Sandrine Gruda (born 25 June 1987) is a French 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

PF Schio Pallacanestro Femminile Schio, also known as Beretta Famila Schio for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian women's basketball team based in Schio that competes in Serie A. Founded in 1973, Schio enjoyed its first successes between 1996 and 2002, wi ...

. Her primary position is

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Before the WNBA

She is the daughter of

Ulysse Gruda Ulysse, the French spelling of Ulysses, is a masculine French given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ulysse Adjagba (born 1993), French basketball player *Ulysse Bozonnet (1922–2014), French ski mountaineer *Ulysse Chevalier (1841–1 ...

, who played for the French men's national basketball team, and grew up on

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

. Before joining the WNBA, Gruda played professionally for the French club Union Sportive Valenciennes Olympic. She began playing on senior level in 2002, and professionally in 2005. She was voted the best European young women's player of the year 2006.Gruda Honoured As Young Player Of The Year
eurobasketwomen2007.com

WNBA career

Gruda was drafted 13th overall in the 2007 WNBA Draft by the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...

. She did not join the Sun until the 2008 season. She was highly touted by head coach

Mike Thibault Michael Francis Thibault (born September 28, 1950) is an American basketball head coach, formerly of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA, and now of the Washington Mystics. In 2013, Thibault became the WNBA's all time most successful coach with 212 vi ...

before joining the team. During her rookie season, she provided solid bench play and with her height and length, was a consistent rebounder and shot-blocker. In 2014, she returned to the WNBA after a three-year absence, joining 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 ...

as a reserve on the roster. Gruda sat out the 2015 season to prepare for the 2016 Summer Olympics with the

France women's national basketball team France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

in the qualifying tournament. In 2016, Gruda re-signed with the Sparks after the Olympic break.Sparks Sign Veteran Forward/Center Sandrine Gruda
/ref> Later on in the season, Gruda would win her first WNBA championship with the Sparks after they defeated the Minnesota Lynx 3–2 in the Finals. Following the championship victory, after not being re-signed during free agency, Gruda returned to the Sparks midway through the 2017 season. The Sparks would go on to advance to the Finals for the second season in a row, after defeating the Phoenix Mercury in a 3-game sweep, setting up a rematch with the Lynx. However, the Sparks would lose to the Lynx in five games.

Overseas career

She played for the Russian club

UMMC Ekaterinburg BC Ekaterinburg (russian: БК «УГМК») is a Russian women's basketball team based in Yekaterinburg competing in the Russian Premier League, and until February 2022 in FIBA Europe's EuroLeague Women. In reaction to the 2022 Russian inv ...

from 2007 to 2016. On 6 July 2016, Fenerbahçe Istanbul announced her transfer to the club.

National team

Gruda is the starting center for the France women's national basketball team, and led her team to the

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

title. She was the best scorer and rebounder of the French side, and was voted to the all-tournament team.Gruda, Dumerc Highlight All-Tournament Team
eurobasketwomen2009.com She also took part in the World Championship 2006 and the

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

, reaching the quarter-finals both times.

References

External links

Sandrine Gruda Official Site
sandrinegruda.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruda, Sandrine 1987 births Living people Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) Connecticut Sun draft picks Connecticut Sun players Fenerbahçe women's basketball players French expatriate basketball people in Italy French expatriate basketball people in Russia French expatriate basketball people in Turkey French expatriate basketball people in the United States French people of Martiniquais descent French women's basketball players Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Los Angeles Sparks players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players of France Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France Sportspeople from Cannes France women's national basketball team players