Fil-American player Chanelle Molina. Photo from INDIANA FEVER INSTAGRAM
MANILA, Philippines — Chanelle Molina, a Filipino-American guard, was signed to a training camp contract by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA, the team announced Tuesday.
Molina is born and raised in Hawaii but her Filipino blood runs deep.
“It has taken a lot of hardwork, dedication and patience to get here. The WNBA has always been the goal, therefore I accepted and fell in love with the process to get here!” she wrote on Instagram.
“There are not many Filipino women in the WNBA, so this is for the progress of women’s basketball all over the world.”
Molina went undrafted in the 2020 WNBA Draft before taking her talents to Sweden where she is averaging 18.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists in 34 minutes a game.
“Chanelle recorded an excellent career at Washington State in the very challenging Pac-12 Conference. She is a skilled and versatile guard who will bring high energy and competitiveness to our training camp,” said Fever head coach Marianne Stanley.
“She is having a great year overseas in Sweden this season because of how she has continued to improve.”
The 5-foot-9 Molina was rated as a five-star recruit by ESPN in 2016.
She went on to play four years at Washington State and had career averages of 12.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
“I will celebrate this success and accomplishment, but it’s back to helping my team overseas win in the morning. Thank you Indiana Fever for this opportunity. See you all soon! @indianafever,” Molina posted.