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Ariel Atkins (born July 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In addition to her playing career, she serves as a player development coach at the University of Michigan[1]during the off-season.

Drafted 7th overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2018 WNBA draft, Atkins quickly established herself as a key player. She helped lead the Mystics to the WNBA Finals in her debut season and was a pivotal figure in their 2019 WNBA Championship victory. Atkins' defensive prowess earned her 4 selections to the WNBA All-Defensive Team so far in her career.

In 2021, Atkins won her first Olympic Gold medal with Team USA at the 2020 summer Olympics.

College career

Born in Dallas, Texas, Atkins attended Duncanville in Duncanville, Texas. She played college basketball at the University of Texas, where she was recognized for her athletic performance.

Professional career

WNBA

At the 2018 WNBA draft, Atkins was drafted by the Washington Mystics in the first round, as the seventh overall pick.[2] Atkins would join a Mystics line-up alongside players such as Elena Delle Donne, Kristi Toliver & Natasha Cloud. In August 2018, Atkins was named to the All-Defensive Second Team in her debut season.[3] Later in September 2018, Atkins was also named to the All-Rookie Team.[4]

On October 10, 2019, Atkins and the Mystics took home their first WNBA Championship after defeating the Connecticut Sun, 3–2.[5] In September 2020, Atkins was named to the All-Defensive Second Team for the third time in her three career seasons.[6]

In August 2023, Atkins signed a multi-year extension to stay in Washington with the Mystics.[7]

International

Atkins has also played internationally. She spent the 2018–19 season with InvestInTheWest ENEA Gorzów Wielkopolski in Poland and played for the Perth Lynx in Australia during the 2019–20 off-season.

National team career

2020 Olympics

In late March 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government postponed the 2020 Summer Olympics until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] On June 21, 2021, Atkins was named to the 12-player roster for Team USA for the 2020 summer Olympics.[9] She and Team USA went on to win the gold medal in the tournament, defeating Japan 90–75 in the final.[10]

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

College

Ariel Atkins NCAA Statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2014–15 Texas 27 19 23.9 .363 .288 .825 3.4 1.3 1.2 0.2 2.2 9.7
2015–16 Texas 27 14 21.0 .536 .356 .819 3.9 1.3 1.3 0.2 1.4 11.2
2016–17 Texas 32 32 26.6 .456 .377 .818 4.2 1.6 2.0 0.3 1.4 12.8
2017–18 Texas 35 35 27.7 .534 .420 .859 5.5 3.2 2.5 0.6 2.0 14.9
Career 121 100 25.1 .475 .373 .831 4.3 1.9 1.8 0.4 1.7 12.4

WNBA

Regular season

† Denotes seasons in which Atkins won a WNBA championship
‡ WNBA record
Ariel Atkins WNBA Regular Season Statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2018 Washington 29 24 22.5 .432 .357 .824 2.4 2.1 1.3 0.3 1.3 11.3
2019† Washington 33 33 24.3 .416 .357 .811 2.8 1.9 1.5 0.5 1.0 10.3
2020 Washington 22 22 31.0 .438 .411 .886 2.9 2.4 1.8 0.3 1.9 14.8
2021 Washington 30 30 30.6 .407 .359 .831 2.8 2.6 1.6 0.5 2.0 16.2
2022 Washington 36 36 30.0 .420 .365 .845 3.3 2.3 1.4 0.3 1.4 14.6
2023 Washington 27 27 25.1 .414 .339 .897 3.1 2.3 1.2 0.3 1.3 11.5
2024 Washington
Career 7 years, 1 team 177 172 27.2 .420 .363 .849 2.9 2.3 1.4 0.4 1.5 13.1

Playoffs

Ariel Atkins WNBA Playoff Statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2018 Washington 9 9 27.9 .480 .424 .879 3.7 1.9 1.1 0.1 0.8 15.2
2019† Washington 9 9 19.8 .373 .333 .929 2.7 2.3 0.8 0.0 1.2 7.3
2020 Washington 1 1 36.0 .375 .000 1.000 4.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 13.0
2022 Washington 2 2 33.0 .379 .500 1.000 1.5 5.5 0.5 0.0 1.0 15.5
2023 Washington 2 2 33.5 .345 .250 1.000 5.5 3.0 2.0 1.5 1.5 13.5
Career 5 years, 1 team 23 23 26.0 .416 .371 .907 3.3 2.6 1.1 0.2 1.0 11.9

References

  1. ^ "Ariel Atkins joins Michigan women's basketball staff". Slam Hoops.
  2. ^ "MYSTICS SELECT ATKINS IN 2018 WNBA DRAFT". mystics.wnba.com.
  3. ^ "Defensive POY Alana Beard Leads 2018 All-Defensive First Team". wnba.com.
  4. ^ "Diamond DeShields, A'ja Wilson Headline 2018 WNBA All-Rookie Team". wnba.com.
  5. ^ "Bringing It Home: Delle Donne, Mystics Earn First WNBA Crown". wnba.com.
  6. ^ "Two Atlanta Dream Players And Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark Headline 2020 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com.
  7. ^ "Ariel Atkins Signs Multi-Year Extension". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  8. ^ "IOC, IPC, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and Tokyo Metropolitan Government Announce New Dates for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020". Olympic.org. March 30, 2020.
  9. ^ Wimbish, Jasmyn (June 21, 2021). "Team USA women's basketball roster announced for 2020 Olympics, headlined by Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  10. ^ Wallace, Ava (August 8, 2021). "Dawn Staley and Sue Bird make sure their final USA Basketball moment is golden". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 8, 2024.

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