Mekia Valentine (March 6, 1988 – March 26, 2020)[1] was a professional international basketball player. She was recruited by the WNBA and played for the University of California at Santa Barbara Gaucho team.[2]

Sport career

Valentine was a 6-foot-4 forward. She began playing basketball in high school with Greensoboro Day School before transferring to Dudley High School for her senior year. She was named 3rd-best forward in the nation by Full Court Press.[3] She was named Dudley's MVP and 3A Conference Player of the Year.

She was a top-25 national recruit and earned ACC All-Freshman Honors in 2007 at Wake Forest University.

When she began playing for UCSB's Gauchos team as a junior, she averaged 12.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game and helped the team make WNIT. The following year, Valentine averaged 11.1 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.7 blocks. She had many of the school's records, including career rebound average (10.5), blocks in a game (11), blocks in a season (120) and season (.620) and career (.595) field-goal percentage.[4] She was named the Big West's Defensive Player of the Year.[5]

In 2011 she was drafted to the WNBA, by New York Liberty.[6] She chose a four-year career in international basketball, playing in Israel, Poland, Germany, and Romania.[7] In 2016 she retired from basketball and pursued nursing. She worked in patient care before transitioning to the private sector.

Wake Forest and UC Santa Barbara statistics

Source[8]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006-07 Wake Forest 29 170 46.8% 0.0% 37.3% 4.7 0.2 0.4 1.7 5.9
2007-08 Wake Forest 30 181 47.7% 0.0% 48.1% 4.8 0.2 0.3 1.5 6.0
2009-10 UC Santa Barbara 30 370 57.4% 0.0% 55.6% 9.7 0.8 0.4 4.0 12.3
2010-11 UC Santa Barbara 31 343 62.0% 0.0% 47.6% 11.2 0.5 0.3 3.7 11.1
Career 120 1064 54.8% 11.1% 48.9% 5.3 0.5 0.3 2.7 8.9

Personal life

Valentine was originally from Greensboro, North Carolina.[9] She was the daughter of Lisa Meadows Johnson and Jerome Early Valentine III. Her grandmother, Lillian Manns Valentine, adopted her in infancy and raised her.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Mekia Valentine | New York Liberty | Women's National Basketball Association | Yahoo! Sports". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  2. ↑ Patton, Mark (2020-03-31). "Mekia Valentine, former UCSB women's basketball star, dies at 32". Santa Barbara News-Press. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  3. ↑ "Mekia Valentine - Women's Basketball". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  4. ↑ "Mekia Valentine Chosen by NY Liberty in WNBA Draft". UC Santa Barbara. 2011-04-11. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  5. ↑ "Valentine Nabs Second Weekly Honor". bigwest.org. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  6. ↑ "LIBERTY: Mekia Valentine Player Bio". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  7. ↑ Noozhawk. "Former UCSB Basketball Standout Mekia Valentine Dies at 32". www.noozhawk.com. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  8. ↑ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  9. ↑ "Very Sad News Today:Mekia Valentine(Greensboro Day School/Dudley HS) has passed away at age 32:Tall Basketball Player that played high school, college and pro basketball(Former Pizza Hut Tourney MVP)". Greensboro Sports. 2020-03-31. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  10. ↑ "Mekia Shanta Valentine March 06 1988 March 26 2020, death notice, USA". United States Obituary Notice. 2020-04-09. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
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