Janell Burse

Janell Latrice Burse (born May 19, 1979) is a 6'5" women's basketball player who played center for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA.

Janell Burse

Personal information
Born	(1979-05-19) May 19, 1979 (age 46) New Orleans, Louisiana
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	199 lb (90 kg)
Career information
High school	Redeemer-Seton (New Orleans, Louisiana)
College	Tulane (1996–2000)
WNBA draft	2001: 2nd round, 28th overall pick
Drafted by	Minnesota Lynx
Playing career	2001–2011
Position	Center
Number	33
Career history
2001–2003	Minnesota Lynx
2004–2007, 2009	Seattle Storm
2009–2011	TS Wisła Can-Pack Kraków
Career highlights
WNBA Champion (2004) 3x CUSA Defensive Player of the Year (1999–2001) 2x First-team All-CUSA (2000, 2001) CUSA Tournament MVP (2000) CUSA Sixth Player of the Year (1999)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

After playing college ball at Tulane University, Burse was drafted in the second round (28th overall) by the Minnesota Lynx in 2001, and played her first three professional seasons with that team. As part of an ill-fated attempt by the Lynx to land hometown sensation Lindsay Whalen in the 2004 WNBA draft, Burse was traded with Sheri Sam to the Storm for Amanda Lassiter and a high draft pick.^[1] Whalen was snatched up by the Connecticut Sun, and Seattle gained two key players for its 2004 championship run.

Burse backed up center Kamila Vodichkova in 2004, and took over the starting role when Vodichkova left for the Phoenix Mercury the next season. Fans expected Burse to lose this job to the highly touted Suzy Batkovic when the latter joined the team in mid-season, but Burse played so well that she started the entire year.

Burse, who had purchased a house in Slidell, Louisiana in 2004, became the WNBA's face for relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. At two playoff games at KeyArena in September 2005, Burse's charity through the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church raised $25,000 for the relief efforts, which was matched by $75,000 from the team organization.^[2]

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 best	°	League leader

†	Denotes seasons in which Burse won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2001	Minnesota	20	0	8.5	.333	.000	.750	2.1	0.3	0.1	0.8	1.0	2.4
2002	Minnesota	31	2	11.1	.373	.000	.750	1.9	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.6	2.7
2003	Minnesota	29	14	15.1	.490	.000	.771	3.7	0.7	0.4	1.0	1.4	7.1
2004†	Seattle	29	0	17.7	.429	.000	.582	3.3	0.7	0.8	1.2	1.4	4.9
2005	Seattle	34	34	25.3	.523	.000	.699	5.9	0.7	0.6	1.2	2.3	10.0
2006	Seattle	27	27	27.4	.511	1.000	.670	6.6	0.8	0.6	0.9	2.0	11.1
2007	Seattle	29	29	24.4	.445	.000	.693	5.3	0.8	0.4	1.0	2.0	8.8
2009	Seattle	34	8	15.9	.510	.000	.738	3.1	0.3	0.6	0.9	1.0	6.1
Career	8 years, 2 teams	34	8	15.9	.510	.000	.738	3.1	0.3	0.6	0.9	1.0	6.1

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2003	Minnesota	3	3	14.0	.333	.000	.667	3.0	0.7	1.3	0.7	1.0	5.3
2004†	Seattle	8	0	13.6	.444	.000	.750	2.3	0.1	1.1	1.3	1.0	3.4
2005	Seattle	3	3	30.0	.611	.000	1.000	4.7	1.0	1.0	0.3	0.7	9.3
2006	Seattle	3	3	27.0	.385	.000	.846	3.3	0.3	0.7	1.0	0.3	10.3
2009	Seattle	3	3	10.7	.000	.000	.500	2.7	0.7	0.0	0.7	1.0	0.7
Career	5 years, 2 teams	20	12	17.7	.402	.000	.788	3.0	0.5	0.9	0.9	0.9	5.2

Tulane statistics

Source^[3]

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
1997-98	Tulane	22	93	47.4%	0.0%	46.3%	3.0	0.2	0.2	1.3	4.2
1998-99	Tulane	30	324	56.1%	0.0%	55.8%	4.9	0.3	0.4	2.5	10.8
1999-00	Tulane	32	605	59.4%	0.0%	61.0%	9.8	0.8	1.4	2.5	18.9
2000-01	Tulane	32	603	59.6%	100.0%	54.0%	10.7	0.9	1.4	2.1	18.8
Totals	Tulane	116	1625	57.9%	100.0%	56.3%	7.5	0.6	0.9	2.1	14.0