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Brittney Sykes

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Brittney Sykes
No. 15 – Washington Mystics
PositionGuard
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1994-02-07) February 7, 1994 (age 30)
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight154 lb (70 kg)
Career information
High schoolUniversity (Newark, New Jersey)
CollegeSyracuse (2012–2017)
WNBA draft2017: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Selected by the Atlanta Dream
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017–2019Atlanta Dream
2017Hapoel Petah Tikva
2018OGM Ormanspor
2019Uni Girona CB
2020Çukurova Basketbol
2020–2021OGM Ormanspor
2020–2022Los Angeles Sparks
2021–2022Canberra Capitals
2022Sopron Basket
2022–2023Uni Girona CB
2023–2024Polkowice
2023–presentWashington Mystics
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Brittney Sykes (born February 7, 1994) is an American professional basketball player with the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the seventh overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft.

Sykes became the highest drafted Syracuse University women's basketball player in school history.[1]

Early life and education

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Sykes is the daughter of Michael and Regina and has two older brothers. She graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor's degree in Communications and Rhetorical Studies. She also achieved her Master's in instructional design, development, and evaluation in the School of Education.[2]

High school

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In high school, Sykes was a 4-star recruit. She played guard at University High School in Newark, New Jersey. Along with her high school team, she played for a club team,the Philly Belles. Through her play on both teams, Sykes earned a 95 overall scouting grade for her playing, was ranked 31st out of all college recruits and was ranked 9th out of all of the recruits at her position (according to ESPN scouting reports). Her high school achievements include being a 2012 United States U18 national team member, a 2012 McDonald's All-American, Named 2012 USA Today All-USA Second Team, All-Tri-State Second Team, North-South Game MVP, All-State, All-Essex County First Team. In her high school career, she averaged 18.9 points, 12.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists as a senior. Her abilities led University High School to the Essex County Championship in 2011–12. In addition to her achievements on the court, Sykes was a member of the National Honor Society, student cabinet, and MSG Varsity Club.[2] She graduated with the class of 2012 with the intent of playing for the Syracuse Orange in Syracuse, NY. Although she decided to accept the offer to play at Syracuse University, she also was sought after by Georgetown, Penn State, and Notre Dame.[3]

College career

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Sykes attended Syracuse University. She was at the college for five years. She only played in four of those seasons due to a knee injury in her third season. She played both the shooting guard and small forward positions in her four seasons. She played a total of 138 games during her college career (started in 137 of those games), averaged 29.5 minutes per game, 1.9 assists per game, 5.9 rebounds, 13.4 points per game, and a total of 1846 career points, 85 blocks, and 266 steals. She ended her college career by becoming the number three ranked SU women's basketball for career points scored and earned All-American honors, and the title of the winningest Syracuse Orange women's basketball player with a total of 101 wins.[4]

Injuries

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In the span of her 2013-2014 and 2014–2015 seasons at Syracuse University, Sykes suffered two ACL tears. She tore her ACL the first time on March 22, 2014 in the NCAA Tournament in Lexington, KY. After 10 long months of rigorous therapy and recovery, Sykes was able to return to play in the 2014–2015 season.

On January 4, 2015 (approximately 43 minutes into her season), Sykes tore her ACL again in her third game back against Notre Dame. In interviews, Sykes has stated that she views her injuries as stepping stones to becoming both a stronger player and person.[5]

Professional career

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WNBA

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Atlanta Dream

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After being drafted to the Atlanta Dream with the seventh pick of the 2017 WNBA draft, Sykes completed a very successful rookie year. She signed a three-year deal that started with a base salary of $47,738 in the first year, jumps to $48,693 in the second, $53,563 in the third and $60,867 in a fourth-year option (typical rookie contract).[1] She was named the rookie of the month for both July and August and was the runner-up for rookie of the year earning 10 out of the 40 votes and ultimately losing to Allisha Gray.[6] She was named to the 2017 WNBA all rookie team. She averaged 13.9 points per game (with a career high of 33 points against the Phoenix Mercury) and her 471 points was a new single-season rookie record for the Atlanta Dream franchise.[7]

Overseas

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Sykes played for Hapoel Petah Tikva in the Israeli Female Basketball Premier League in 2017.[8]

Unrivaled

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On September 23, 2024, it was announced that Sykes would appear and play in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, the women's 3x3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.[9]

National team career

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Sykes participated in 2012 USA U18 and 2013 USA U19 National Team trials before the start of her professional career.[10] After her rookie WNBA season, Sykes was named to the 2018-20 national team pool on March 14, 2018.

Career statistics

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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

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Regular season

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Stats current through end of 2024 regular season

WNBA regular season statistics[11]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2017 Atlanta 34 23 25.4 .408 .336 .729 4.1 1.9 0.6 0.5 1.7 13.9
2018 Atlanta 29 7 20.7 .411 .268 .663 3.5 2.3 0.3 0.6 1.1 9.7
2019 Atlanta 34 27 25.9 .365 .259 .703 4.4 2.5 0.6 0.5 2.0 10.2
2020 Los Angeles 21 14 24.6 .487 .327 .806 2.6 2.1 1.5 0.3 1.7 10.1
2021 Los Angeles 32 20 29.3 .405 .262 .772 4.6 2.2 1.8 0.5 1.4 9.4
2022 Los Angeles 32 24 28.8 .433 .269 .770 3.7 3.7 2.0 0.7 2.6 12.7
2023 Washington 40 40 31.3 .439 .350 .797 5.0 3.8 2.1 0.3 2.4 15.9
2024 Washington 18 18 23.4 .405 .271 .750 4.1 3.1 0.9 0.4 2.2 12.2
Career 8 years, 3 teams 240 173 26.6 .416 .302 .749 4.1 2.7 1.3 0.5 1.9 12.0

Playoffs

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WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2018 Atlanta 5 5 27.0 .473 .412 .500 3.6 1.6 0.8 0.2 1.8 12.6
2020 Los Angeles 1 1 22.0 .273 .000 1.000 5.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 8.0
2023 Washington 2 2 39.0 .414 .222 .500 8.0 3.5 2.0° 0.5 3.0 15.0
Career 3 years, 3 teams 8 8 29.4 .432 .300 .556 4.9 2.1 1.0 0.3 2.3 12.6

College

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NCAA statistics[12]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2012–13 Syracuse 32 31 25.5 .430 .213 .609 5.7 1.3 2.0 0.5 1.9 8.9
2013–14 Syracuse 32 32 31.2 .505 .333 .733 5.1 1.8 1.4 0.6 2.4 16.6
2014–15 Syracuse 3 3 14.3 .231 .000 .250 4.3 1.3 1.7 0.7 1.3 2.3
2015–16 Syracuse 38 38 29.3 .352 .231 .632 5.1 1.6 2.0 0.6 2.0 10.3
2016–17 Syracuse 33 33 33.3 .452 .393 .754 7.8 3.3 2.2 0.8 2.9 19.2
Career 138 137 29.5 .435 .305 .692 5.9 1.9 1.9 0.6 2.3 13.4

References

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  1. ^ a b Kramer, Lindsay (April 13, 2017). "Ex-Syracuse star Brittney Sykes makes school history as Atlanta's top pick in WNBA draft". The Post-Standard. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Syracuse Women's Basketball Roster". cuse.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Brittney Sykes 2012 High School Girls' Basketball Profile - ESPN". espn.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  4. ^ Kramer, Lindsay. "Ex-Syracuse star Brittney Sykes makes school history as Atlanta's top pick in WNBA draft". Advance Local. Syracuse.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  5. ^ Carlson (18 February 2016). "Syracuse's Brittney Sykes on two torn ACLs: 'It saved me'". Advance Local Media LLC. Syracuse.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  6. ^ Kramer, Lindsay (19 September 2017). "Ex-Syracuse basketball star Brittney Sykes runner-up for WNBA Rookie of the Year award". Advance Local. Syracuse.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Brittney Sykes". wnba.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. ^ Kramer, Lindsay (19 September 2017). "Dominant Syracuse women's basketball backcourt teams up again overseas". Advance Local. Syracuse.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. ^ @Unrivaledwbb (September 23, 2024). "SLIM IS UNRIVALED👑 21/30✅" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Brittney Sykes". usab.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Brittney Sykes WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
  12. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
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