The Indiana Fever waived nine-year pro Marissa Coleman on Wednesday. The team announced the signing of Alexis Peterson several hours later. Indiana also signed Bashaara Graves to a training camp contract back on April 17 after her rights as a reserved player had been renounced by the Chicago Sky.
Coleman spent the past four seasons with the Fever, starting 127 regular season and playoff games in that span. She was drafted by the Washington Mystics with the second overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft out of Maryland.
She eventually worked her way into a starting role with the Mystics in 2011. Coleman shot 37.7% on 344 three-point attempts during her three-year tenure in Washington. She was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks prior to the 2012 season for Noelle Quinn. Coleman drew five starts and appeared in all 68 regular season games in those two years with Los Angeles.
Coleman signed with Indiana as a free agent in 2014. She made her first All-Star team in 2015 and was a key contributor to their run to the 2015 WNBA Finals, where they fell just short to the Minnesota Lynx. Coleman averaged 11.9 points and one steal per game in 11 playoff games that year, also connecting on 41.2% (21-51) of her three-point attempts.
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Peterson was selected 15th overall by the Storm in the second round of the 2017 WNBA Draft out of Syracuse. The 5’7 point guard logged 121 minutes in 17 games as a rookie in the 2017 regular season. She was waived by the Storm earlier this month.
Peterson is the second-leading scoring in Syracuse program history behind new Fever center Kayla Alexander. Peterson helped lead the Orange to the 2016 national championship game along with Brittney Sykes, who was drafted seventh overall in 2017 by the Atlanta Dream.
Graves, a 6’2 forward, was drafted by the Lynx with the 22nd overall pick in the second round of the 2016 WNBA Draft out of Tennessee. She appeared in 12 games her rookie season and logged 92 minutes in 10 games with the Sky in 2017.
The Fever set their training camp roster at 18, as several players will miss the start of camp as they wrap up their commitments overseas. Designated core player and 2017 All-Star Candice Dupree returns in the frontcourt along with Natalie Achonwa, Erlana Larkins, Jennifer Hamson, Erica McCall and offseason addition Kayla Alexander.
Erica Wheeler, Shenise Johnson, Tiffany Mitchell, Jazmon Gwathmey, Jennie Simms and Jeanette Pohlen-Mavunga return in the backcourt.
Hind Ben Abdelkader, Peterson and Graves will look to make the most with Indiana on their training camp contracts.
Fever fans will eagerly anticipate the debuts of their 2018 rookie class featuring No. 2 overall pick Kelsey Mitchell and No. 8 overall pick Victoria Vivians. Stephanie Mavunga, Mitchell’s college teammate at Ohio State, was selected by the Fever in the second round.
Next: Fever acquire Kayla Alexander
The Fever open the preseason at home against the Chicago Sky on May 7.