Jessica Nicole Breland (born February 23, 1988) is an American

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 who is currently a free agent.

High school

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Breland grew up in

Kelford, North Carolina Kelford is a town in Bertie County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 251 at the 2010 census. Geography Kelford is located at (36.180914, -77.221660). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , a ...

, and attended

Bertie High School Bertie High School a public high school located in Windsor, North Carolina, United States. It is one of three high schools in the Bertie County Schools system in Bertie County. Bertie High School's enrollment as of 2015 is 945 students. The stud ...

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

where she was a three-sport athlete participating in volleyball and track & field and basketball. In her senior year she averaged 22 points per game and 12 rebounds for the Falcons basketball team. She was an All-American selection by McDonald's, the WBCA, and Parade Magazine, 2nd team All-American selection by EA Sports, 3rd-Team Street and Smith's All-America pick, Gatorade Player of the Year in North Carolina as a senior, and a USA U18 Women's National Team Trials Invitee.

College

In 2009, when playing for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

, Breland was diagnosed with

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...

, a cancer of the lymph system. She underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

and had to sit out the 2009–10 season, but recovered. In 2011, Breland was awarded the Honda Inspiration Award which is given to a collegiate athlete "who has overcome hardship and was able to return to play at the collegiate level".

North Carolina statistics

Source

WNBA

Breland was selected in the second round of the 2011 WNBA Draft (13th overall) by the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

.http://www.wnba.com draft2011/draft_board.html 2011 WNBA Draft board She was then traded to New York. She signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Sky in 2014. On February 2, 2018, Breland signed a contract with 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 ...

. On February 19, 2020, Breland was traded to the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

in a three-team deal.

References

1988 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Basketball players from North Carolina Chicago Sky players Connecticut Sun players Forwards (basketball) Indiana Fever players Jiangsu Phoenix players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Lynx draft picks New York Liberty players North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Bertie County, North Carolina Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars {{US-women-basketball-bio-stub