| Allyssa DeHaan | |
|---|---|
| College | Michigan State |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Position | Center |
| Class | Junior |
| Nickname | Big Al, Tree[1] |
| Career | 2006–present |
| Height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
| Weight | |
| Nationality | USA  United States |
| Born | June 21, 1988 Grandville, Michigan, USA |
| High school | Grandville High school |
| Awards | |
|
|
Allyssa DeHaan (Born June 21, 1988 in Grandville, Michigan) is an American collegiate basketball player. She is currently playing for Michigan State University.
DeHaan is well known for her tall and slender frame of 2.06 metres (6 ft 9 in), making her one of the tallest female basketball players in the country and the tallest player in Michigan State history as well as one of the tallest female athletes in the world in general. Margo Dydek is the only WNBA player taller than her.
Because of her great height, DeHann is positioned as a center. She is a versatile big player and has good, fluid movement on the court, allowing her to make good use of her height. She can control a game with scoring, rebounding and excellent shot blocking. She can shoot from the outside as well as defend on the lane. She also shoots well from the line. Despite her tremendous height, she cannot dunk, but is nevertheless an exciting player to watch. [2]
DeHaan leads the nation in blocked shots with 54 and ranks among the Big Ten leaders in free-throw percentage (second at .902), scoring (fifth with 17.0 ppg), field-goal percentage (fifth at .559), and rebounding (sixth with 8.1 rpg). [3]
Contents |
Allyssa DeHaan was born on June 21, 1988 in Grandville, Michigan the daughter of Tracie DeHaan and Brandon DeHaan. DeHaan's athletic life began with gymnastics in preschool. She also tried ballet, ice skating, swimming, tee ball and volleyball before she ever picked up a basketball in fifth grade. When some parents of AAU players walked into the gym and saw her doing gymnastics, they asked her to join their basketball team to which DeHaan agreed. She also started playing pick-up games in the driveway with her mom, who also played Big Ten women's basketball at Northwestern.
DeHaan has always been tall and is very proud to be. [4] In middle school, she had already reached 6 ft 2 in and rapidly grew six more inches between her sixth- and seventh-grade. She grew to 6 ft 7 in as a high school sophomore and graduated from Grandville High School at 6 ft 8 in. Already the tallest female player in Michigan State history, she unexpectedly grew another inch before playing her first season at 6 ft 9 in. She has an 39-inch inseam and wears a mens size 14 shoes.[5] That is about a shoe size 16 in women's.
DeHaan also likes being the center of attention, wherever she goes, "I'm pretty used to drawing eyes in public because I've always been pretty tall." But admits buying clothes can be difficult and time consuming. [4]
Allyssa now towers over her parents, even though her father, Brandon DeHaan, is 6 ft 6 in, and her mother, Tracie DeHaan, is 6 ft 4 in. Tracie played basketball in the early 1980s and faced some of the game's biggest legends, including Cheryl Miller and Anne Donovan. Allyssa's younger but no longer smaller brother, Collin DeHaan, is 6-ft 11. He grew 10 inches in two years. [6]
Allyssa attended Grandville High school. She set the Michigan girl’s high school single-season blocks record with 236 in her junior season. As a junior in 2004 - 2005 she averaged 27.0 ppg, 13.0 rpg. and 9.5 bpg. She lead Grandville to a 22-2 record and conference, district and regional championships as a senior in 2005-06.
In November, 2005 she was named the Michigan Miss Basketball of 2005, an award given annually to the top senior high school basketball player in the state. She won with a landslide with 816 points while her nearest rival had only 502.
She was also named the Gatorade State Player of the Year in 2005. She was also named to the All-State team and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2005. DeHaan was also ranked among the top 25 centers in the nation by All-Star Girls Report and named to The Grand Rapids Press all-area team.
DeHaan ranked second on the team in scoring points and despite being a rookie played a crucial role in in keeping the team on track, guiding them to their first 3-0 mark in conference play since 1991. By the time she was a senior she had led Grandville to district and regional championships, averaging 24 points, nine rebounds and nine blocked shots a game. This led Grandville to the state quarterfinals for the first time in program history. She was also a member of the volleyball team and earned honorable mention all-conference honors [7]
DeHaan's choice for of university erupted in to a national recruiting war with offers coming as far away as Tennessee, Connecticut, Purdue, Louisiana State, Duke and Kentucky all competing to recruit her. [2] DeHaan later attended Michigan State University and had one of the most dominant freshman seasons in Big Ten history. DeHaan said she chose MSU because, "I have the opportunity to win a national championship, and equally pursue another dream of becoming a doctor at the same time".
In her collegiate debut on November 17, 2006 DeHaan scored a team-high 15 points. Two days later DeHaan set a then-school-record with eight blocked shots, seven of which she made in the second half, as well as scoring her first career double-double in the game, scoring 11 points, and making 11 rebounds. On November 24, 2006, DeHaan scored 17 points and nine rebounds in Michigan State's. Her team won 85 points to 66. DeHaan's dominance continued when on November 29, 2006 she made another career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds for her second career double-double which was the second-highest game total for a freshman in Michigan State history.
In her first season, DeHaan had earned spots on the All-Big Ten Second Team and the All-Big Ten Defensive Team, as well as the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. [7]
She has also set a number of school records in her first season including smashing the school's previous single-season blocks record in her first twelve games. She scored 145 points, beating the previous record of 57 points set by Kristen Rasmussen. DeHaan's 69 blocks during Big Ten regular-season games was the third-best mark in the school's history, just 27 points behind Trish Andrew's mark of 96 set in the 1991 - 1992 season.
DeHaan would become the fourth person in Michigan State woman's basketball history to reach 300 points and 200 rebounds. To cap off her successful first season, DeHaan would become the first ever MSU freshman to score over 400 points.[1] On December 16, 2007 she became MSU's all-time leader in blocked shots. She reached the mark in just 43 career games. With three blocks on December 20, DeHaan became the fastest player in NCAA Division I history to reach the 200-block milestone while playing in her freshman and sophomore seasons. [8]
She has received numerous awards and honors such as being named the 2007 Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year as well as being named to the All-Big Ten Defensive Team. She has also been named to All-Big Ten second team and the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. She was also selected the Two-time Big Ten Player of the Week.
On March 2, 2007 in a game where she was described as "unstoppable" Michigan State won a 77-68 victory. [9]
During the summer of 2007 DeHaan played at the FIBA U19 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, leading the successful Team USA, which would win a gold medal. DeHaan was ranked second amongst all other players at the tournament making 19 blocks. In the tournament she averaged 5.0 points and 6.6 rebounds. [10]
   | New Kid on the Block - New Kid On The Block - BIG TEN OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE |
| | Allyssa's Player Bio - Player Bio: Allyssa DeHaan - MICHIGAN STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE |
| | Allyssa DeHaan Invited to Junior National Team Trials - Allyssa DeHaan Invited To USA Basketball U19 Women's Junior National Team Trials - MICHIGAN STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE |
| | Statenews MSU recruit named Michigan Miss Basketball - The State News: MSU recruit named Michigan Miss Basketball |
| | Michigan State's 6-9 DeHaan towers over opponents - USATODAY.com - Michigan State's 6-9 DeHaan towers over opponents |
| | Allyssa DeHaan Tries Dunking - YouTube - Allyssa DeHaan Tries Dunking |
| | Allyssa DeHaan Named to Naismith Trophy Watch List - : : » Allyssa DeHaan Named to Naismith Trophy Watch List |
| | www.statenews.com - The State News: 6-foot-9 DeHaan tries to keep low profile |
| | Allyssa's Fan Group - Allyssa_DeHaan : 6'9" (206cm) Allyssa DeHaan |
|
|
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
