Sami Whitcomb was a woman of all (basketball) seasons.
For the majority of her professional career, the Buena High graduate played for teams in two and sometimes three leagues each year.
Whitcomb exchanged uniforms for teams from Europe and Australia to the United States for more than a decade. At every stop along the way, her resume was filled with multiple decorations.
Her career almost failed to get off the ground.
At Buena, Whitcomb scored 1,421 points, helping the Bulldogs win three consecutive Channel League girls basketball titles and earning two Ventura County Player of the Year honors.
She closed out her collegiate career at the University of Washington with bests for season scoring and rebounding. Whitcomb was named to the All-Pac-10 first team.
Undrafted by the WNBA, she had a brief tryout with the Chicago Sky. After being released, Whitcomb accepted a position as the video coordinator for the Washington women’s basketball team for the 2010-11 season.
Whitcomb found a path to a German pro league with the ChemCats Chemnitz in June of 2011. In that first season, Whitcomb was named as import of the year and guard of the year. It has been almost non-stop since. Thirteen teams in 14 years.
One bad break opened a huge door for her. After Whitcomb’s German team went bankrupt in 2023, Whitcomb found a team in Australia. She was an instant hit, winning three MVP, four All-Star 5 awards, leading her team to two championships.
Moving up to the WNBL, Whitcomb won three more All-Star 5 awards and set season scoring and 3-point records in three seasons.
That led to Whitcomb signing with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm for the 2017-18 season, where she was a member of the Storm’s 2018 and 2020 championship teams.
In 2017, Whitcomb tied a WNBA record with six 3-pointers in a half. When the WNBA went to the quarter format, she tied a league record with five 3-pointers in the third quarter on Aug.18, 2022, against the Minnesota Lynx.
She became a naturalized citizen for Australia in 2018 and has helped her national team to medals in two international competitions. This winter, Whitcomb helped Australia qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Whitcomb and her partner Kate Malpass have a son Nash.