Briann January
January in 2019
Connecticut Sun
PositionAssistant Coach
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1987-01-11) January 11, 1987
Spokane, Washington
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight144 lb (65 kg)
Career information
High schoolLewis and Clark
(Spokane, Washington)
CollegeArizona State (2005–2009)
WNBA draft2009: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Selected by the Indiana Fever
Playing career2009–2022
Career history
As player:
2009–2017Indiana Fever
2009–2010Tarsus Belediyesi
2010–2011Raanana Hertzeliya
2012–2013Elektra Ramat Hasharon
2013–2014Maranhao Basquete
2014–2015Adana ASKİ SK
2016–2017Adana ASKİ SK
2018–2019Phoenix Mercury
2019Sopron Basket
2020–2021Connecticut Sun
2022Seattle Storm
As coach:
2017-2018Arizona State (Asst.)
2023–PresentConnecticut Sun (Asst.)
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com

Briann January (born January 11, 1987) is a former American professional basketball player for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and current assistant coach for the Connecticut Sun.[1][2] After a successful college career at Arizona State University, January was drafted by the Indiana Fever with the sixth overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft. She has also played for the Phoenix Mercury, the Connecticut Sun, and the Seattle Storm.

Personal life

Briann Jolie January was born in Spokane, Washington on January 11, 1987, the daughter of Barry, a karate instructor, and Sally, a teacher. She has an older sister, Aleisha (Anderson), brother-in-law Calvin, and a younger sister, Kiara. She also has a niece, Leilani and two nephews, Caiden and Cord’e. January holds a black belt in karate.[3]

High school

January was a 2005 graduate of Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington, earning first-team all-state honors by both the Associated Press and the Seattle Times. January served as a team captain in track and field as a senior. She won the state high jump title in 2004, with her personal best in the high jump being 5–8. Led Lewis and Clark to a 25–3 record and an appearance in the state semifinals as a senior, averaging 13 points a game in her final season, and was team MVP and assists leader in each of her four seasons.[4]

College career

January attended Arizona State University for four seasons. As a freshman, January was named to the Pac-10's 2006 All-Freshman Team after a season in which she finished first on the team in both assists (86) and steals (46). The 86 assists represented the second-highest total ever for a Sun Devil freshman. When January was a sophomore she earned All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention honors for a season in which she finished No. 3 in the Pac-10 in steals (2.1 per game), No. 4 in assists (4.0 per game), No. 4 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.67) and No. 6 in free throw percentage (81.7). In her final season as a Sun Devil, January set the school's single-season record for 3-point field goals (65). She also tied the school's single-game record with seven 3-pointers in ASU's win at UC Davis on December 3. After four seasons as a Sun Devil, January is the only player in school history to lead the team in steals and assists four straight years.

Entering her senior season at Arizona State in 2008, January appeared on a regional cover of Sports Illustrated with fellow Sun Devil and future NBA star James Harden.[5]

College statistics

Source[6]

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
2005-06 Arizona State 32 155 33.9 21.7 79.5 2.3 2.7 1.4 0.1 4.8
2006-07 Arizona State 35 358 44.0 42.3 81.7 2.2 4.0 2.1 0.2 10.2
2007-08 Arizona State 33 374 44.4 34.8 86.4 3.0 4.4 2.2 0.1 11.3
2008-09 Arizona State 35 430 43.3 44.8 83.5 2.5 4.8 2.1 0.4 12.3
Career Arizona State 135 1317 42.6 39.9 83.0 2.5 4.0 2.0 0.2 9.8

WNBA career

January was drafted with the 6th overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever.[7] As a rookie in the WNBA, January came off the bench, playing 33 games with 4 starts while averaging 6.9 points per game for the Fever. January also experienced her first WNBA finals appearance in her rookie season with the Fever, who were led by Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas advanced all the way to the 2009 WNBA Finals where they lost 3-2 to the Phoenix Mercury. En route to the finals, January was able to provide an offensive spark off the bench for the Fever during the playoffs, averaging 10.6 points per game in 10 games.

In the 2011 season, January officially became the starting point guard for the Fever, but after playing only 10 games, she was sidelined for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.[8]

In 2012, January came back healthy and averaged a career-high 10.3 points per game. She was the Fever's third-leading scorer on the roster that would eventually win the WNBA Championship, they had defeated the championship-defending Minnesota Lynx 3-1 in the finals.

In 2014, January was named a WNBA All-Star for the first time in her career, she had tied her career-high in scoring average for the whole season.[9]

In 2015, January was shooting a career-high in both field goal and 3-point percentage. The Fever advanced to the finals for the second time in four years. They had once again faced the Minnesota Lynx but lost the series in five games.

In 2016 and 2017, January would be named to first and second all-defensive team respectively.

After nine seasons played with the Fever, January was traded to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a top-10 draft pick in March 2018.[10] In 2018, January would be the starting point guard for the Mercury, joining Diana Taurasi in the backcourt. She would put a new career-high in 3-point percentage while leading the league in that category. The Mercury finished 20-14 with the number 5 seed in the league. They would defeat the Dallas Wings in the first round elimination game 101-83. In the second round elimination game, the Mercury defeated the Connecticut Sun 96-86. In the semi-finals, the Mercury lost in five games to the Seattle Storm.

In 2019, January re-signed with the Mercury to a multi-year deal.[11] On July 10, 2019, January scored a season-high 18 points in a 91-68 victory against the Washington Mystics.[12] The Mercury finished as the number 8 seed with a 15-19 record. The Mercury were eliminated in the first round elimination game 105-76 by the Chicago Sky.

Overseas career

For the 2009–10 off-season, January played in Turkey for Tarsus Belediyes. In the 2010–11 off-season, January played in Israel for Raanana Hertzeliya. In the 2012–13 off-season, January played in Israel once again for Elektra Ramat Hasharon. In the 2013–14 off-season, January played in Brazil for Maranhao Basquete. In the 2014–15 off-season, January played in Turkey once again for Adana ASKİ SK. In July 2016, January signed with Adana ASKİ SK for a second stint during the 2016–17 off-season.[13] In 2019, January signed with Sopron Basket of the Hungarian League for the 2019-20 off-season.

Coaching career

January spent the 2013–14 off-season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Adelphi University women's basketball program.[14] With January's help, the team advanced to the NCAA tournament as a #2 seed, after losing 48 games over the previous 3 seasons. In August 2017, it was announced that January would be the assistant coach for Arizona State's women's basketball team during the off-season.[15]

January returned to the coaching world when the Connecticut Sun announced her as a new assistant coach for Stephanie White's staff on January 3, 2023.[2]

WNBA statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
† Denotes seasons in which January won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2009 Indiana 33420.7.333.287.8511.92.31.00.01.76.9
2010 Indiana 30721.9.371.356.8262.03.11.20.12.27.4
2011 Indiana 101028.6.357.318.8291.45.01.50.03.38.6
2012† Indiana 312628.4.404.430.8741.83.91.10.12.410.3
2013 Indiana 323229.6.348.357.8112.43.71.00.12.49.8
2014 Indiana 313128.9.387.383.8801.63.71.20.22.210.3
2015 Indiana 292927.0.426.431°.8451.83.41.00.22.18.1
2016 Indiana 292728.1.401.392.8751.84.71.20.11.79.7
2017 Indiana 252426.3.395.316.8171.53.90.90.12.19.5
2018 Phoenix 333327.1.423.470°.8062.13.30.50.11.47.0
2019 Phoenix 322626.6.390.378.8361.33.30.80.01.66.5
2020 Connecticut 331323.3.293.355.8331.23.40.60.21.25.0
2021 Connecticut 292930.2.425.380.8681.43.10.90.11.87.0
2022 Seattle 36516.9.377.311.8261.02.40.60.21.53.7
Career 14 years, 4 teams 39329325.8.385.376.8451.73.41.00.12.07.8

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2009 Indiana 10038.5.385.414.8502.43.00.40.01.310.6
2010 Indiana 3019.7.313.200.9001.32.00.30.02.66.7
2012† Indiana 101034.1.426.227.9002.33.81.60.33.011.5
2013 Indiana 4429.6.370.444.8572.83.50.50.02.07.5
2014 Indiana 5535.2.322.353.8332.84.21.20.82.012.8
2015 Indiana 111132.2.407.286.9332.35.01.30.22.711.3
2016 Indiana 1133.3.308.000.6670.09.03.00.01.012.0
2018 Phoenix 7735.4.352.276.6672.93.70.70.01.07.1
2019 Phoenix 1126.4.429.0001.0002.02.01.00.03.012.0
2020 Connecticut 7732.6.347.3451.0001.93.60.90.00.99.0
2021 Connecticut 3334.0.529.625.6762.33.01.00.01.710.7
2022 Seattle 607.2.500.00.000.51.20.00.00.71.0
Career 12 years, 4 teams 684928.7.384.324.8552.23.60.90.21.89.3

References

  1. ↑ WNBA January Player Profile Archived May 31, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 "Connecticut Sun Welcomes Back Briann January as Assistant Coach". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  3. ↑ January ASU PLayer Profile Personal Archived August 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ High School Highlights Archived August 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Sports Illustrated regional cover, 2008-11-17 Archived September 30, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Fever draft ASU G Briann January - USATODAY.com". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  8. ↑ "FEVER: BRIANN JANUARY OUT FOR 2011 SEASON WITH TORN ACL". www.wnba.com. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Womens Hoops Blog | Spokane star Briann January to start for Indiana Fever | Seattle Times Newspaper". seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ Indiana Fever trade Briann January to Phoenix Mercury for No. 8 pick in WNBA draft
  11. ↑ WNBA Transactions
  12. ↑ Griner, Bonner combine for 47 points, Mercury beat Mystics
  13. ↑ Adana ASKI Mersin inks Briann January -
  14. ↑ "Adelphi University — Staff Directory". www.aupanthers.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  15. ↑ Indiana Fever's Briann January looks ahead to offseason as Arizona State assistant coach
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