Hoops Nena -- the blog

Chantelle Anderson to UB Barça for '06-07

I could give you a relentless blow-by-blow of every transactional move in the Liga Feminina right now, or I could just cut to the stuff that really fascinates me. And right now, what's pulling my string is this hot little wire release that says that former Vanderbilt star/current WNBA San Antonio Silver Stars starting center Chantelle Anderson will play for UB-FC Barcelona next winter. UB Barça lost center Erika de Souza to Ros Casares at the end of this past season, and Azulgrana head coach Silvia Font seems very excited to have found a new center who brings defense, rebounding, and an "intimidation factor" to the team. Here's the article that appeared on www.FEB.es recently:

Chantelle Anderson, the new "5" for UB Barça

6/29/2006
Silvia Font finally has the center she asked for. With the loss of Erika de Souza to Ros Casares, UB FC Barcelona has had to scour the market to find a player who is guaranteed to bring intimidation, defense and rebounds: Chantelle Anderson.
It would be difficult to find a player with as many similarities to the powerful Erika de Souza, last season's MVP, who recently decided to become a part of the ambitions project undertaken by Ros Casares for next season. However, Anderson, 25, fits perfectly into the new philosophy that the Azulgrana have embraced to rejuvenate the team; she comes to Barcelona with tremendous ambition.
European and WNBA experience
UB Barça's new center, played this past season for Novosibirsk in the Russian league, for Valenciennes of France in 2004-2005, and for Mizo-Pecsi VSK of Hungary in 2003-2004.
Similarly, in the WNBA, UB Barça's new player has played her three seasons for two different teams, starting out with the Sacramento Monarchs, the team that made her the second overall pick in the 2003 draft. She played a total of 56 games for Sacramento in her two seasons there. After the second season, she was traded to San Antonio where she put up better numbers while playing 34 games her first season there.
Furthermore, Anderson has been singled out for the numerous awards she has received during her three professional seasons. She also was honored by the Associated Press as a second team All-American in her senior year at Vanderbilt, and holds the Vanderbilt all-time scoring record with 2,504 points. (Note: I have changed the AP All-American reference since it seemed to refer incorrectly to her rookie WNBA season).
A team player
Anna Junyer, UB FC Barça assistant head coach, has defined the new center for the league runner-up as "a team player." Junyer further singled out "her defensive intensity, a very important detail to help us develop our fast break game." What is more, according to an assistant coach for Barça, Anderson "has a tremendous wingspan and has outstanding shot blocking capability. I understand that in the Euroleague games she played for Hungary she averaged more than three blocks per game."

Source article:

Chantelle Anderson, la nueva '5' del UB Barça