Sylvia Fowles

Sylvia Fowles

Fowles in 2016
No. 34 – Minnesota Lynx
Position Center
League WNBA
Personal information
Born (1985-10-06) October 6, 1985
Miami, Florida
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school Gulliver Preparatory
(Coral Gables, Florida)
College LSU (2004–2008)
WNBA draft 2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Chicago Sky
Playing career 2008–present
Career history
2008–2014 Chicago Sky
2008–2010 Spartak Moscow
2010–2013 Galatasaray Medical Park
2013–2015 Shanghai Octopus
2015 Canik Belediyesi
2015–present Minnesota Lynx
2015–present Beijing Great Wall
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Medals
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Team
2012 London Team
2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Championship
2010 Brazil

Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles (born October 6, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Fowles, who joined the Lynx in July 2015, was MVP of the 2015 WNBA Finals, and was named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in 2016. She is 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall and weighs 200 lbs (90.7 kg).

Early years

She was born in Miami, Florida, the daughter of Arrittio Fowles. She has three brothers, Walter, Jeremy, Morris, and one sister, Dorothy. Sylvia grew up in some of the rougher neighborhoods of Miami-Dade, including Coconut Grove, Little Haiti, and the Victory Home Housing Projects. She attended Little River Elementary School, Horace Mann Middle School, Miami Edison Senior and graduated from Gulliver Preparatory School.

High school career

She also led Edison Senior High School to two state championships before transferring to Gulliver Preparatory School. Fowles averaged 20.6 points and 11.6 rebounds at Gulliver and led them to the class 3A state championship against Melbourne Central Catholic High School. Fowles was also named a McDonalds All-American. Fowles was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored fifteen points, and earned MVP honors.[1]

College career

Fowles (right, #34) pitted against Candace Parker in the opening tipoff of the 2008 NCAA Final Four

Fowles played in all 36 of LSU's games as a freshman, helping the team to an appearance in the NCAA Final Four. As a sophomore, she started all 35 games and again helped the team reach the Final Four. In her junior year, she led LSU to the Final Four again and earned All-American honors.

Fowles was named to the pre-season All-American team prior to her senior season. She dunked the ball in the Lady Tigers' game against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on November 21, 2007, becoming the sixth woman to dunk in an American college game.[2]

In December 2007, Fowles suffered a partial tear of the meniscus of her right knee during a game against the University of Miami. She then underwent surgery and missed several weeks of play.[3]

Fowles was named the 2008 SEC Player of the Year.[4] During a March 24, 2008 NCAA Tournament game, she broke the all-time SEC record for career rebounds. She led LSU to the Final Four again in her senior year.

Fowles finished additional academic credits after beginning her professional basketball career and received her bachelor's degree from LSU in the spring of 2009.[5]

During her college career at LSU, Fowles had also played with future WNBA teammate Seimone Augustus.[6]

College statistics

Source[7]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004-05 LSU 36 426 57.6 - 59.2 9.0 0.3 1.4 2.8 11.8
2005-06 LSU  35 557 60.7 - 58.3 11.6 0.3 1.9 2.1 15.9
2006-07 LSU  38 643 57.1 - 61.2 12.6 0.4 1.2 2.1 16.9
2007-08 LSU  35 608 58.4 - 61.6 10.3 0.6 1.5 2.0 17.4
Career LSU  144 2234 58.4 - 60.1 10.9 0.4 1.5 2.2 15.5

WNBA career

Fowles with the Chicago Sky in 2011
Fowles guarding Candace Parker in 2016. The New York Times says Fowles has "great agility and a spacious wingspan."[8]

Fowles was selected 2nd overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2008 WNBA Draft. After being drafted second overall, she averaged 10.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in her rookie season with the Chicago Sky.

Fowles dunked on her second attempt during the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game while representing the Eastern Conference after everyone on both teams cleared out of her way. Her first attempt clanged off the bottom of the rim. The game took place on July 25, 2009 at Mohegan Sun, the home of the Connecticut Sun. She is the third WNBA player to dunk in an all star game, following Michelle Snow in 2006 and Lisa Leslie in 2005.

In the 2014 season, Fowles averaged a double-double in points and rebounds for the fourth consecutive season, which would help the Sky make the playoffs. Fowles eventually would earn her first career Finals appearance as the Sky had advanced all the way to the WNBA Finals despite a 15–19 record and the number four seed in the Eastern Conference. The Sky faced the 29–5 Phoenix Mercury and were defeated in a 3-game sweep. It would be Fowles's final season playing with the Sky.

Fowles turned down a contract extension offer with the Sky in September 2014.[9][10] She requested a trade but no trade offers from other teams for her had been sufficient. She sat out the first half of the 2015 WNBA season until she was traded to the Minnesota Lynx on July 27, 2015 as part of a three-team deal that sent Érika de Souza to the Sky and Damiris Dantas and Reshanda Gray to the Atlanta Dream. Joining forces with Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen, the Lynx were a powerhouse in the Western Conference, finishing first place and advancing all the way to the WNBA Finals, facing the Indiana Fever. With the series tied 2-2 in the decisive game 5, Fowles proved to be relentless against the Indiana Fever pouring in 20 points and 11 rebounds. She was named the WNBA Finals MVP as the Lynx won their third WNBA Championship in five years.[11][12]

Following her first WNBA Championship victory, Fowles re-signed with the Lynx as an unrestricted free agent in February 2016.[13]

During the 2016 season, Fowles averaged 13.9 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game and 1.7 blocks per game. She would win Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in her career. The Lynx remained a championship contending team, finishing with a franchise best 28–6 record. With the WNBA's new playoff format in effect, the Lynx were the number 1 seed in the league with a double-bye to the semi-finals (the last round before the WNBA Finals) facing the Phoenix Mercury. The Lynx defeated the Mercury in a 3-game sweep, advancing to the WNBA Finals for the fifth time in six years. The Lynx were up against the Los Angeles Sparks, making it the second time in league history where two teams from the same conference faced each other in the Finals due to the new playoff format. However, the Lynx were defeated by the Sparks in a hard fought five-game series.

Overseas career

Fowles played for Spartak Moscow in Russia during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 WNBA off-seasons. [14][15] Fowles played for Galatasaray Medical Park of Turkey for three off-seasons from 2010 to 2013.[16] In the 2013-14 and 2014-15 WNBA off-seasons, Fowles played in China for the Shaghai Octopus.[17] Fowles had spent the second portion of the 2014-15 WNBA off-season in Turkey playing for Canik Belediyesi.[18][19] In the 2015-16 WNBA off-season, Fowles played once again in China for the Beijing Great Wall, leading the team to a championship[20][21] As of August 2016, Fowles re-signed with Beijing for the 2016-17 off-season.[22]

USA Basketball

Fowles was a member of the team representing the USA at the 2005 World University Games Team in Izmir, Turkey. In the game against China, she led her team in scoring with 23 points. In the semi-final against Russia, she led the team with 25 points, helping the team win 118–67. Fowles averaged 15.0 points per game, and 7.3 rebounds, both team highs, and helped the team to a 7–0 record, resulting in a gold medal at the event.[23]

Fowles is a member of the United States women's national basketball team and she earned a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Fowles was again invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009.[24] The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team traveled to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they competed in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.[24]

Fowles was named as one of the National team members to represent the USA Basketball team in the WNBA versus USA Basketball.[25] This game replaces the normal WNBA All-Star game with WNBA All-Stars versus USA Basketball, as part of the preparation for the FIBA World Championship for Women to be held in the Czech Republic during September and October 2010.[26]

In 2010, Fowles was named to the national team which competed in the World Championships in Ostrava, and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The team won all nine games to win the gold medal. They help all opponents to no more than 75 points, while scoring in triple digits four times. The win against Australia by eight points was the only game with a single digit margin of victory. Fowles averaged 8.9 points per game over the course of the tournament.[27]

Fowles was one of 21 finalists for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team Roster. The 20 professional women's basketball payers, plus one collegiate player (Brittney Griner), were selected by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee to compete for the final roster which would represent the USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where the USA victory brought Fowles her second Olympic gold medal.[28]

Fowles would also play with Team USA for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and won her third gold medal as USA beat Spain 101-72.


Off the court

Fowles is currently majoring in mortuary science at the American Academy McAllister Institute in her spare time.[29]


WNBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career high League leader

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2008 Chicago 17 14 25.0 .520 .000 .585 7.5 0.3 1.1 2.1 2.2 10.5
2009 Chicago 24 20 28.8 .599 .000 .646 7.8 0.8 0.9 1.5 3.2 11.3
2010 Chicago 34 34 32.0 .582 1.000 .760 9.9 1.5 1.2 2.6 2.4 17.8
2011 Chicago 34 34 34.6 .591 .000 .766 10.2 0.6 1.2 2.0 2.8 20.0
2012 Chicago 25 25 31.1 .638 .000 .692 10.4 0.8 1.3 1.2 2.1 16.2
2013 Chicago 32 32 31.3 .586 .000 .685 11.5 0.4 0.9 2.4 2.1 16.3
2014 Chicago 20 18 29.8 .546 .000 .783 10.2 0.6 1.4 2.0 2.8 13.4
2015 Minnesota 18 18 28.9 .507 .000 .734 8.3 0.8 1.0 1.5 1.7 15.3
2016 Minnesota 34 34 28.5 .595 .000 .717 8.5 1.2 1.3 1.7 1.8 13.9
Career 9 years, 2 teams 238 229 30.5 .579 1.000 .720 9.5 0.8 1.2 1.9 2.4 15.4

Postseason

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2013 Chicago 2 2 35.5 .462 .000 .545 12.0 0.5 2.0 2.0 4.0 15.0
2014 Chicago 9 9 36.2 .538 .000 .773 9.7 0.2 1.7 1.6 2.1 16.2
2015 Minnesota 10 10 30.9 .622 .000 .750 9.7 1.2 0.9 1.6 2.5 12.6
2016 Minnesota 8 8 31.4 .611 .000 .750 9.8 1.3 0.8 1.7 1.5 12.9
Career 4 years, 2 teams 29 29 33.0 .574 .000 .738 9.9 0.9 1.2 1.7 2.2 14.0

Awards and honors

  • 2005 SEC Sixth Woman of the Year
  • 2005 Second-team All-SEC
  • 2005 SEC All-Freshman
  • 2005 Honorable Mention All-America (AP)
  • 2005 & 2006 First-team All-Louisiana
  • 2005 Louisiana Freshman of the Year
  • 2006 First-team All-SEC
  • 2006 Third-team All-American (AP)
  • 2007 SEC All-Tournament Team
  • 2007 First-team All-American (ESPN.com, Wooden Award, USBWA)
  • 2007 Second-team All-American (AP)
  • 2007 Kodak All-America
  • 2007 First-team All-SEC
  • 2007 Fresno Regional MOP
  • Member of the 2007 United States Senior National Team in Italy

Notes

  1. ↑ "WBCA High School All-America Game Box Scores". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
  2. ↑ Fowles Dunks Her Way Into History
  3. ↑ LSU's Fowles out 2-4 weeks
  4. ↑ Chancellor, Fowles Receive SEC's Top Annual Honors
  5. ↑ LSU Commencement Features Several Noteworthy Graduates
  6. ↑ http://www.wnba.com/news/sylvia-fowles-minnesota-lynx-wnba-finals-101416/
  7. ↑ "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved 25 Sep 2015.
  8. ↑ Jeré Longman (March 30, 2007). "A 6-6 Center Blooms at Louisiana State". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/sylvia-fowles-trade-demand-wnba-sitting-out-elena-delle-donne-sky-pokey-chatman/3au2yf09pkd21qz0zx2h98jam
  10. ↑ http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/sylvia-fowles-trade-demand-wnba-sitting-out-elena-delle-donne-sky-pokey-chatman/3au2yf09pkd21qz0zx2h98jam
  11. ↑ Voepel, Mechelle (May 2, 2015). "Sky preparing to move on without Fowles". espn.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ Lynx Acquire Center Sylvia Fowles
  13. ↑ http://www.wnba.com/news/minnesota-lynx-re-sign-center-sylvia-fowles/
  14. ↑ Offseason 2008-09: Overseas Roster
  15. ↑ Offseason 2009-10: Overseas Roster
  16. ↑ Two Newcomer Stars among Gala Women
  17. ↑ http://www.asia-basket.com/China/news/321012/Shanghai-Octopus-announced-experienced-Sylvia-Fowles
  18. ↑ http://www.eurobasket.com/Turkey/news/399948/Canik-Bld-signs-Sylvia-Fowles,-ex-Shanghai
  19. ↑ http://www.asia-basket.com/China/news/321012/Shanghai-Octopus-announced-experienced-Sylvia-Fowles
  20. ↑ http://www.wnba.com/wnba-players-playing-overseas/
  21. ↑ http://lynx.wnba.com/news/fowles-leads-beijing-to-title/
  22. ↑ http://www.womensbasketball247.com/2016/08/2016-2017-wnba-overseas-signings/
  23. ↑ "Twenty-Second World University Games -- 2005". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  24. 1 2 "USA Basketball Women's National Team To Tip-Off Training Tomorrow In D.C.". USA Basketball. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  25. ↑ "Six Olympic Gold Medalists Among 11-Member Team Set To Participate In WNBA vs. USA Basketball: The Stars at the Sun Game". USA Basketball. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  26. ↑ "FIBA World Championship for Women". FIBA. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  27. ↑ "Sixteenth World Championship For Women -- 2010". USA Basketball. October 15, 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  28. ↑ "Twenty-One Finalists In The Mix For Final 2012 U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team Roster". USA Basketball. February 13, 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  29. ↑ http://www.wnba.com/news/sylvia-fowles-minnesota-lynx-wnba-finals-101416/
  30. ↑ "WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
  31. ↑ Rest of the world romp to All Star Win
  32. ↑ "Sylvia Fowles wins WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
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