Erica Wheeler (born May 2, 1991) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real e ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). Wheeler was undrafted out of

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

, but eventually made her way into the WNBA in 2015.

Early years

Wheeler grew up in the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

neighborhood of Liberty City. Liberty City is one of the worst, most crime-ridden

inner cities The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...

in America, and Wheeler saw two of her close friends die when she was young. Wheeler attended Parkway Academy and was a member of the basketball team there.

College career

Wheeler committed to play at

in 2009. Rutgers reached the NCAA Tournament in each of her first three seasons. Wheeler contributed as a junior, leading the team in steals, and averaging just under 10 points per game. Prior to her senior year, Wheeler's mother died of cancer. However, Wheeler finished her senior season and graduated from Rutgers.

Rutgers statistics

Source

Professional career

WNBA

Wheeler earned a try-out in 2015 for the

after not being selected in the WNBA Draft. Wheeler appeared in 17 games for the Dream in 2015, but was eventually cut. Wheeler then moved to the New York Liberty, and appeared three times. In 2016, Wheeler was signed after training camp by the Indiana Fever. Wheeler started 25 games for the Fever In 2017, Wheeler continued with the Fever and was second on the team in scoring, and led the team in assists. In 2019, Wheeler became the first undrafted player ever in the WNBA to be named All-Star Game MVP. Before the start of the 2020 WNBA season, Wheeler tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, and developed health complications including fluid buildup around her heart. She was not cleared to resume playing basketball again until October, missing the entire COVID-shortened 2020 season, which ended October 6. Prior to the start of the

2021 WNBA season The 2021 WNBA season was the 25th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams played a 32-game season (rather than the 36 games agreed to in the ...

, Wheeler signed as a free agent with the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

to be their new starting point guard.

Overseas

Wheeler signed with Fabio Jardine who facilitated her move to the Brazilian league. Wheeler continued to play overseas in the WNBA offseason making appearances in Puerto Rico, Turkey, and Brazil. After missing the 2020 WNBA season due to COVID, Wheeler signed with Turkey's Izmit Belediyespor and played in 16 games of their 2020-21 season and ranking second on the team with 15.1 points per game.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, 34 , , 25 , , 23.9 , , .418 , , .298 , , .833 , , 2.1 , , 2.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

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, 34 , , 26 , , 26.4 , , .400 , , .331 , , .792 , , 3.0 , , 4.1 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.2 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

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, 34 , , 22 , , 21.7 , , .351 , , .276 , , .797 , , 2.9 , , 4.1 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 1.4 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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, 34 , , 34 , , 25.0 , , .426 , , .384 , , .872 , , 3.0 , , 5.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 2.9 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

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Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, 32 , , 32 , , 30.2 , , .417 , , .359 , , .827 , , 3.1 , , 4.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 2.7 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 6 years, 4 teams , 188 , , 139 , , 23.9 , , .405 , , .336 , , .813 , , 2.5 , , 3.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 2.2 , , 9.7

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015 , style="text-align:left;", New York , 3 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 1 , , 1 , , 25.6 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , 3.0 , , 3.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 2 years, 2 teams , 4 , , 1 , , 8.4 , , .444 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , , 3.0

References

External links

WNBA BioEurobasket profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Erica 1991 births Living people American women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Basketball players from Miami Indiana Fever players LGBT basketball players LGBT people from Florida Lesbian sportswomen Los Angeles Sparks players New York Liberty players Point guards Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball players Shooting guards Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars Undrafted Women's National Basketball Association players