Olayinka Sanni (born August 21, 1986) is a Nigerian-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. Born in

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights". Geogra ...

, she most recently played the center / power forward position for the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season ...

in the WNBA and also for Charleville-Méz in France – LFB.

College career

In her senior year at

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

, Sanni averaged career highs in points per game (16.2) and rebounds per game (7.1).

West Virginia statistics

Source

WNBA career

Sanni was drafted 18th overall in the

2008 WNBA Draft The WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which Women's National Basketball Association teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The 2008 draft was held on April 9. A lottery was held on Octobe ...

by the

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. Th ...

. Out of the 31 games she played in her rookie season, she started 9. She shot exactly 50% from the floor (41–82) while averaging just a little over 10 minutes per game. She is playing for Calais in France during the 2008–09 WNBA off-season. She is currently playing for ESB Villeneuve-d'Ascq in France during the 2009–10 WNBA off-season.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

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2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

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Philanthropy

Olayinka Sanni oversees the Olayinka Sanni Foundation, a not-for-profit that caters to the development of boys and girls through leadership and basketball camps. In 2017, she hosted a basketball camp for teenage boys and girls in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanni, Olayinka 1986 births Living people African Games bronze medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in basketball African Games silver medalists for Nigeria American expatriate basketball people in France American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American women's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Centers (basketball) Competitors at the 2007 All-Africa Games Detroit Shock players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in France Nigerian women's basketball players People from Chicago Heights, Illinois Phoenix Mercury players Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball players Homewood-Flossmoor High School alumni