Shoni Schimmel was an American professional basketball player. She is a former All-American college player at Louisville and was selected with the 8th overall pick in the first round of the 2014 draft by the Atlanta Dream.
She also earned recognition as the 2014 WNBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player on July 19, 2014, in Phoenix, Arizona, as Schimmel outbattled Skylar Diggins by scoring a then WNBA All-Star Game record, 29 points (which would be broken by Maya Moore, the following year). In 2014, her jersey was the league’s best seller. Some of the other WNBA franchises have held events honoring Native Americans when the Dream is the visiting team.
She last played in WNBA in 2018.
It also appears that Schimmel has a bit of temper, according to this police report.
A federal indictment was unsealed on Friday afternoon, charging former WNBA player Shoni Iman Shimmel with assaulting a former partner on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Schimmel, 29, has been charged with assault by strangulation of an intimate dating partner and assault resulting in substantial bodily injury. The incident took place on June 13, 2021. Schimmel was first arrested on June 14, 2021 and was held in the Umatilla County jail on multiple charges, including felony assault and criminal mischief.
Schimmel was arrested by federal authorities on Friday and made her initial appearance in federal court, pleaded not guilty and was released pending a two-day jury trial that is scheduled to begin on June 14, 2022.
She is looking at a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison, three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Assuming this is her first arrest, it is doubtful she will get that much time, but there is a possibility she might see the inside of a jail.
She was able to post a bond which was $48k, and now is just awaiting her trial.
Flip the pages for more about her arrest and time in WNBA.