Kaila Charles (born March 23, 1998) is an American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player who last played for the
Seattle Storm of the
WNBA. She played college basketball for the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
. After a successful college career there, Charles was drafted by the
Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...
with the 23rd overall pick in the
2020 WNBA draft.
Early life
High school
Charles hails from
Glenn Dale, Maryland
Glenn Dale is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 14,698 at the 2020 census. Glenn Dale is home to the Glenn Dale Hospital, an abandoned sanatorium, and th ...
. For her first three years of high school, she attended
Eleanor Roosevelt High School in nearby
Greenbelt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...
, where her teams had a combined 72 and 5 record. While at Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles' teams won two
Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association
Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA), is the association that oversees public high school sporting contests in the state of Maryland. Organized after World War II in 1946, the MPSSAA is made up of public high schools fr ...
Class AAAA state championships (2014 and 2015). Charles also earned
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
All-Metro honors as a sophomore and junior. She transferred her senior year to
Riverdale Baptist School
Riverdale Baptist School is a private Christian school located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, serving students from Pre-K to 12. It is located in Prince George's County, Maryland, and is accredited through Middle States Association of Colleges a ...
in
Upper Marlboro, and helped the team to a national championship game. She was a McDonalds and
Women's Basketball Coaches Association
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels.
The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches.
The mission of the WBCA ...
All-American selection as a senior, and also received All-Metro Player of The Year honors from the Post.
Recruiting
Charles was ranked as the 25th best player in her national class by ESPN and the Collegiate Girls Report, though the All Star Girls Report had her ranked as high as 21st. She was a highly-sought player as a five-star recruit, and received over 30 scholarship offers, eventually signing with
Brenda Frese and the nearby
Maryland Terrapins
The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...
over Tennessee and South Carolina.
College career
Freshman season (2016-17)
Charles earned a
double-double
In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...
in her first game and saw a large amount of playing time. She was eventually named to the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
All-Freshman Team.
Sophomore season (2017-18)
As a sophomore, Charles was named a Preseason All-Big Ten team member, as well as a preseason
Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list member. Charles became the third player in program history to score 600 points as a second year player, and her 17.9 points per game remain the highest-ever for a Maryland sophomore. Charles earned her first Big Ten Player of the Week honors as a sophomore, and finished the season as a First Team All-Big Ten selection.
Junior season (2018-19)
Charles received Player of the Week in February of this season, and finished the season receiving
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
and WBCA Honorable Mention All-American honors, and becoming a
Cheryl Miller Award finalist. She was also a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection, and appeared on the watchlist for the
Wade Trophy
The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State University coac ...
.
Senior season (2019-2020)
Prior to the
2019-20 season, she was named an AP Preseason All-American, as well as the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year. Charles was Big Ten,
United States Basketball Writers Association, and ESPNW player of the week for December 30, and would receive Big Ten Player of the Week Honors once again in February. Charles finished her Maryland career by winning the
2020 Big Ten women's basketball tournament, the first time the team had done so since her freshman year, after losing to
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
and
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
in the championship game the two previous years.
Charles became one of six players in program history to be in the program's top ten scorers and rebounders, holding sixth place for both. She also tied Sun teammate
Alyssa Thomas
Alyssa Thomas (born April 12, 1992) is an American professional basketball forward for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins. The New York Liberty draft ...
' record of career starts (135), as she started every game of her career.
Maryland statistics
Source
WNBA
Connecticut Sun
Charles was drafted by the
Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...
with the 23rd pick in the second round of the
2020 WNBA draft. She appeared in 21 games for the Sun in her rookie year, starting seven. She averaged 5.4 points and 2.6 rebounds over 17.9 minutes per game. Despite being the seventh seed (of eight) in the
2020 WNBA Playoffs
The 2020 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2020 season being played in Bradenton, Florida at the IMG Academy, known for the season as the "wubble." The Seattle Storm defeated the Las Vegas Aces three games to zero in t ...
, the Sun made it to the semifinals before losing to the
Las Vegas Aces
The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team play ...
in five games. Charles was waived by the Sun on May 5, 2022.
New York Liberty
On May 6, 2022, Charles joined the New York Liberty on a hardship contract. Two days later, she was released from the hardship and did not appear in any games.
Atlanta Dream
On August 12, 2022, Charles signed with the Dream on a hardship contract.
WNBA career statistics
Regular season
, -
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2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
, align="left" ,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, 21 , , 7 , , 17.9 , , .412 , , .367 , , .710 , , 2.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.9 , , 5.4
, -
, align="left" ,
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
, align="left" ,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, 30 , , 4 , , 16.3 , , .368 , , .303 , , .875 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.9 , , 4.3
, -
, align="left" ,
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
, align="left" ,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0
, -
, align="left" , Career
, align="left" , 3 years, 2 teams
, 52 , , 11 , , 16.7 , , .387 , , .333 , , .782 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.9 , , 4.7
Postseason
, -
, align="left" ,
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
, align="left" ,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, 7 , , 0 , , 11.7 , , .375 , , .182 , , 1.000 , , 1.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 1.3 , , 4.0
, -
, align="left" ,
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
, align="left" ,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, 4 , , 1 , , 13.3 , , .313 , , .000 , , .000 , , 3.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 2.5
, -
, align="left" , Career
, align="left" , 2 years, 1 team
, 11 , , 1 , , 12.3 , , .350 , , .167 , , 1.000 , , 2.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.9 , , 3.5
Personal life
Charles' mother,
Ruperta Charles, competed in the
100 meter
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...
dash at the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...
on behalf of
Antigua and Barbuda after attending
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...
. She has three older siblings. Her sister,
Afia
Afia is an Akan female given name among the Akan people (i.e. Ashanti, Akuapem, Akyem, Fante) in Ghana that means "born on Friday" in Akan language, following their day naming system. People born on particular days are supposed to exhibit the c ...
, was a track athlete at the
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
and represented Antigua and Barbuda in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Her brother Akil plays basketball at
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada.
History
St. Franc ...
in Nova Scotia, Canada.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Kaila
1998 births
Living people
All-American college women's basketball players
American women's basketball players
American people of Antigua and Barbuda descent
Atlanta Dream players
Sportspeople of Antigua and Barbuda descent
Connecticut Sun draft picks
Connecticut Sun players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Maryland Terrapins women's basketball players
Basketball players from Prince George's County, Maryland
Seattle Storm players
Shooting guards
Small forwards