Daedra Janel Charles (November 22, 1968 – April 14, 2018) was an American

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

player and assistant coach at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. She was a member of the

United States women's national basketball team The USA Basketball Women's National Team, commonly known as the United States women's national basketball team, is governed by USA Basketball and competes in FIBA Americas. The team is by far the most successful in international women's basketbal ...

that claimed the bronze medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, Charles attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. She twice helped Tennessee win the NCAA Women's Championship in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. Charles was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in 2007. Charles was selected as the 8th overall pick in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft by the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

. She played on 28 games in her career, all of them during the 1997 season with the Sparks. Charles' final WNBA game was played on August 24, 1997 in a 68 - 73 loss to the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

. Charles played 12 minutes and only recorded 1 block as a statistic.

USA Basketball

Charles was named to the national team invited to compete at the 1992 Olympics, held in

. The USA team won their first three games, but then played the Unified Team and fell, 79–73. The USA team then faced Cuba for the bronze medal. The game was tied at halftime, and Cuba had a small lead midway through the second half, but the USA went on a run to retake the lead, and finished with an 88–74 victory and the bronze medal. Charles averaged 6.2 points per game. Charles continued to represent the USA on the national team when it competed in the 1994 World Championships in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. The team was coached by

Tara VanDerveer Tara Ann VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) is an American basketball coach who has been the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University since 1985. Designated the Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball, VanDerveer led the Stanfor ...

. The team won their early games. Against Spain, Charles led the USA scorers with 18 points, helping secure the win. She also contributed 22 points to a win against the host team Australia. The team then advanced to the medal rounds and faced Brazil. Despite 29 points from

Katrina McClain Katrina McClain (born September 19, 1965) is a retired American basketball player. She played for the University of Georgia, as well as many USA Basketball teams including three Olympic teams. McClain was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall ...

, the USA fell 110–107 when Brazil hit ten of ten free throws in the final minute. The USA went on to defeat Australia 100–95 to claim the bronze medal.

Awards and honors

* 1991—Wade Trophy

Tennessee statistics

Source

Death

Charles died from undisclosed reasons on April 14, 2018, aged 49.Former Tennessee Lady Vols basketball star Daedra Charles-Furlow dies at 49
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References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Daedra 1968 births 2018 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Auburn Tigers women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Detroit Centers (basketball) Detroit Mercy Titans women's basketball coaches Los Angeles Sparks players Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Tarbes Gespe Bigorre players Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball coaches Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball players United States women's national basketball team players American expatriate basketball people in Italy