On June 8, 2015, she joined the Seattle Storm from the waivers list. Markeisha Gatling wears the #9 jersey for the team. She was born on July 14, 1992 and attended high school at Athens Drive in Raleigh, North Carolina. She stands at 6’5 and weighs 255 pounds. Gatling plays center and was selected as the 10^th overall pick during the 2014 WNBA Draft. When the Chicago Sky waived her on June 4, 2015 in order to it didn’t take long for Seattle to pick her up for the Storm.

The Sky had selected Gatling as a replacement for Sylvia Fowles, who required arthroscopic surgery last year and also helped to mentor Gatling as a rookie to the WNBA. Once Fowles returned, Gatling was waived and available for another team. Although disappointed, Gatling took to social media, saying, “When (bleep) happens turn it into fertilizer.”

During her first year with the Sky, Gatlin averaged 3.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11 minutes per game. She came to Chicago from North Carolina State University. Prior to that, she had attended Gulf Coast Community College for two years. During her senior year at the university, she averaged 17.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, giving her the highest field goal percentage in the country among young women. She also held the record for the college’s most accurate scorer.

Gatling has told interviewers that she feels her area that needs most improvement is her defense. She added that it’s much more important now that she’s in the WNBA, as it wasn’t as challenging during her college career. While playing for the Sky, she chose the #9 jersey in honor of her favorite player and inspiration, Lisa Leslie. She says that her goal is to “be known as one of the best post players along with Sylvia in the WNBA and just trying to help my team whenever they need me.”

Fans of Gatling can keep up with her latest news, photos and videos via her Twitter account at @keishagatling. Her profile page simply reads, “WNBA Seattle Storm Women's Basketball #9 Former Wolfpack Women's Basketball.” She tweets about everything from practice times to her spirituality, her boyfriend to her family. She also directs fans to a video of the highlights of her career so far.

In college, Gatling majored in parks, recreation and tourism management. She is the daughter of Cheryl and Marvin Gatling.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia