Shavonte Zellous

Shavonte Zellous (born August 28, 1986) is an American-Croatian professional basketball player who plays for ESB Villeneuve-d'Ascq of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball. She was a standout basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh. Zellous was drafted 11th in the first round of the 2009 WNBA draft by the Detroit Shock.

Shavonte Zellous

No. 1 – ESB Villeneuve-d'Ascq
Position	Shooting guard
League	Ligue Féminine de Basketball
Personal information
Born	(1986-08-28) August 28, 1986 (age 39)
Nationality	American / Croatian
Listed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight	188 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school	Jones (Orlando, Florida)
College	Pittsburgh (2005–2009)
WNBA draft	2009: 1st round, 11th overall pick
Drafted by	Detroit Shock
Playing career	2009–present
Career history
2009	Detroit Shock
2009–2010	Beşiktaş J.K.
2010	Tulsa Shock
2010–2015	Indiana Fever
2010–2011	TTT Riga
2011	Ramat HaSharon
2011–2013	Mersin BB
2013–2014	Galatasaray S.K.
2014–2015	Fenerbahçe S.K.
2016–2018	New York Liberty
2016–2018	Beşiktaş J.K.
2018–2019	Bnot Herzliya
2019	Seattle Storm
2020–2021	Çankaya University
2021	Washington Mystics
2021	Çukurova Basketbol
2022	ES Cap Bon
2022–2023	Çankaya University
2023–present	ESB Villeneuve-d'Ascq
Career highlights
WNBA champion (2012) WNBA All-Star (2013) WNBA Most Improved Player (2013) WNBA All-Rookie Team (2009) Latvian National League champion (2011) Turkish National League champion (2014) French National League champion (2024) EuroLeague Women champion (2014) 2× Turkish Cup winner (2014, 2015) Turkish President Cup winner (2015) Third-team All-American – AP (2009) 3x First-team All-Big East (2007–2009) Big East Most Improved Player (2007)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Professional career

As a rookie in 2009, Zellous ranked second among rookies in points (11.9), was second overall in the league in free throws made (155) and averaged 1.8 assists per game.^[1] Zellous scored in double digits in 21 of the 34 games played during her first season and earned honors by making the WNBA All-Rookie Team, the lowest draft selection to ever make the All-Rookie team up until that point.^[2] Zellous was a member of the Indiana Fever team that won the WNBA championship in 2012 and was named a WNBA All-Star in 2013.^[3]

In February 2013, Zellous signed a multi-year contract with the Fever.^[4] In the 2013 season, Zellous almost doubled her scoring average, from 7.5 ppg in 2012 to 14.7 ppg in 2013. This improvement, coupled with increases in rebounding and shooting percentage helped her to win the WNBA Most-Improved player award in 2013.^[5]

On February 1, 2016, Zellous signed with the New York Liberty.^[6] Her WNBA averages include 39.5% in Field Goals, 80.3% in free throws, and 9.2 PPG.^[7]

On April 11, 2019, Zellous signed with the Seattle Storm.^[8]

On March 31, 2021, Zellous signed with the Washington Mystics, appearing in 28 games during the season.^[9]

College career

While in college, Zellous was a standout guard for the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team from 2005 to 2009. While there, she helped lead her team to a WNIT "Final Four" in 2006 and three straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2007 to 2009, during which her team advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" in 2008 and 2009. While at Pitt, she earned Third Team AP All-American honors in 2009 and was the Big East Conference Most Improved Player in 2007. Zellous finished her career at Pitt ranked third on the university's all-time scoring list with 2,253 points. Zellous also became the first player in Pitt history (men's or women's) and the ninth in Big East history (men's or women's) to score 600 points in three separate seasons.^[10]

International career

In 2015 prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics, Zellous announced she would be playing for the Croatia women's national basketball team.^[11]

Career statistics

WNBA

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

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2009	Detroit	34	4	23.6	39.7	30.6	85.6	3.1	1.8	0.8	0.5	2.3	11.9
2010	Tulsa	4	1	16.8	16.1	10.0	83.3	0.8	2.5	0.5	0.0	0.5	4.0
	Indiana	27	0	15.5	36.2	28.0	74.7	2.1	1.3	0.4	0.6	1.2	5.9
2011	Indiana	33	2	14.0	43.8	26.5	78.4	2.4	1.4	0.4	0.5	1.0	5.5
2012	Indiana	31	31	22.3	36.9	34.5	77.0	2.7	1.7	0.7	0.5	1.4	7.5
2013	Indiana	29	29	31.3	41.5	34.8	78.0	3.4	1.7	0.9	0.7	1.9	14.7
2014	Indiana	34	33	27.4	41.1	30.5	78.4	2.8	2.1	0.7	0.5	1.6	11.0
2015	Indiana	23	1	22.2	37.9	24.1	77.1	2.3	1.9	1.0	0.3	1.2	8.4
2016	New York	33	1	23.3	40.3	19.2	85.1	2.5	2.2	0.9	0.2	1.3	8.8
2017	New York	34	34	29.1	42.3	33.3	82.3	4.0	2.8	0.9	0.2	1.9	11.7
2018	New York	22	22	24.1	42.3	26.7	75.4	3.1	3.0	0.6	0.2	1.2	8.2
2019	Seattle	31	4	13.9	37.9	18.8	75.0	1.5	1.5	0.3	0.2	1.1	4.0
2020	Did not play (did not appear in WNBA)
2021	Washington	28	5	15.8	37.7	24.4	80.6	2.4	1.6	0.4	0.2	0.8	4.3
Career	12 years, 6 teams	363	167	21.9	39.8	29.1	80.1	2.7	1.9	0.7	0.4	1.4	8.5

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2009	Detroit	5	0	29.0	35.3	41.2	85.2	5.0	2.8	1.2	0.6	1.4	15.6
2010	Indiana	3	0	10.3	60.0	0.0	85.7	0.7	0.7	0.0	0.3	0.7	4.0
2011	Indiana	5	1	19.2	42.9	40.0	60.0	2.6	1.4	0.4	0.6	1.2	8.6
2012	Indiana	10	5	27.9	39.8	26.7	85.7	2.9	1.7	0.9	0.8	1.7	10.6
2013	Indiana	4	4	26.5	44.7	41.7	92.3	3.8	2.0	0.3	0.5	0.0	12.8
2014	Indiana	5	5	35.6	38.9	29.2	75.0	3.4	1.0	0.4	0.8	0.6	14.4
2015	Indiana	11	0	21.5	43.8	30.8	80.0	2.4	1.9	0.7	0.5	1.3	7.6
2016	New York	1	0	28.0	44.4	0.0	50.0	3.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	10.0
2017	New York	1	1	26.0	14.3	0.0	100.0	6.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	2.0	4.0
2019	Seattle	2	0	7.0	33.3	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	1.0	2.0
Career	10 years, 4 teams	47	16	24.3	40.1	32.1	80.5	2.9	1.6	0.7	0.6	1.1	9.9

College

Source^[12]

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	Pittsburgh	Redshirt[13]
2005–06	Pittsburgh	33	254	39.6	18.2	68.7	5.7	2.5	0.8	0.8	7.7
2006–07	Pittsburgh	33	631	42.7	31.4	77.4	5.9	2.8	1.0	0.6	19.1
2007–08	Pittsburgh	34	619	43.4	38.9	71.4	5.4	1.9	0.9	0.9	18.2
2008–09	Pittsburgh	33	747	41.5	36.6	78.3	5.7	2.9	1.1	0.6	22.6
Career totals	Pittsburgh	133	2251	42.1	34.6	75.0	5.7	2.5	0.9	0.7	16.9