ASU Women’s Basketball: Three Sun Devils to play professionally overseas

Three Arizona State women’s basketball players have signed professional contracts to play overseas in Europe this summer.

Check out the teams they are joining:

Reili Richardson, Grengewald Hostert

Guard Reili Richardson signed a contract to play in Luxembourg with Grengewald Hostert in mid-July.

A floor general for four seasons, Richardson is Arizona State’s all-time assists leader (men’s or women’s) with 563 career assists in maroon and gold. She was a four-year starter and earned Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors in 2019.

She helped lead the Sun Devils to a Sweet 16 appearance during that season, and in 2019-20 prior to the cancellation of the season, she was 19th in the entire nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Richardson was also second in the Pac-12 from the free-throw line, shooting at nearly a 90 percent clip.

Ja’Tavia Tapley, Pallacanestro Vigarano

Although she only played one season in Tempe after transferring from USC, forward Ja’Tavia Tapley made her presence felt during her one season at ASU, and it’s led her to a professional basketball opportunity with Pallacanestro Vigarano in Italy.

In her final season of college basketball, Tapley was integral in the Sun Devils’ historic upset victories over No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Oregon State.

She put up 16 points against the Ducks and 14 against the Beavers in back-to-back contests, leading to her being named ESPNW National Player of the Week and Pac-12 Player of the Week for the outbursts.

Tapley led ASU in scoring (11.6 PPG), rebounds (6.2 RPG), and blocks (0.6 BPG), and now she’ll look to carry her skills over to Europe. She signed with the team in July.

Sophia Elenga, Club Sant Josep

The third Sun Devil to sign a contract was forward Sophia Elenga. Originally from France, she will be joining Club Sant Josep in Spain and returning to Europe.

Elenga played in 68 games over two seasons for coach Charli Turner Thorne after transferring from Cochise College and playing under former ASU assistant Laura Hughes in juco. She was second on the team in field goal percentage in 2018-19 and third in rebounds.

In the final 10 games of her final season, she also nearly connected on 60 percent of her shots down the stretch.

Elenga helped the Devils reach the Sweet 16 in her final season, and during 2019-20, she helped serve as a color commentator on the Pac-12 live stream. Now she’ll get her shot to play professionally.

Other League Devils

While she’s not overseas, former ASU guard and assistant coach Briann January is currently playing for the Connecticut Sun at the WNBA bubble in Orlando.

After testing positive for the Coronavirus, she was cleared to return to her team and is back at full health. January is a 2014 WNBA All-Star, a 2012 WNBA Champion, and a four-time WNBA All-Defensive first team selection.

She was a first-round pick of the Indiana Fever in 2009 after leading the program in assists and steals for four straight years. January and the Sun will be taking on the Chicago Sky tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time.