Alaina Denise Coates (born April 7, 1995) 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 (appro ...

player who is a free agent. She played college basketball for the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

Early life

Coates enjoyed a stellar high school career. She was both a McDonald's and Parade All-American. She was chosen as the 2013 Gatorade South Carolina Player of the Year, South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (SCBCA) Class 4A Player of the Year, Charlotte Observer South Carolina Miss Basketball, and became a three-time SCBCA Class 4A all-state selection. During her senior season, she posted 20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game while leading her team to back-to-back state championships (including an undefeated 29–0 season in 2012–13.)

College career

Heavily recruited by power programs, she was ranked the 28th overall player as part of a high-profile 2013 recruiting class. After receiving offers from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, she eventually chose

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

to play for her hometown team. She went on to become a 4x All-SEC player, and All-American. Coates played a crucial part in helping South Carolina become a national powerhouse. In her senior season, Coates injured her ankle, which caused her to miss South Carolina's SEC Tourney & National Championship run. Coates finished the season averaging 13.4 ppg and 11.1 rpg.

Professional career

WNBA

Chicago Sky

After her senior season, Coates was drafted second 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 of the Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2006 season. Th ...

in the 2017 WNBA draft. In April 2017, it was announced that Coates would miss part of the

2017 WNBA season The 2017 WNBA season was the 21st season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Its regular season began on May 13 with three games, highlighted by the defending WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparks hosting the Seattle Storm. It concl ...

following ankle surgery. However, a timetable for her return still wasn't determined and Coates would end up missing the entire season. In February 2018, Coates officially signed with the Sky. She made her career debut on May 19, 2018, in the Sky's season opener against the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

, she scored 5 points in 12 minutes of play in an 82–64 victory. On July 3, 2018, Coates scored in double digits for the first time with 10 points in 16 minutes of play during a 108–85 loss to the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Wings compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team is owned by a group ...

. By the end of the season, the Sky finished 13–21, missing out on the playoffs.

Minnesota Lynx

On May 21, 2019, Coates was traded to the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

in exchange for a 2020 third-round draft pick. On July 14, 2019, Coates was waived by the

Atlanta Dream

On July 17, 2019, Coates signed with the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Dream compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded for the ...

Washington Mystics

Coates signed with the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

on June 29, 2020, and made her debut for the team on the opening day of the season.

Indiana Fever

On February 7, 2023, Coates signed with the

on a training camp contract. Coates was temporarily suspended on May 5, due to overseas commitments, and was activated May 11. The Fever waived Coates on June 7, 2023.

Phoenix Mercury

On June 27, 2023, Coates signed a Hardship Contract with the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

. Coates appeared in 2 games for the Mercury and was released from the hardship contract on June 29, 2023.

Las Vegas Aces

On August 2, 2023, Coates signed a 7-Day Contract with 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 of the Western Conference. The team plays its home game ...

. Coates stayed with Aces following the 7-Day, signing a 2nd and 3rd 7-Day Contract with Las Vegas. After her 3rd 7-Day Contract, Coates signed a rest-of-season hardship contract to remain with the Aces.

Overseas

In October 2018, Coates signed with Zhejiang Far East of the Chinese League for the 2018-19 off-season. Coates played for

Nesibe Aydın GSK Nesibe Aydın Gençlik ve Spor Kulübü is a Turkish women's basketball club based in Ankara, Turkey. The club was founded in 2010 and currently competing in the Women's Basketball Super League The Women's Basketball Super League (, KBSL), als ...

of the Turkish

Women's Basketball Super League The Women's Basketball Super League (, KBSL), also known as the ING Women's Basketball Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the top women's professional basketball division of the Turkish women's basketball league system. The league was establ ...

(TKBL) in the 2021–2022 season. On October 5, 2022, she signed with

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. Coates returned to Nesibe Aydın GSK for the 2023–2024 season. She played for

BC Castelnuovo Scrivia The Basket Club Castelnuovo, also known as BCC Derthona Basket, is a professional women's basketball club based in Campobasso, Italy. The team was founded in 2018. It currently plays in the Serie A1. In 2023, the partnership with Derthona Basket ...

of the

Lega Basket Femminile Lega Basket Femminile (LBF) is the premier national league for women's basketball clubs in Italy, founded in 1930. Pool Comense is the competition's most successful club with fifteen championships, followed by AS Vicenza with twelve and Geas Bas ...

from September to December 2024.

Personal life

Alaina is the daughter of Gary and Pamela Coates. She has an older brother, Gary. Her uncle,

Ben Coates Ben Terrence Coates Jr. (born August 16, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for ...

, is retired from the NFL and was a member of the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

first

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

. While at

, she majored in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. In March 2018, Coates's father died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

Career statistics

College

Source

WNBA

Regular season

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2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

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2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

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2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 8 , , 0 , , 9.4 , , .636 , , — , , .933 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 3.5 , - , style='text-align:left;,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

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Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, 10 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .800 , , — , , .250 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.9 , - , style='text-align:left;', Career , style='text-align:left;', 5 years, 7 teams , 95 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .565 , , — , , .623 , , 2.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 2.7

Postseason

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References

External links

* *
USA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, Alaina 1995 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Basketball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Basketball players from South Carolina Centers (basketball) Chicago Sky draft picks Chicago Sky players Indiana Fever players Las Vegas Aces players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Lynx players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Irmo, South Carolina Phoenix Mercury players South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball players Washington Mystics players Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in basketball 21st-century American sportswomen Nesibe Aydın GSK players Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players