Anneli Maley (born 1 September 1998) is an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the Eltham Wildcats of the NBL1 South. She is also contracted with the Perth Lynx of the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Baske ...

(WNBL). She made her WNBL debut in 2016 and then spent two seasons in the United States playing

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the Oregon Ducks and TCU Horned Frogs. With the Bendigo Spirit in 2022, she was named the WNBL Most Valuable Player.

Early life and career

Maley was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria. She attended

Eltham High School Eltham High School is a secondary school in Victoria, Australia. It is located in Eltham, a suburb which is north-east from Melbourne. The school has 'free dress' policy and is the only non-uniform secondary school in the Eltham area. Eltham ...

and played both basketball and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

as a youth. In 2014 as a 15-year-old, Maley moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

to attend the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS) and play for the BA Centre of Excellence in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). After two seasons, she returned to Melbourne and was set to play for the Nunawading Spectres in the 2016 SEABL season. However, due burn out which led to anxiety and depression, Maley took time away from basketball in 2016 after she was admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward after a panic attack mirrored the physical symptoms of a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. Maley returned to basketball later in the year at

Box Hill Senior Secondary College Box Hill Senior Secondary College (BHSSC) is a state-run co-educational senior secondary school located in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia. The senior school has a three-year curriculum, composed of years ten - twelve. Year 9 are offered at the Mi ...

, where she led the school to the Australian Schools Championship title. In December 2016, Maley signed with the Adelaide Lightning for the rest of the

2016–17 WNBL season The 2016–17 WNBL season is the 37th season of competition since its establishment in 1981. The regular season begins on October 7, 2016 when the Sydney Uni Flames host the Perth Lynx and is scheduled to conclude on February 19, 2017. Townsville ...

. In 12 games, she averaged 3.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. She then played for the Dandenong Rangers in 2017 SEABL season.

College career

In April 2017, Maley signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

to play

for the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. With the

Ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

, she played in 37 games as a freshman in 2017–18, including all 18 Pac-12 regular season games and all three Pac-12 tournament games as the Ducks won both conference titles. She averaged just under 10 minutes per game and scored a total of 81 points on the season. In April 2018, Maley transferred to

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(TCU). She was initially deemed ineligible to play in the 2018–19 season due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer rules, but she received a waiver to play immediately. She left the TCU Horned Frogs mid season after playing 10 games between 6 November and 20 December.

Professional career

In February 2019, Maley signed with the Diamond Valley Eagles for the inaugural

NBL1 NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia, consisting of NBL1 South, South, NBL1 North, North, NBL1 Central, Central, NBL1 West, West and NBL1 East, East Conferences with both men's and women's compet ...

season. She went on to earn NBL1 Youth Player of the Year honours. In August 2019, Maley signed with the

Southside Flyers The Southside Flyers are a professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League ( WNBL). The club is based in Dandenong, Melbourne, Victoria. The team was founded as the Dandenong Rangers, however before the ...

for the

2019–20 WNBL season The 2019–20 WNBL season is the 40th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Canberra Capitals were the defending champions and they successfully defended their title with a 2–0 win over Southside. The 2019–20 title was ...

. Maley joined the Sydney Uni Flames for the 2020 WNBL Hub season in Queensland. She then joined the Eltham Wildcats for the 2021 NBL1 South season. Maley joined the Bendigo Spirit for the

2021–22 WNBL season The 2021–22 WNBL season is the 42nd season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Southside Flyers were the defending champions, however they failed to qualify for finals. The Melbourne Boomers won their second championship, de ...

and went on to win the

WNBL Most Valuable Player Award The Women's National Basketball League Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) award given since the league's second season. MVP voting takes place throughout the regular season and is determined by a pl ...

. She subsequently joined the Chicago Sky and had a four-game stint during the

2022 WNBA season The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions. The WNBA's second Commissioner's Cup took place during the regular season, with the Las Vegas Aces win ...

. She then returned to the Eltham Wildcats for the 2022 NBL1 South season. After a second season with the Bendigo Spirit in

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, Maley re-joined the Chicago Sky for the 2023 WNBA preseason. She then returned to the Eltham Wildcats for her third NBL1 South season. On 23 June 2023, Maley signed with the Perth Lynx for the

2023–24 WNBL season The 2023–24 WNBL season is the 44th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Townsville Fire were the defending champions, but were defeated in the Semi-Finals by Perth. The Southside Flyers won their fifth championship ti ...

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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National team career

Maley first played for Australia at the 2013

FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship The FIBA Oceania Under-15 Championship is an under-15 basketball championship in the International Basketball Federation's Oceania zone. Since 2018, the competition previously known as FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship, which was a qualifier f ...

. She went on to play at the

2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (Arabic: بطولة العالم لكرة السلة 2014 تحت 17 سنة ) was the 3rd edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship cont ...

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2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19 2015) was the 12th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by th ...

, and

2017 FIBA Under-19 World Cup The 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Arabic: 2017 كأس العالم لكرة السلة تحت 19 سنة فيبا) was the 13th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball champi ...

. In 2022, Maley played for the

Australian Opals The Australian women's national basketball team is nicknamed the Opals, after the brightly coloured Opal, gemstone common to the country. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at ...

at the

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

. With the Australian 3x3 team, Maley won silver at the

2022 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup The 2022 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup was the fifth edition of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup. The games of the final tournament were held in Singapore between 6 July and 10 July 2022. Participating teams The FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup returns for its fifth edition this y ...

and bronze at the

2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup The 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup was an international 3x3 basketball event that featured competitions for men's and women's national teams. The tournament ran between 30 May and 4 June 2023 in Vienna, Austria. Medal summary Medal table Medalists ...

Personal life

Maley's father, Paul Maley, was born in the United States and later moved to Australia where he played 270 games in the National Basketball League (NBL). She has two brothers.

References

External links

*
NBL1 profileBasketball Australia profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maley, Anneli 1998 births Living people Adelaide Lightning players Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian lesbians Australian LGBT sportspeople Australian women's basketball players Basketball players from Melbourne Chicago Sky players FISU World University Games gold medalists for Australia Forwards (basketball) Lesbian sportswomen LGBT basketball players Medalists at the 2019 Summer Universiade Oregon Ducks women's basketball players People from East Melbourne Southside Flyers players Sportswomen from Victoria (state) TCU Horned Frogs women's basketball players Universiade medalists in basketball