Sami Whitcomb

Samantha Allison "Sami" Whitcomb (born July 20, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She played college basketball for the University of Washington before spending the 2010 preseason with the Chicago Sky of the WNBA. After two seasons in Germany, she arrived in Australia in 2013 where she joined the Rockingham Flames. With the Flames, she has become one of the WSBL's best players of the modern era, as she won a trio of MVP awards between 2013 and 2015 and led the Flames to back-to-back championships in 2014 and 2015.

Early life

Born and raised in Ventura, California, Whitcomb played soccer as a child before taking up basketball at age 12.^[1]

High school career

Whitcomb attended Ventura's Buena High School where she was a four-year letterwinner and one-year team captain for the basketball team. She won numerous awards during her time at Buena including the 2004–05 Co-County Player of the Year from the league coaches, and the Ventura County Star's 2005–06 Girls' Basketball Player of the Year. She also helped her team win three Channel League titles as a sophomore, junior and senior. As a senior in 2005–06, she averaged 17.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.6 steals per game.^[2]

Whitcomb was also a two-time letterwinner in track and field during her sophomore and junior years. In 2005, she placed second in the league in shot put and first in the county for seeded throwers.^[2]

College career

As a freshman at Washington in 2006–07, Whitcomb appeared in 21 games and received four starting assignments. She missed eight games mid-season after suffering a broken right hand in a December 2 practice in Columbus, Ohio. She led the team with an 81.0 free-throw shooting percentage (17-for-21), was fourth on the squad with 15 three-pointers made, and averaged 4.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.^[2]

As a sophomore in 2007–08, Whitcomb's role on the team increased dramatically as she appeared in all 31 games and received 30 starting assignments. Her production subsequently increased and she was rewarded for her efforts with a Pac-10 All-Defensive honorable mention team selection. She also earned Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention honors. Her 11.2 points per game were ranked second on the team, while her 62 steals was a team-high and her 74 assists were also second. On January 4, 2008, she recorded a near triple-double with nine steals, seven rebounds and nine points against Washington State. Her nine steals were two away from matching the UW school record. Six days later, she recorded her first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds against UCLA. She was later named Pac-10 Player of the Week for her 24-point scoring output against California on March 2.^[2]

As a junior in 2008–09, Whitcomb appeared in all 30 games while starting 29 of them. She earned All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors and was named to the Pac-10 All-Defensive honorable mention team for a second-straight season. She also earned Pac-10 All-Academic second team honors. She led the Huskies in scoring (12.8 ppg), steals (2.3 spg), three-pointers made (54) and free-throws made (71), while she was second in rebounding (3.9 rpg) and third in assists (1.2 apg). On January 31, 2009, she scored a then career-high 29 points against Arizona State.^[2]

As a senior in 2009–10, Whitcomb started all 31 games and earned All-Pac-10 selection and Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention honors. She averaged a career-best 13.0 points per game, set a personal high with 175 rebounds, and was named Pac-10 Player of the Week on December 28, 2009. Then on January 29, 2010, she scored a career-high 32 points against Washington State.^[2][3]

In her four-year career at Washington, Whitcomb scored 1,205 points, a mark that ranks 15th all-time in the program's history. She graduated from Washington with a degree in History.^[2]

College statistics

Professional career

WNBA and video coordinator

After going undrafted in the 2010 WNBA draft, Whitcomb signed with the Chicago Sky for training camp on April 25, 2010. However, she was later waived by the Sky on May 9 after appearing in two preseason games.^[4] Despite considering signing in Switzerland, Whitcomb did not play professionally in 2010–11, deciding instead to join her college team's coaching staff as a video coordinator.^[5]

Germany

While initially giving up on a professional career in 2010, Whitcomb still had the urge to play and was not ready to end her competitive career, and in June 2011, Whitcomb signed with the ChemCats Chemnitz of Germany for the 2011–12 season.^[6] In 22 games for ChemCats, she averaged 11.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

After a successful first season in 2011–12, Whitcomb returned to Germany for the 2012–13 season, signing with the Wolfenbüttel Wildcats in July 2013. There, she reunited with her University of Washington teammate, Sarah Morton.^[7] In 20 games for Wolfenbüttel, she averaged 18.5 points per game, good for second-best on the DBBL scorers list in 2012–13. She also averaged 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a league-best 2.6 steals per game.

Rockingham Flames

Following her stint with Wolfenbüttel, Whitcomb moved to Australia where she joined the Rockingham Flames of the Women's State Basketball League (WSBL) as an import for the 2013 season. Whitcomb was dominant in her debut season for the Flames as she averaged a league-leading 23.2 points per game (19 regular season games) and subsequently earned the Most Valuable Player award. She was also named to the All-Star Five.^[8] With Whitcomb's help, the Flames made it through to the semi-finals where they lost the best-of-three game series 2–1 to the Wanneroo Wolves.^[9] In 24 total games for the Flames in 2013, she averaged 22.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.8 steals per game.^[10]

Slovakia

Following the conclusion of the Flames' season, Whitcomb moved to Slovakia where she joined ŠKBD Rücon Spišská Nová Ves for the 2013–14 season.^[11] In 15 Middle European League games, she averaged 15.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game.^[12] She parted ways with Rücon in late December 2013 and returned to Australia.

Return to Rockingham

Whitcomb re-joined the Rockingham Flames for the 2014 WSBL season and once again won the scoring title, earned MVP honors and was named to the All-Star Five. She went a step further, however, and led her team to the Grand Final where she put on a dominating display against the Lakeside Lightning, scoring 32 points in an 80–75 win to garner Grand Final MVP honors.^[13] In 27 games for the Flames in 2014, Whitcomb averaged 23.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game.^[10]

On July 31, 2014, Whitcomb signed with TSV 1880 Wasserburg of Germany for the 2014–15 season,^[14] but later parted ways with the club before appearing in a game for them. In February 2015, Whitcomb was reintroduced by the Flames as the team's import for the 2015 season.^[15]

Whitcomb's impressive tenure with the Rockhingham Flames led to her signing with the Perth Lynx on May 14, 2015 as an import for the 2015–16 WNBL season.^[16] She continued to dish out her best for the Flames in her third WSBL season, earning the top scorer nods again while leading her team back to the Grand Final where she faced off against her new Lynx teammate Louella Tomlinson of the Willetton Tigers.^[17] In another dominating display, Whitcomb's game-high of 41 points earned herself back-to-back Grand Final MVP honors as the Flames claimed their second consecutive championship with a 68–63 win over the Tigers.^[18][19] In 26 games for the Flames in 2015, she averaged 25.3 points per game.^[10]

Perth Lynx

On October 10, 2015, Whitcomb made her debut for the Lynx in the team's season opener against the Sydney Uni Flames. In 28 minutes of action, she recorded 18 points and 7 rebounds to lead her team to an 81–70 win.^[20] She was subsequently named in the WNBL's Team of the Week for Round 1.^[21] She went on to earn Player of the Week honors for Round 3 after scoring a season-high 36 points against the Dandenong Rangers on October 25.^[22] She also earned her second Team of the Week nomination for her Round 3 performance.^[23] On November 18, she was named to her third Team of the Week after scoring 16 points against Dandenong on November 13, and 17 points against Bendigo on November 15. With the two Round 6 wins, the Lynx moved to a league equal-best 6–2 win/loss record.^[24] She earned her fourth Team of the Week nomination for Round 7 after scoring a game-high 28 points against the Adelaide Lightning on November 20.^[25] She earned four more Team of the Week honors in 2015–16, for Rounds 8,^[26] 13,^[27] 15^[28] and 18.^[29] She led the Lynx to a second place regular season finish with a 16–8 win/loss record, and went on to score 21 points in the team's semi-final win over the first-seeded Townsville Fire.^[30] With the win, the Lynx advanced to the WNBL grand final for the first time since 1999.^[31] There they were outclassed by the defending champion Townsville (who made it to the grand final via the preliminary final), losing the best-of-three series 2–0. Whitcomb was recognised for her outstanding 2015–16 season by being named in the WNBL All-Star Five,^[32] while finishing third in MVP voting.^[33] She was subsequently named club MVP, as she was presented with the trophy at the Perth Lynx MVP dinner.^[34] She appeared in all 27 games for the Lynx in 2015–16, averaging 19.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.8 steals per game.

Whitcomb again re-joined the Rockingham Flames for the 2016 season, making her season debut in Round 2 and earning Player of the Week honors.^[35] On May 20, she scored 55 of the Flames' 88 points in a win over the South West Slammers. She also recorded 17 rebounds and shot 18-of-37 from the field with only three made three-pointers, and 16-of-20 from the free throw line.^[36] She subsequently earned Player of the Week honors for Round 10.^[37] In the Flames' regular season finale on July 30, Whitcomb recorded 32 points and 11 rebounds in a 97–59 win over the East Perth Eagles. She subsequently earned Player of the Week honors for Round 20.^[38] The Flames finished the regular season in second place on the ladder with an 18–4 record. Whitcomb helped the Flames return to the semi-finals, where they were defeated 2–1 by the Willetton Tigers. The series loss ended the Flames' quest for a three-peat. In 25 games for the Flames in 2016, she averaged 24.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.8 steals per game.^[10]

Whitcomb re-joined the Perth Lynx for the 2016–17 season as an unrestricted player. She earned Player of the Week honors for Round 3 for her impressive performance against the Canberra Capitals at home. She tallied 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in the 65–59 win, and was a crucial scoring threat throughout a tough and physical contest.^[39] On November 3, she was named to her fourth consecutive WNBL Team of the Week.^[40] Five days later, she was named WNBL Player of the Month for October, the first Player of the Month award of her career.^[41] On November 18, she scored a career-high 39 points in an 84–71 loss to the Bendigo Spirit.^[42]

Personal

Whitcomb is the daughter of Jan and Sander Whitcomb, and has an older brother, Jason. Her great uncle, Roy Schmidt, played in the NFL with the Falcons, Packers and Redskins in the 1960s and 1970s.^[2]

References

External links

• Washington bio
• SBL stats
• Perth Lynx star Sami Whitcomb chases WNBA dream amid stellar WNBL season