return to the sport “it cannot be complete coincidence that it came the year Gene returned to Delaware and went to work for his dad’s company.”
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. She scored 54 points in a loss against James Madison on February 18, 2010, which was the highest single-game point total by any Division I female basketball player that season. She was named the CAA Rookie of the Week six times, and the player of the week once during 2009–10.
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.
In her sophomore season, the team started off well, but then Delle Donne began to develop flu-like symptoms. In a game against Penn State, she asked to be taken out of the game, something she had never done before. After many tests, the doctors finally diagnosed her with Lyme disease. She struggled the rest of the season, but she helped her team reach the finals of the conference tournament and an invitation to the Women’s NIT.
As a junior, Delle Donne led the nation in scoring, finishing the season with an average of 28.1 points per game.
On February 16, 2012, Delle Donne scored 42 points in a win over Hofstra, eclipsing the 2,000 point mark for her career.
During the 2012–13 season, Delle Donne again fought Lyme disease, missing four games due to the illness. Delle Donne returned on December 12 against Maryland and led the team with 19 points and 6 rebounds in a 69–53 loss. This game was the largest crowd (5,089) to ever to see a women’s basketball game at the Bob Carpenter Center, the Blue Hens’ homecourt.
Delle Donne led her team in scoring in 22 regular season games during her senior season, as well as in rebounds in 12 games. She scored more than 30 points on five occasions, leading her team to a 27–3 regular season record entering CAA conference tournament play.
After winning the CAA conference tournament, the Blue Hens were seeded 6th in their region of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament. Delle Donne led them to victories over #11 West Virginia and #3 North Carolina. The Blue Hens then lost to #2 Kentucky, despite Delle Donne’s 33 points.
WNBA: Elena Delle Donne’s Amazing Game Winner
WNBA career
Following her collegiate career, Delle Donne was selected second overall in the 2013 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky, a team that went 14–20 in the 2012 season. She was one of twelve players to be invited to the event. Delle Donne scored 22 points in her debut against fellow rookie Brittney Griner and the Phoenix Mercury. The Sky went on to win the game, 102-80. She led all players in votes for the 2013 WNBA All-Star Game, the first time a rookie has done so in league history. She missed the game, however, due to a concussion.
After the All-Star break, Delle Donne returned to action, and continued to play at a high level. The Chicago Sky qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, earning the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Delle Donne was rewarded with the 2013 Rookie of the Year award.
On September 16, 2015, Delle Donne was named the WNBA MVP for the 2015 season. She scored a league-high 23.4 points per game, shot 95% from the free throw line and came in third in rebounding. She received 38 of 39 first place votes.