Kelsey Plum

Kelsey Christine Plum (born August 24, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She completed her high school education at La Jolla Country Day School in La Jolla, a community that is part of San Diego, California. Plum attended and played college basketball for the University of Washington. On February 25, 2017, Plum scored a career-high 57 points on senior night – making 19 of the 28 shots she took – to break the NCAA Division I women's basketball all-time scoring record with 3,397 points. On March 20, 2017 Plum broke the NCAA record for points in a single season with 1,080.[1] She was selected with the first overall pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Stars.

Kelsey Plum
Plum with Las Vegas in 2019
No. 10 – Las Vegas Aces
PositionPoint guard
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1994-08-24) August 24, 1994
Poway, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight145 lb (66 kg)
Career information
High schoolLa Jolla Country Day
(La Jolla, California)
CollegeWashington (2013–2017)
WNBA draft2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the San Antonio Stars
Playing career2017–present
Career history
As player:
2017–presentSan Antonio Stars / Las Vegas Aces
2017–2019Fenerbahçe Istanbul
As coach:
2020–presentArkansas (graduate assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Medals
Women’s basketball
Representing the  United States
World Cup
2018 Spain
Pan American Games
2015 TorontoTeam
U19 World Championship
2013 Lithuania

Early life

Plum is the daughter of Katie and Jim Plum.[2] Her mother was an accomplished volleyball player for the University of California, Davis. Her father earned All-American honors playing high school football in La Mesa, California, and went on to play football and baseball collegiately at San Diego State.[3][4] Plum has two older sisters, each of whom followed in their mother's footsteps and played volleyball. Her oldest sister Kaitlyn played for UC Davis, while Lauren played for the University of Oregon and for USA Volleyball's Junior National Team. Kelsey played volleyball at first, excelling in the USA Volleyball junior system, but when it came time for high school, she chose La Jolla Country Day School over Poway High School, where her sisters had attended, and Plum chose basketball over volleyball.[5] La Jolla Country Day School is where Candice Wiggins played during her high school years.[6]

High school career

During the course of her high school career, Plum scored a total of 2,247 points, averaging 19.9 points per game. She recorded 677 rebounds, assisted on 381 baskets, and had 370 steals.[7] Over her four years, her team had a record of 103–22, which led to four section titles and the 2012 CIF Division IV state championship.[8]

Plum was selected to the 2013 WBCA High School Coaches' All-America Team. She participated in the 2013 WBCA High School All-America Game, hitting six of her eight field goal attempts, scoring 14 points.[9][10]

When it came time for college choices, Plum considered Maryland and Virginia on the east coast, and Cal, Gonzaga, Oregon and Washington on the west coast, then decided to accept the offer from Washington.[11][12]

Plum was named a McDonald's All-American.[13] This qualified her to participate in the 2013 McDonald's All-American Girls Game[14] She was named Ms. Basketball by CalHiSports, an honor bestowed upon the best female high school basketball player in California. Prior winners include Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Courtney Paris, Candice Wiggins, and Diana Taurasi.[3]

USA Basketball

U19 team 2013

Plum was named to the USA Basketball U19 team, coached by Katie Meier, the head coach of the University of Miami. Among Plum's teammates were Moriah Jefferson and Breanna Stewart. Plum competed on behalf of the US at the Tenth FIBA U19 World Championship, held in Klaipeda and Panevežys, Lithuania, in July 2013. The team won all nine games, with a winning margin averaging 43 points per game. Plum scored 5.6 points per game.[15]

Pan American team 2015

Plum was injured in December, but cleared to continue playing through the season. After the season she underwent surgery on April 6. Her original dates for clearance to play extended beyond the Pan Am team trial date, but her rehabilitation went well, and she was cleared to return to the court two days before the Pan Am team trials.[16] She has been named a member of the twelve player squad representing the US to play Basketball at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto which will be held from July 16 to 25 at the Ryerson Athletic Centre.[17]

Plum was a member of the USA Women's Pan American Team which participated in basketball at the 2015 Pan American Games held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 10 to 26, 2015. The USA opened preliminary play with a game against Brazil. Although they opened up a 16-point lead in the second quarter Brazil came back, going on a 14–0 run to take a two-point lead in the third quarter. The USA responded with an 11–2 run with foul shot contributions by Jefferson and a three-point basket from Stewart. The USA ended up winning the close game 75–69.[18]

The second game was against the Dominican Republic. USA scored the first eight points and was never threatened. USA won 94–55. Plum led the team with five assists.[19] The final preliminary game USA played Puerto Rico. USA led by only three points at the end of the third quarter, largely due to the play of Carla Cortijo who scored 24 points, but left with an injury late in the game. After the injury the US extended the lead to 18 points and ended up with a 93–77 win, good for first place in their group.[20]

In the semifinal game, Cuba led the US by as many as 14 points in the third quarter. The USA battled back and took a late lead. With under eight seconds to go, the USA was down by one point while Cuba had the ball. Linnae Harper stole the ball and made two free throws to give the USA the lead. Cuba missed its final shot to give the USA the win 65–64, propelling them into the gold-medal game against Canada.[21]

The gold-medal game matched up the host team Canada against USA. After trading baskets early, the US edged out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter. However the Canadians fought back and tied up the game at halftime. In the third quarter, Canada outscored the US 26–15. The lead would reach as high as 18 points. The USA would fight back, but not all the way and Canada won the game and the gold-medal 81–73.[22][23][24][25]

College career

Freshman year

After Plum helped the USA basketball team to win the gold medal in Lithuania, she flew directly to Seattle rather than heading home to San Diego and then going up to school. She was working out in the gym on the same day she left Lithuania. By heading directly to school it enabled her to sign up for summer school classes and get acquainted with the University and her teammates before the fall quarter began.[6] Her head coach Mike Neighbors noticed her desire to get started, which helped him with his decision to name her the team captain before the season started, a rare event for a freshman. During her freshman year, she set six Washington freshman records. Her total points scored (695) were the most ever by a freshman, and her single game high of 38 points is a freshman record. She earned freshman of the year honors for the Pac-12 conference. She averaged almost 21 points per game during the regular season.

One of the highlights of the year was a victory over the fourth ranked team in the country, Stanford. Plum was the high scorer with 23 points.[26]

Sophomore year

Washington opened their regular-season with a game against Oklahoma. Washington lost the game 90–80 but Plum set a new school record with 45 points.[27] In her sophomore year, she was named to the "Wade Watch" a list of 25 players who are viewed as having the potential to win player of the year honors. She was also named to the list of 30 players to be considered for the Wooden Award.[28] Plum helped the Washington Huskies earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.In a coincidence, they faced Miami, coached by Katie Meier, who had been Plum's coach while on the USA Basketball U19 team. Plum scored 17 points in the game, but Miami prevailed 86–80.[29]

Junior year

For the week of January 11–17, Plum was named both the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week and the Pac-12 Player of the Week. By scoring 25.9 points per game, she ranked first in the Pac-12 and fourth in the nation. Plum also led the Huskies on an improbable NCAA Tournament run, highlighted by their first Final Four appearance in program history. Unfortunately, the magical run ultimately ended in the Final Four as Plum and the Huskies lost to a deeper, more talented Syracuse Orange team (who also clinched their first Final Four berth in program history), 80–59. The Orange would go on to lose to the undefeated 37–0 and three-time defending women's national champions Connecticut Huskies, 82–51.

Senior year

During Plum's senior season, she became the all-time leading scorer for either gender in Pac-12 history, passing the former record of Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike in a December 11, 2016 win over Boise State.[30] The following month, during a win over Arizona, Plum became the first Pac-12 player, and the 12th NCAA Division I women's player, to reach 3,000 career points.[31][lower-alpha 1] On February 25, 2017, in the Huskies’ final regular season game, Plum scored a Pac-12 record 57 points in an 84–77 win over Utah. The record-setting output also gave Plum the NCAA Division I women's basketball career scoring record. She entered the game trailing Jackie Stiles’ previous record of 3,393 points by 53 points and broke the record in the fourth quarter.[32] Plum led her Washington Huskies to a 29–6 record during her senior season, which boasted a record of 15–3 in the Pac-12. Plum, along with her third seeded Washington Huskies, made it to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament where they were knocked out by two seed Mississippi State.

According to ESPN.com, Plum was unanimously selected as an Associated Press All-American First Teamer, an honor only given to five players in women’s college basketball. Plum averaged 31.7 points while shooting 53 percent from the floor and 43 percent from three-point range during her senior campaign. Plum ended her senior season with a total of 1,109 points scored, an NCAA women’s basketball single season record. According to Excelle Sports, Plum broke the NCAA career free throw record, tallying 912 points from the free throw line throughout her illustrious career. Plum has also been named one of the five finalists for the Wooden Award, an award handed out to the best player in women’s college basketball, in the eyes of 250 sportscasters and writers. Plum was also named the AP player of the year for women’s college basketball, the first ever Washington Husky to earn the award. Other accolades Plum accumulated during her senior year include being a part of the all-Pac-12 team as well as winning the Pac-12 player of the year award, only the second husky ever to win the award, according to The Seattle Times’ website. Plum also earned the Nancy Lieberman award, an honor given to the top point guard in women's college basketball, as well as the Dawn Staley award, handed out to the best guard in women's college basketball. Plum ended her outstanding career with a point total of 3,527 and an assist total of 519. She finished just 270 points shy of Pete Maravich's all-time scoring record regardless of gender. Plum graduated from Washington in June 2017 with a bachelor's degree in anthropology.

College statistics
Kelsey Plum Statistics at the University of Washington[33]
Year G FG FGA PCT 3FG 3FGA PCT FT FTA PCT REB AVG A TO B S MIN PTS AVG
2013–14 34 214 544 .393 84 221 .367 203 240 .846 160 4.71 93 98 6 35 1268 712 20.9
2014–15 33 235 544 .432 69 173 .399 207 231 .896 122 3.70 108 91 8 51 1213 746 22.6
2015–16 37 308 760 .405 78 234 .333 266 299 .890 137 3.70 154 159 8 60 1414 960 25.9
2016–17 35 379 717 .529 115 269 .428 236 266 .887 177 5.21 168 88 8 52 1301 1109 31.7
Totals 139 1136 2565 .443 343 897 .382 912 1036 .880 596 4.3 523 436 30 198 5196 3527 25.4

Professional career

WNBA
Kelsey Plum, in a game between San Antonio and the New York Liberty

Plum was selected as the first pick of the 2017 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Stars.[34] This marked the first time in history that the first overall pick from the NBA (Markelle Fultz) and the WNBA came from the same school (University of Washington) in the same year.[35] Plum made her career debut on May 25, 2017, against the Dallas Wings, she scored four points along with one assist off the bench in a 94–82 loss.[36] On August 5, 2017, Plum scored a career-high 23 points in an 87–80 overtime win against the Seattle Storm.[37] By the end of the season, Plum averaged 8.5 ppg and was voted on the All-Rookie Team, but the Stars finished with the second worst record in the league.

In 2018, the San Antonio Stars relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada and was renamed the Las Vegas Aces. In the 2018 season, Plum improved in every statistical category, averaging more points, rebounds and assists with higher shooting percentages. This helped the Aces improve overall from last season but fell short of playoff spot as they finished 9th place with a 14-20 record (6 wins better than last season).

In 2019, the Aces would finish the season as the number 4 seed with a 21-13 record, making the playoffs for the first time since 2014. They would receive a bye to the second round. In the playoffs, Plum would step up on the offensive end, averaging double-digits in ppg for the entire Aces playoff run. In the second round elimination game, the Aces defeated the Chicago Sky 93-92 off a desperation half-court game winner by teammate Dearica Hamby who came up with a steal on defence in the final 10 seconds of the game. In the semi-finals, the Aces would lose in four games to the Washington Mystics, who ended up winning the championship.

On May 15, 2020, Plum signed a 2-year extension with the Aces worth $350K.[38] In early June, 2020, she suffered an injury to her Achilles tendon. Due to the injury and the surgery to repair it, she missed the 2020 season.[39]

Overseas
Plum with Fenerbahçe in October 2017

In the 2017-18 off-season, Plum signed with Fenerbahçe.[40] During her first stint with the team, Plum would help the team win the Turkish Women's Basketball League championship title. In the 2018-19 off-season, Plum returned with Fenerbahçe for a second stint, helping the team win another Turkish League championship and a Turkish Cup.[41]

Broadcasting

Kelsey Plum's first work as a broadcaster came on January 17, 2020, when she was the analyst for Pac 12 Networks broadcast of the Arizona State @ University of Washington women's basketball game.

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
2017 San Antonio 312322.9.346.365.8701.93.40.50.12.58.5
2018 Las Vegas 312725.5.467.439.8752.44.00.80.11.19.5
2019 Las Vegas 343025.5.365.357.8722.83.00.70.11.58.6
Career 3 years, 1 team 968024.7.389.386.8722.43.50.70.11.88.9

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2019 Las Vegas 5335.0.492.5291.0004.87.80.20.03.015.2
Career 1 year, 1 team 5335.0.492.5291.0004.87.80.20.03.015.2

Awards and honors

Footnotes
  1. Although USC's Cheryl Miller then had more career points than Plum, she never played in the Pac-12 (or, as it was known during her career, the Pac-10). The conference did not start sponsoring women's sports until the 1986–87 school year, the season after Miller graduated. Plum went on to surpass Miller's career point total during the 2016–17 season.

References
  1. "Kelsey Plum sets NCAA mark for points in a season". ESPN.com.
  2. "#10 Kelsey Plum". Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  3. Abend, Harold (April 5, 2013). "Ms. Basketball 2013: Kelsey Plum". CalHiSports. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  4. Evans, Jayda (September 15, 2014). "Husky basketball star Kelsey Plum finds inspiration at home". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017.
  5. Michaelson, Lee (May 1, 2012). "Passion, toughness define La Jolla Country Day's Kelsey Plum". Full Court. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  6. Smith, Michelle (February 27, 2014). "Plum jumped right in at Washington". ESPN. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  7. "Kelsey Plum's Girls Basketball Stats". MaxPreps.
  8. "Kelsey Plum". USA Basketball. July 29, 2013. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  9. "Past WBCA HS Coaches' All-America Teams". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  10. "WBCA High School All-America Game Box Scores". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  11. Hansen, Chris (October 1, 2012). "Commitment News — No. 26 Kelsey Plum decides — Oct. 1, 2012". Peach State Basketball. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  12. Michaelson, Lee (May 1, 2012). "Passion, toughness define La Jolla Country Day's Kelsey Plum". FullCourtPress. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  13. "Kelsey Plum Named McDonald's All-American". GoHuskies.com. February 14, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  14. Percy, Allen (February 14, 2013). "Washington recruits Kelsey Plum, Nigel Williams-Goss will play in McDonald's game". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  15. "Tenth FIBA U19 World Championship — 2013". USA Basketball. October 15, 2013. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
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  17. "2015 U.S. Pan American Women's Basketball Team". Retrieved May 19, 2015.
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  29. "No. 11 Miami upsets sixth-seeded Washington 86–80". USA Today. March 20, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  30. Allen, Percy (December 11, 2016). "Kelsey Plum becomes Pac-12 all-time leading scorer, scores 44 to lift UW past Boise State". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  31. "Kelsey Plum tops 3,000 career points in Washington win". ESPN.com. Associated Press. January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  32. "Washington's Kelsey Plum breaks NCAA all-time women's scoring record with 57 points against Utah". NCAA.com. February 25, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  33. Career Statistics
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  40. Aces Overseas
  41. Istanbul basketball team Fenerbahçe wins Women's Turkish Cup
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