Catherine Reese (born November 5, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for

Kangoeroes Mechelen Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen, also known as Kangoeroes or Kangoeroes Mechelen, is a basketball club based in Mechelen, Belgium. Founded in 2009, the club plays in the BNXT League. Kangoeroes have been playing in the top tier division in Belgium for ...

of the

Belgian Women's Basketball League The Belgian Jupiler Women's Basketball League (French Championnat de Belgique de basketball féminin) is Belgium's basketball tournament among women's teams. The first tournament took place in 1934, won by Schaerbeek. BC Namur-Capitale from Sain ...

. She played college basketball for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

. A four-time All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

selection, Reese helped the Wildcats advance to the national championship game as a junior and win the Women's National Invitational Tournament as a freshman. She attended

Cypress Woods High School Cypress Woods High School, commonly known as Cy Woods, is a secondary school located in Cypress, which is an unincorporated area of Harris County, Texas, United States, near Houston. The principal of Cypress Woods is Gary Kinninger. The school ...

in Cypress, Texas, where she was rated a five-star recruit by ESPN and named a McDonald's All-American, and joined Arizona as the highest-rated recruit in program history.

Early life and high school career

Catherine Reese was born prematurely and was kept in an intensive care unit for three weeks because her lungs were not developed enough. She began playing basketball at age seven. Reese attended

in Cypress, Texas and became a starter in her freshman season in 2014 under coach Virginia Flores. As a freshman, she averaged 12.2

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

and 8.3

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game, helping her team win the Class 6A state title, its first state championship. In her sophomore season, Reese averaged 20.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, and was named District 17-6A

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP). That year, she joined the Texas Elite Amateur Athletic Union program. As a junior, she averaged 22.3 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. In her senior season, Reese averaged 30.6 points and 15.3 rebounds per game, earning District 17-6A MVP honors. She competed in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

, where she recorded eight points and five rebounds. She left as a three-time Class 6A all-state selection by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, and as Cypress Woods' all-time leader in points and rebounds.

Recruiting

Reese was considered a five-star recruit and the number 12 player in the 2018 class by ESPN. She announced her commitment to play college basketball for Arizona over scholarship offers from Baylor and South Carolina, among other NCAA Division I programs. Reese became the highest-ranked recruit in Arizona history. She was drawn to the program due to her trust in head coach

Adia Barnes Adia Oshun Barnes (born February 3, 1977) is an American basketball coach and former player. She is currently the head coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats women's basketball. She played at the collegiate level for the University of Arizon ...

and because her sister, Ali, would attend the school.

College career

In her freshman season at Arizona, Reese developed a reputation for her toughness and competitiveness, which helped her succeed despite being undersized for her position. On November 9, 2018, she made her debut, recording a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds in a 71–46 win against

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

. Reese would score 21 points two more times that season. On December 5, she posted 20 points and 18 rebounds in a 100–51 victory over Montana. Reese grabbed the most rebounds in a game by an Arizona freshman since

Shawntinice Polk Shawntinice Polk (March 27, 1983 – September 26, 2005) was an American women's basketball player who played at the University of Arizona. Career Despite playing only three seasons, she ranks fourth on the school's all time chart for points ...

in 2002. She helped her team win the

2019 Women's National Invitation Tournament The 2019 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2019 Women's NCAA tournament. The tournament committee announced the 64-team field on M ...

and was named to the all-tournament team. As a freshman, Reese averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, leading all

freshmen in both categories, and was selected to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Reese became a more versatile player in her sophomore season and particularly improved her three-point shooting. At the 2020 Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, she recorded a season-high 30 points and six rebounds in an 86–73 win over California. As a sophomore, Reese averaged 13.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and received All-Pac-12 recognition. On December 6, 2020, she scored a junior season-high 25 points in a 78–77 victory against

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. On February 8, 2021, Reese scored 25 points again and shot 11-of-14 from the field in a 79–59 win over Oregon. She helped Arizona reach its first national championship game. As a junior, Reese averaged 10.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, making the All-Pac-12 Team for a second straight season. As a senior, she became Arizona's offensive leader with the departure of Aari McDonald. On January 9, 2022, Reese scored a season-high 29 points in a 76–67 loss to USC. She dislocated her shoulder against Washington State on February 20. Reese returned on March 19 for the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament, wearing a shoulder brace, and scored 16 points in a 72–67 win over UNLV. She averaged 14.3 points and six rebounds per game, leading her team in both categories, and earned her third straight All-Pac-12 selection. After the season, Reese underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum and torn tendons from her shoulder dislocation. She opted to return to Arizona for a fifth season of eligibility, granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On February 5, 2023, Reese scored a career-high 33 points in an 81–75 double-overtime win over USC. As a fifth-year player, she averaged 13.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, becoming the second four-time All-Pac-12 selection in program history.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2023 WNBA draft The 2023 WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) Draft, the WNBA's draft for the 2023 WNBA season and 28th draft in WNBA history, was held following the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 2023 draft took place at Spr ...

, Reese signed with the

Gold Coast Rollers Gold Coast Rollers may refer to: * Gold Coast Rollers (NBL), former National Basketball League team *Gold Coast Rollers (NBL1 North) Gold Coast Rollers is a NBL1 North club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The club fields a team in both the Me ...

of the

NBL1 North NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

in Australia. She averaged 22.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in 11 appearances. On July 2, 2023, she signed with

of the

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Arizona , 37 , , 37 , , 25.6 , , .493 , , .300 , , .798 , , 6.8 , , .6 , , .8 , , .8 , , 2.0 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Arizona , 31 , , 31 , , 29.2 , , .491 , , .353 , , .802 , , 7.5 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , 1.7 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", Arizona , 27 , , 27 , , 24.5 , , .465 , , .406 , , .722 , , 5.1 , , .6 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 1.7 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Arizona , 26 , , 26 , , 26.4 , , .451 , , .257 , , .716 , , 6.0 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .3 , , 1.8 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", Arizona , 32 , , 32 , , 28.4 , , .459 , , .211 , , .740 , , 5.8 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , .5 , , 1.6 , , 13.2 Source

Personal life

Reese is the daughter of William and Cheryl Reese. She has two older sisters, Karen and Ali, and two older brothers, Billy and Danny. Reese was a high school basketball teammate of Ali, who played for Arizona as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

before medically retiring and served as a student manager for the team. On April 4, 2016, as a sophomore in high school, Reese was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, the same disease that Ali has. In February 2020, during a road trip in her sophomore season at Arizona, she was hospitalized twice due to an unsafe surge in her

blood sugar level Glycaemia, also known as blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, or blood glucose level is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood of humans or other animals. Approximately 4 grams of glucose, a simple sugar, is present in the blo ...

s. Reese majored in business management at the University of Arizona and pursued master's degree.

References

External links

Arizona Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reese, Cate Living people American women's basketball players Arizona Wildcats women's basketball players Basketball players from Texas McDonald's High School All-Americans People from Cypress, Texas Power forwards Small forwards 1999 births