Ryneldi Becenti (born August 11, 1971) is a retired American 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. She became the first Native American to play in the WNBA when she played for 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 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

High school

Becenti attended

Window Rock High School Window Rock High School is a public high school in Fort Defiance, a census-designated place in unincorporated Apache County, Arizona. WRHS is the only high school in the Window Rock Unified School District. WRUSD, and therefore the high school, ...

Fort Defiance, Arizona Fort Defiance ( nv, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Apache County, Arizona, United States. It is also located within the Navajo Nation. The population was 3,624 at the 2010 census. History The land on which Fort Defiance was eventu ...

, and in 1989,

Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale Community College is a public community college in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is on the eastern boundary of the city on 160 acres (650,000 m2) of land belonging to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The lease was taken out i ...

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. She was the country's top

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

in 1990–91, and left Scottsdale a two-time

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

College

Becenti was an All-Pac 10 First Team selection in both her seasons at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, and a two-time honorable mention All-America honoree. She also turned out for the US at the 1993

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, where her team won the bronze medal.

Professional career

In 1994, Becenti was playing professional basketball in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. She also played in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and, briefly,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. In 1997, she signed with the

in the WNBA as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

and played in their inaugural season. In 1998, she was drafted by the

Chicago Condors The Chicago Condors were a very short-lived member of the American Basketball League (ABL). Their hometown was much larger than usual for the ABL, which mainly targeted mid-market cities, and initial team merchandising was successful. The team a ...

in the American Basketball League.

Honors

In 1996, she became the first and only female basketball player to be inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. in 2013, she was the first women's basketball player to have her jersey (No. 21) retired by ASU.

References

External links

2013 Interview
for Indian Country Today
Profile
at the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame
1993 Article
from the

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

vault {{DEFAULTSORT:Becenti, Ryneldi 1971 births Living people 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball players Basketball players from Arizona Guards (basketball) Medalists at the 1993 Summer Universiade Native American basketball players Navajo sportspeople People from Fort Defiance, Arizona Phoenix Mercury players Scottsdale Community College alumni Universiade bronze medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball United States women's national basketball team players