Kiki Jefferson (born March 1, 2001) is an

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n 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 who is a free agent. She was drafted by the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

in the

2024 WNBA draft The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s draft for the 2024 season, following the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, was held on April 15, 2024, the 29th draft in WNBA history. The draft took place at the Brooklyn ...

. She played

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for the

James Madison Dukes The James Madison Dukes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. The Dukes play as me ...

and the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

Early life

Jefferson was born in Lancaster,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, to Marcus and Kiyana Jefferson. She has a brother named Steven and a sister named Ayanda.

High school career

She attended and played basketball at

Lancaster Catholic High School Lancaster Catholic High School is a Catholic co-educational high school located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg secondary schools. Academics Timothy Hamer has been the school's pre ...

in Lancaster, under head coach Charlie Detz. Detz described Jefferson as "a special person and a once-in-a-generational player." During her time on the team, she was named to the Lancaster Lebanon League First-Team selection three times, Lancaster Lebanon All-Star,

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Pennsylvania First Team honoree three times, USA Today Pennsylvania Player of the Year, Pennsylvania Class 4A Player of the Year twice, and PennLive's Player of the Year twice. Jefferson helped her team go undefeated in her junior year, winning the Lancaster Lebanon League, District Three Championship, and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Championship. She finished her high school career with 2,510 career points, ranking second all-time in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. She played for the Philadelphia Belles in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL).

College career

In college, she played four seasons at James Madison University (JMU) and one graduate season at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

(UofL). At JMU, she was named Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week nine times, the second-most in conference history. In her freshman year of 2019–20, Jefferson played in all 29 games and started in 25. She average 9.8 points per game (ppg), 5.6

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 ...

, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals. She had a 46.4% shot rate from the field and a 39.7% rate from behind the arc. In her debut game, she scored 17 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and three assists against

Longwood University Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia. Founded in 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Previously a college, Lo ...

. She was named 2020 CAA Rookie of the Year as well as named to the 2020 CAA All-Rookie Team. In her sophomoric season of 2020–21, she started in all 24 games. She led the team with 388 points total, 16.2 points per game, 188 rebounds, 7.8 rebounds per game, and 26 steals. Jefferson led the CAA in free throws with a 82% shot rate. In 2021, she was named to the 2020–21 All-CAA First Team, the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State First Team, the CAA All-Tournament Team, and All-CAA First Team. In the 2021–22 season, her junior year, Jefferson started in all 29 games and led the team in scoring with 18.8 ppg average and 545 points total. She had two games where she scored 30+ points. Jefferson entered the top-10 all time for free throws in the JMU Dukes history with 174 free throws on a 81.3% shot rate. She was fourth nationally in free throws that season. As a student, she was awarded JMU Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete in spring 2022, and CAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll in both fall 2021 and spring 2022. Finishing her career at JMU in the 2022–23 season, she placed second in career free throws with 550, fifth in scoring average, sixth in all-time points with 1,838 points, and ninth in rebounds with 815. She was also tied for sixth in free throw percentage with a 80.2% shot rate, tied for ninth in field goals with 518, and tied for 10th in three-point percentage with a 33.9% shot rate. She was award the 2023

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

(SBC) Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and was named to the SBC's tournament team while averaging 18.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, with a 75% shot rate from three. Jefferson was awarded the 2022–23 Sun Belt Player of the Week three times, as well as Sun Belt Player of the Year. She was named to the First Team All-Sun Belt, VaSID All-State First Team, and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) First Team. Jefferson transferred to the University of Louisville for her graduate year, where she finished the 2023–24 season with a team-best of 12.3 ppg, second with 2.3 assists, and third with 4.5 rebounds per game. She played in all 34 games and started in 32. Jefferson helped the Cards to a 24–10 record. She was named to the All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) Second Team, and was awarded the 2023–24

Cheryl Miller Award The Cheryl Miller Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball small forward in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller. While at Riverside ( ...

Top 10 List. She finished her college career with 2,257 points, 969 rebounds, 349 assists, 142 steals, 71 blocks, and 155 three-pointers. She made 82% of her foul shots.

Professional career

Jefferson was drafted in the third round, 31st overall, by the

in the

. She was the 17th player from the University of Louisville to be selected in the draft, and the second by the Lynx. Lynx head coach

Cheryl Reeve Cheryl Reeve (born September 20, 1966) is an American basketball head coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. Reeve has coached the Lynx to four league championships. In WNBA history, she has the highest ...

describes Jefferson as "an all-around good basketball player who impacts the game in a variety of ways. She scores, rebounds and can pass". On May 9, 2024, Jefferson was waived by the Lynx.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;" ,

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

, 29, , 25, , 24.2, , 46.4, , 39.7, , 77.3, , 5.6, , 1.8, , 1.1, , 0.6, , 1.5, , 9.8 , - , 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;" ,

, 24, , 24, , 29.3, , 44.5, , 34.9, , 82.0, , 7.8, , 2.4, , 1.1, , 0.4, , 3.0, , 16.2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 29, , 29, , 30.9, , 40.7, , 27.4, , 81.3, , 6.8, , 2.2, , 0.7, , 0.7, , 3.4, , 18.8 , - , 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;" ,

, 34, , 32, , 29.2, , 42.9, , 34.1, , 79.1, , 7.9, , 2.9, , 0.8, , 0.4, , 2.2, , 18.3 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;" , Louisville , 34, , 32, , 24.4, , 46.6, , 34.9, , 88.4, , 4.5, , 2.3, , 1.1, , 0.2, , 2.1, , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 150, , 142, , 27.5, , 43.7, , 34.1, , 81.5, , 6.5, , 2.3, , 0.9, , 0.5, , 2.4, , 15.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from

Sports-Reference Sports Reference, LLC, is an American company which operates several sports-related websites, including Sports-Reference.com, Baseball-Reference.com for baseball, Basketball-Reference.com for basketball, Hockey-Reference.com for ice hockey, Pro- ...

Personal life

She majored in Sport & Recreation Management at James Madison University.

References

External links

James Madison Dukes bio

Louisville Cardinals bio

Kiki Jefferson – ESPN
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Kiki Living people 2001 births Minnesota Lynx draft picks Minnesota Lynx players Guards (basketball) Basketball players from Pennsylvania James Madison Dukes women's basketball players Louisville Cardinals women's basketball players People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania American women's basketball players