Katie Lou Samuelson (born June 13, 1997) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for 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 ...

of 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). She played

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 ...

for the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

High school career

Samuelson played for the Mater Dei High School basketball team for three seasons. As a sophomore in 2012–13, she averaged 20.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game and helped Mater Dei to a 30–2 record. The following season, Samuelson averaged 29.2 points and 9.4 rebounds. She was named the 2014 California Player of the Year and was a USA Today first-team All-American. As a senior, Samuelson averaged 24.9 points and 8.5 rebounds. She helped Mater Dei win their third consecutive Trinity League championship and the 2015 state regional championship; the team finished 31–3. Following the 2014–15 season, Samuelson was named the national player of the year by Gatorade, USA Today, McDonald's, and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, won the Naismith Trophy, and made the consensus All-American first team. During her high school career, she set Mater Dei single-season records for points average (29.2), field goal percentage (62.0), free throw percentage (89.4), free throws made (178), free throws attempted (211), and three-pointers made (117).

College career

Samuelson was a freshman at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

in 2015–16. She played in 37 of the Huskies' 38 games, including 22 starts. She missed the national championship game due to an injury. During the season, Samuelson scored 11.0 points per game and led the team with 78 made three-pointers, which was the second-most ever by a Connecticut freshman. She scored a season-high 22 points against Robert Morris on March 19. Samuelson was named the 2016 national freshman of the year by ESPNw. She was also named to the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

all-freshman team and the AAC all-tournament team. In 2016–17, Samuelson started in all 37 of the Huskies' games. Her 20.2 points per game and 42.0 three-point field goal percentage both ranked second in the AAC. Her 119 made three-pointers that season was the second-highest in school history. On March 6, 2017, Samuelson scored a career-high 40 points against USF; she also set the NCAA single-game record for most three-pointers made without a miss, with 10. She was named the 2017 AAC co-player of the year and the AAC tournament most outstanding player. She was also selected as a first team All-American by the AP, WBCA, and USBWA, and made the AAC first team. On January 13, 2019, Samuelson surpassed the 2,000 career point mark in a win over

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

. She became the tenth UConn player to achieve this milestone.

National team career

Samuelson was part of the United States under-17 team who won the 2013 FIBA Americas U-16 Championship and subsequent 2014 FIBA U-17 World Championship.

Professional career

Chicago Sky (2019)

Samuelson was drafted 4th overall by the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 20 ...

in the

2019 WNBA draft The 2019 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2019 WNBA season. On March 19, the league announced the draft would be held on April 10 at Nike New York headquarters. The first round was televised on ESPN2, and the second and third rounds were ...

, with whom she spent her rookie season. Across 20 games, she averaged 2.4 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.4 assists during 7.7 minutes per game.

Dallas Wings and Perfumerías Avenida (2020-2021)

Samuelson was traded to the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...

for Azura Stevens on February 14, 2020, making Katie Lou and her sister

Karlie Karlie is an English and Swedish feminine given name that is a feminine form of Karl, a diminutive form of Karla and an alternate form of Karly. Notable people known by this name include the following: Given name *Karlie Hay (born 1997), American ...

teammates for the first time as professionals. However, Karlie was waived before the season began. The sisters still wound up playing together in Spain, as Samuelson signed with Karlie's team Perfumerías Avenida. Samuelson helped Avenida win the Spanish championship and finish second in the continental EuroLeague, being listed on the team of the tournament in both championships.

Seattle Storm (2021)

Samuelson was traded on February 10, 2021 to the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

for the number one overall pick in the

2021 WNBA draft The 2021 WNBA draft was the WNBA's draft for the 2021 WNBA season. A draft lottery was held on December 4, 2020, and the New York Liberty were awarded the first overall pick once again in the draft. The draft was held on April 15, and televised o ...

, who became Charli Collier. While with Seattle, Samuelson became a full-time starter for the first time in her career, having started 24 of the 27 games she played for them while averaging career highs of 7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. Katie's sister Karlie later joined the Storm, and played three games with them in August and September 2021.

Los Angeles Sparks (2022–present)

Her tenure with the Storm ended on February 3, 2022, when she and the 2022 WNBA draft ninth pick were traded to the

in exchange for

Gabby Williams Gabrielle Lisa Williams (born September 9, 1996) is an American-French professional basketball player. She was drafted 4th overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2018 WNBA draft. In 2022 she was a EuroLeague champion with Sopron and was named the Fi ...

. Samuelson was a teammate with Williams for three years at UConn, and both women were selected fourth overall by the Chicago Sky in consecutive years, Williams having been picked in 2018.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-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 cap ...

, 37 , , 22 , , 23.5 , , .493 , , .394 , , .837 , , 3.4 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 37 , , 32.1 , , .486 , , .420 , , .840 , , 3.9 , , 3.2 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 20.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 29.7 , , .530 , , .475 , , .835 , , 4.5 , , 3.8 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 17.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 33.1 , , .453 , , .376 , , .876 , , 6.3 , , 3.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 18.5 , - , colspan=2; align=center, Career , 140 , , 125 , , 29.6 , , .491 , , .416 , , .847 , , 4.5 , , 3.3 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 16.8 , -

WNBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 20 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .316 , , .276 , , .800 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, style="background:#D3D3D3", 22° , , 4 , , 20.0 , , .417 , , .317 , , .733 , , 2.4 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, style=, 27 , , 24 , , 21.0 , , .456 , , .351 , , .731 , , 3.5 , , 1.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 1.1 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, style=, 32 , , 29 , , 29.5 , , .373 , , .352 , , .837 , , 3.0 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 1.1 , , 9.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 4 years, 4 teams , 101 , , 57 , , 20.8 , , .399 , , .339 , , .791 , , 2.6 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 0.8 , , 6.5

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 2.1 , , – , , – , , – , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style=, 1 , , 1 , , 35.0 , , .600 , , .667 , , 1.000 , , 5.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 18.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 2 years, 2 teams , 3 , , 1 , , 13.0 , , .600 , , .667 , , 1.000 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 6.0

Personal life

Samuelson was born in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...

. Her father Jon played basketball at

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

and professionally in Europe. Her mother Karen was a

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player. Katie Lou has two older sisters who both played at Stanford: Bonnie, who after college decided to instead study

optometry Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care. In the Uni ...

; and

, who has played in the WNBA with the

and

. She is engaged to fellow basketballer

Devin Cannady Devin Cannady (born May 21, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Princeton Tigers. Early life and high school career Cannady was introduced to baske ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuelson, Katie Lou 1997 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Basketball players from California Chicago Sky draft picks Chicago Sky players Dallas Wings players Los Angeles Sparks players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Seattle Storm players Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Fullerton, California UConn Huskies women's basketball players Youth Olympic gold medalists for the United States