Daniela Wallen Explained

Daniela Wallen
Height Cm:180
Position:Small forward / power forward
Birth Date:4 April 1995
Birth Place:Venezuela
College:
Draft League:WNBA
Draft Year:2017
Career Start:2017
Years1:2017–2018
Team1:IK Eos
Years2:2018
Team2:Geelong Supercats
Years3:2018
Team3:Sol de América Asunción
Years4:2019
Team4:Peli-Karhut
Years5:2019–2024
Team5:Keflavík
Highlights:

Daniela Wallen Morillo (born 4 April 1995) is a Venezuelan basketball player and a member of the Venezuela national team. She played college basketball for Northwest Florida State College and Oklahoma City University and won the NAIA championship with the later in 2017.[1] Following her college career, she has played professionally in three continents. In 2018, she won the Paraguayan League championship with Sol de América Asunción and the following year she won the Finnish championship as a member of Peli-Karhut.

Early life

Wallen grew up in Venezuela where she played football in her youth. Her parents where both former basketball players, but she only started playing basketball with a youth team at the age of 15 and the same year she first played for one of Venezuela's youth national teams.

College career

Wallen started her college career with Independence Community College in 2013. After having trouble adjusting to the new settings, mostly due to the language barrier as she spoke no English, Wallen transferred to Northwest Florida State College the following season.[2] During the 2014–2015 season, she was named First-team All-Panhandle Conference after averaging 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.79 steals per game.[3] In 2015, she transferred again, this time to Oklahoma City University. During her first year, she averaged 19.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.3 steals per game and was named the Sooner Athletic Conference player of the year. The following season, she helped Oklahoma to win the NAIA championship while being named the Tournament MVP.[4]

Club career

Wallen's first professional stop was with IK Eos in the Basketligan dam during the 2017–2018 season where she averaged 16.4 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. In March 2018, she signed with the Geelong Supercats of the Australian SEABL.[5] After the SEABL season, she signed with Sol de América Asunción where she won the Paraguayan League championship with Sol de América Asunción and was named the Finals MVP in December the same year.[6]

In February 2019, Wallen joined Peli-Karhut of the Finnish Naisten Korisliiga. In April, she won the Finnish championship after Peli beat Catz Lappeenranta in the Finals.[7] In 2019, Wallen signed with Keflavík of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna. She averaged 24.7 points, 13.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists during the 2019–20 season with Keflavík in the third place when the rest of the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in Iceland. She re-signed with Keflavík[8] and had a stand-out second season,[9] [10] averaging 25.6 points and league leading 17.0 rebounds per game and was named the Úrvalsdeild Foreign Player of the Year.[11]

In 2023, she was again named the Úrvalsdeild Foreign Player of the Year[12] after leading Keflavík to the Úrvalsdeild finals and averaging 20.4 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists during the regular seasons and playoffs.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: OCU Women Win NAIA National Championship . 9 May 2021 . . 21 March 2017.
  2. News: Jóhann Páll Kristbjörnsson . Leikur körfubolta og sendir pening heim . 9 May 2021 . Víkurfréttir . 2021 . Icelandic.
  3. Web site: Oklahoma City University Athletics - Daniela Wallen - 2016-17 - Oklahoma City University . ocusports.com . Oklahoma City University athletics . 9 May 2021.
  4. News: Joe Buettner . OCU women are champions sooner than expected . 9 May 2021 . . 27 March 2017 . 38 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: Venezuelan first settles in at Supercats . 9 May 2021 . . 10 March 2018.
  6. News: Daniela Wallen, Campeona y MVP de la final . 9 May 2021 . . 5 December 2018 . Spanish.
  7. News: Raul Cedeño . La Venezolana Daniela Wallen se proclama campeona en Finlandia . 9 May 2021 . Cancha Latina . 22 April 2019 . Spanish.
  8. News: Sindri Sverrisson . Keflavík heldur Wallen - Samið við þjálfara og 13 leikmenn . 9 May 2021 . . 19 April 2020 . Icelandic.
  9. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . Með hærra framlag en restin af liðinu hennar til samans . 9 May 2021 . . 18 February 2021 . Icelandic.
  10. News: Atli Freyr Arason . Daniela: Þær treysta mér og ég treysti þeim . 9 May 2021 . . 21 January 2021 . Icelandic.
  11. News: Hörður og Sara kjörin best . 29 June 2021 . . 29 June 2021 . Icelandic.
  12. News: Kári og Eva bestu leikmenn tímabilsins . 19 May 2023 . . 19 May 2023 . Icelandic.