Katharen Ruth Mattera ( Feenstra; born November 17, 1982) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and former player for the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). Mattera is one of the tallest players in WNBA history. At 6 feet 7.5 inches (2.02 m) tall, she is the eighth-tallest person to have played professionally in the WNBA. Only

Margo Dydek Małgorzata Dydek (known as Margo Dydek in the United States, 28 April 1974 – 27 May 2011) was a Polish professional basketball player. Standing tall, she was famous for being the tallest professional female basketball player in the world. Sh ...

, at 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m),

Han Xu Han Xu (May 26, 1924 – July 19, 1994) was a Chinese diplomat who served as the Chinese Ambassador to the United States from 1985 to 1989, and as Vice Foreign Minister of China from 1982 to 1985. Early life Han was born May 26, 1924, in Ji ...

, at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), and Lindsay Taylor, Zheng Haixia,

Maria Stepanova Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova (russian: Мари́я Алекса́ндровна Степа́нова; born 23 February 1979) is a Russian professional and Olympic basketball player. In the United States, she played for the Phoenix ...

, Liz Cambage, and

Brittney Griner Brittney Yevette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's natio ...

, each at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), are taller than she.

College years

Born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, Mattera went on to star on the women's basketball team while attending

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia ( Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Lib ...

, where she majored in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

. She was a three-time Big South Conference Player of the Year, a Wade Trophy,

John R. Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as hea ...

and

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of t ...

nominee. She also became the Big South Conference's all-time shot-blocker on February 14, 2005. Feenstra was the tallest player in Liberty University and Big South Conference history. She finished her career at Liberty as one of only two players in NCAA history to lead the nation in field-goal percentage in back-to-back seasons (2004, 2005)

Liberty statistics

Source

WNBA career

Mattera was originally selected 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 ...

on April 16, 2005, during the 2005 WNBA Draft, but was quickly traded to the San Antonio Silver Stars in exchange for the Silver Stars' player

(the tallest player in the WNBA). On September 14, 2005, she was named to the

WNBA All-Rookie Team The WNBA All-Rookie Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for ...

. On February 22, 2007, she was traded to the Detroit Shock in exchange for

Ruth Riley Ruth Ellen Riley Hunter (born August 28, 1979) is a retired American professional basketball player (a center), playing most recently for the Atlanta Dream in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Her Notre Dame team won the NCAA ...

. On February 6, 2008, she was selected in the expansion draft by the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real e ...

Coaching career

On November 5, 2019, Mattera was named assistant women's basketball coach at

. Her first head coaching job was at

Cornerstone University Cornerstone University is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Cornerstone University has undergraduate and graduate programs, two seminaries ( Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and Asia Biblical Theological Seminary based ...

., where she served for six years.

Personal life

Feenstra married Todd Mattera on November 8, 2008. Her sister, Meribeth Anderson, also played basketball at Liberty from 1999 to 2003. Feenstra wears men's size 17 (US) / 53 (EU) shoes.

References

External links

WNBA player profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feenstra-Mattera, Katie 1982 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American women's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Atlanta Dream players Basketball players from Grand Rapids, Michigan Centers (basketball) Chicago Sky players Connecticut Sun draft picks Detroit Shock players Henan Phoenix players Liberty Lady Flames basketball players San Antonio Stars players Sportspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan