Seimone Augustus
(Born 1984)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2024
Card Shown: 2018 WNBA
Rittenhouse
Position: G/F
Height: 6’0″
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Seimone Augustus had tremendous success at all levels on the basketball court. From high school, to college at LSU, to her part on the Minnesota Lynx WNBA dynasty, to the Olympic Games, Seimone starred whenever she took the court. She played fourteen of her fifteen WNBA seasons with the Lynx and helped lead them to four championships during her tenure. Augustus also represented the USA in the Olympics three times. At the conclusion of her playing career, she began a second career in coaching.
Awards and Honors
- Augustus played four years of college basketball at Louisiana State University (LSU) where she won numerous individual awards including The Wade Trophy, The Wooden Award, and The Naismith Awards. Seimone won all three of these national player of the year awards twice, after both her junior and senior years at LSU.
- Seimone was drafted first overall in the first round of the 2006 WNBA Draft by the Lynx. She had a great first year, winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award in 2006.
- Augustus helped lead Minnesota to four WNBA championships in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. In 2011 she was named the Finals MVP. In all four championships, Seimone teamed with Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore, and Rebecca Brunson. Sylvia Fowles was a member of the last two championship teams.
- Seimone was an eight-time WNBA All-Star and also made six All-WNBA teams. She was selected to the All-WNBA First Team once and the All-WNBA Second Team five times.
- Augustus was named to the Top20@20 in 2016 and the W25 in 2021 which recognized the top 20 and top 25 players in the history of WNBA basketball.
Points of Interest
- Seimone attended Capitol High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There she ranked sixth out of 214 students in her senior class, graduating with a 3.71 GPA in accelerated classes. On the court, she led Capitol to consecutive state titles in 2001 and 2002.
- LSU has three former men’s basketball players in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Bob Pettit, Pete Maravich, and Shaquille O’Neal. Augustus becomes the first former women’s player for LSU to be inducted in Springfield, Massachusetts although women’s coaches Sue Gunter, Van Chancellor and Kim Mulkey have previously been enshrined there.
- Seimone had her number 33 jersey retired by LSU on January 26, 2010. She led the Lady Tigers to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament three times (2004-2006) during her four years at the school.
- Augustus helped the USA win three gold medals at the Olympics in 2008 (Beijing), 2012 (London), and 2016 (Rio de Janeiro).
- On May 20, 2024 LSU coach Mulkey announced that Seimone would be joining the staff as an assistant coach. She previously served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2021.
Statistics
Seimone Augustus Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com
Personal Interaction
At the 2024 Hall of Fame Enshrinement weekend, Seimone Augustus was a willing signer for fans. She signed for fans at the official Hall of Fame autograph signing and several other times outside of the event. I love the Rittenhouse Champions Team USA card that she signed and was able to get three other women’s Hall of Famers (Tamika Catchings, Lisa Leslie, and Tina Thompson) from that set during the weekend. If you haven’t heard the song that Seimone started off her Hall of Fame speech with, click on the first video below to check it out.
Thank you, Seimone!
In-Person Autograph Photos
Seimone signed three cards for me during the 2024 Hall of Fame Enshrinement weekend. The first is the 2008 Rittenhouse Champions Team USA /444, followed by the 2008 Rittenhouse WNBA All-Star jersey card, and the 2010 Rittenhouse WNBA card.