Denique Graves

Denique Monai Graves (born September 16, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. She played for the Sacramento Monarchs in the Women's National Basketball Association's first season.

Denique Graves

Personal information
Born	(1975-09-16) September 16, 1975 (age 49) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
High school	University City (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College	Howard (1993–1997)
WNBA draft	1997: 2nd round, 15th overall pick
Drafted by	Sacramento Monarchs
Position	Center
Number	33
Career history
As a player:
1997	Sacramento Monarchs
As a coach:
2008–2009	Binghamton (assistant)
2010–2011	CC of Philadelphia
2012	Keystone College
Career highlights
3× All-MEAC (1995–1997)
Stats at Basketball Reference

College career

Graves left Howard as its fifth all-time leading scorer and fourth all-time leading rebounder.^[1][2]

Professional career

Graves was selected with the 14th overall pick (2nd round, 7th pick) by the Sacramento Monarchs on April 28, 1997. This made her the first player in the WNBA to be drafted from a HBCU (Historically Black College or University). Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997 in a 73 - 61 win over the Utah Starzz where she recorded 2 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in 3 minutes of playing time.^[3]

Graves' WNBA career ended up being incredibly short. Her rookie season was not only her only season in the league, but she also hardly saw any playing time, averaging 4.9 minutes a game in 22 games played. After the 1997 season ended, Graves was waived by the Monarchs on May 25, 1998. After missing out on the 1998 and 1999 seasons entirely, Graves was signed as a free agent to the Washington Mystics on May 2, 2000. She was immediately waived a week later on May 11, 2000 and missed out on the 2000 season as well.^[4]

Attempting to make another comeback after not playing since the 1997 season, Graves signed a contract with the Orlando Miracle on April 30, 2001. Unfortunately she did not make it past the final round of cuts and was released on May 27, 2001 (one day before the season started).^{[citation needed]} This would be her last attempt at returning to the league and thus her final WNBA game ever was the last game she played in her rookie season in 1997. That game was played on August 24, 1997 and the Monarchs defeated the Houston Comets 68 - 58 with Graves recording one rebound.^[5]

She finished her career with totals of 16 points (22% FG Percentage), 15 rebounds and 6 blocks.

Personal life

At Howard Graves made the Dean's List three years and earned a bachelor's degree in Science. She graduated in 2008. She joined Keystone College's women's basketball coaching staff in 2012.^[6]

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 best	°	League leader

WNBA

Source^[7]

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1997	Sacramento	22	0	3.9	.222	–	.500	.7	.0	.0	.3	.5	.7

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1993–94	Howard	29	-	-	54.0	0.0	51.9	8.8	0.4	0.5	1.1	-	15.1
1994–95	Howard	24	-	-	50.8	0.0	44.9	8.4	0.8	0.5	2.3	-	14.0
1995–96	Howard	28	-	-	46.7	0.0	57.7	8.9	0.6	0.7	2.6	-	14.4
1996–97	Howard	27	-	-	43.4	0.0	52.0	8.2	0.7	0.4	2.4	-	12.1
Career		108	-	-	48.7	0.0	52.2	8.6	0.6	0.5	2.1	-	13.9
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[8]