- Janell Burse
Janell Burse (born
May 19 ,1979 inNew Orleans, Louisiana ) is a 6'5" women'sbasketball player who is the starting center for theSeattle Storm of theWNBA .After playing college ball at
Tulane University , Burse was drafted in the second round (28th overall) by theMinnesota Lynx in 2001, and played her first three professional seasons with that team. As part of an ill-fated attempt by the Lynx to land hometown sensationLindsay Whalen in the 2004WNBA Draft , Burse was traded withSheri Sam to the Storm forAmanda Lassiter and a high draft pick. Whalen was snatched up by theConnecticut Sun , and Seattle gained two key players for its 2004 championship run.Burse backed up center
Kamila Vodichkova in 2004, and took over the starting role when Vodichkova left for thePhoenix Mercury the next season. Fans expected Burse to lose this job to the highly-toutedSuzy Batkovic when the latter joined the team in mid-season, but Burse played so well that she started the entire year.Burse, who had purchased a house in
Slidell, Louisiana in 2004, became the WNBA's face for relief in the wake ofHurricane Katrina . At two playoff games atKeyArena in September 2005, Burse's charity through theFranklin Avenue Baptist Church raised $25,000 for the relief efforts, which was matched by $75,000 from the team organization.External links
* [http://www.wnba.com/storm/roster/janell_burse.html Seattle Storm Player Profile]
* [http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/janell_burse/ WNBA Player Profile]
* [http://www.wnba.com/storm/news/burse050831.html Hurricane Katrina relief]
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