Shoni Schimmel facts for kids
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Born | May 4, 1992 Pendleton, Oregon, U.S. |
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| High school |
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| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 161 lb (73 kg) | |||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||
| College | Louisville (2010–2014) | |||||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 2014 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall | |||||||||||||
| Selected by the Atlanta Dream | ||||||||||||||
| Pro career | 2014–2018 | |||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Atlanta Dream | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | New York Liberty | |||||||||||||
| 2018 | Las Vegas Aces | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||
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Shoni Schimmel (born May 4, 1992) is an American former professional basketball player. She was a talented college player at the University of Louisville. In 2014, the Atlanta Dream team chose her as the eighth pick in the first round of the 2014 WNBA draft.
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Early Life and High School Basketball
Shoni Schimmel, who is 5 feet 9 inches tall, first became known as a great high school basketball player in Oregon. She grew up on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Mission, Oregon. A movie called Off the Rez was made about her journey to get a college scholarship through basketball.
She moved from Hermiston High School to Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon. This move helped her get noticed by bigger colleges. After her senior year at Franklin, Parade magazine named her a first-team All-American.
In 2010, Schimmel was chosen for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) High School Coaches' All-America Team. Only the top twenty high school players in the country are named WBCA All-Americans. She played in the 2010 WBCA High School All-America Game and scored six points.
College Basketball Career
Shoni chose to play college basketball for the Louisville team. She was a starting player for all four years she was there. In her junior year (2012–13), Schimmel helped her team reach the championship game of the 2013 Tournament.
In her final year, Schimmel was the team's top scorer, averaging 17.1 points per game. Both the USBWA and the Associated Press named her an All-American. She finished her college career with 2,174 points, which was the second-highest score in Louisville's history.
Playing for Team USA
Schimmel was chosen to play for the United States team at the 2013 World University Games. These games were held in Kazan, Russia. The team, led by coach Sherri Coale, won their first four games easily. They scored over 100 points in each game and won by more than 30 points.
After winning against Sweden in the quarterfinals, they played Australia in the semifinals. The USA team had a big lead, but Australia came back. Crystal Bradford scored a basket with only 14 seconds left to win the game 79–78. In the gold medal game, the USA team played Russia and won 90–71, taking home the gold medal. Schimmel scored an average of 4.6 points per game in the tournament.
Professional Basketball Career
On April 14, 2014, the Atlanta Dream picked Shoni Schimmel as the eighth player in the first round of the 2014 WNBA draft. Even though she usually started games from the bench, Shoni had a great first year. She averaged 8.3 points per game and was voted a WNBA All-Star starter. This made her only the third reserve player in league history to achieve this.
In her very first game, Schimmel scored 7 points and made a team-record 11 assists. In a game against the Phoenix Mercury, she scored a career-high 24 points. Twenty of those points came in the second quarter, making her one of only six WNBA players to score 20 or more points in a single quarter.
Schimmel also won the 2014 WNBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player award on July 19, 2014. She scored 29 points, which was a WNBA All-Star Game record at the time. Her jersey was the best-selling in the league in 2014. Some WNBA teams even held events to honor Native Americans when the Dream visited.
With Shoni's strong play and help from teammates like Sancho Lyttle, Érika de Souza, and Angel McCoughtry, the Atlanta Dream were the top team in their conference. However, they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Chicago Sky.
In the 2015 season, Schimmel averaged 7.6 points per game. She started more games than in her first year and was again voted a WNBA All-Star starter. She also led her team in assists throughout the season. However, the Dream did not make it to the playoffs that year.
Before the 2016 season, Schimmel was traded to the New York Liberty. Even though she was a two-time All-Star, her role on the team was much smaller. She played fewer minutes and scored fewer points. She also had a concussion during the season, which made her miss the rest of the year.
In May 2017, it was announced that Schimmel would not play in the 2017 WNBA season. She returned to the Liberty for training camp in April 2018 but was released a month later. On May 15, 2018, Schimmel signed with the Las Vegas Aces. However, she was released by the Aces just eight days later, on May 23, 2018.
Personal Life
Shoni Schimmel has a younger sister named Jude, who also played basketball with her at Louisville. Her youngest sister, Milan, played basketball for the University of Cincinnati. Shoni also has five brothers: Shae, Mick, Saint, Job, and Sun. Her parents are Ceci and Rick Schimmel.
See also
