Kiah Stokes

Kiah Irene Stokes (born March 30, 1993) is an American basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Super League (KBSL). She was selected by the New York Liberty with the No. 11 pick in the first round of the 2015 WNBA Draft.[1]

Kiah Stokes
No. 41 – Las Vegas Aces
PositionCenter
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1993-03-30) March 30, 1993
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight191 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High schoolLinn-Mar (Marion, Iowa)
CollegeUConn (2011–2015)
WNBA draft2015: 1st round, 11th overall pick
Selected by the New York Liberty
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015–2021New York Liberty
2015–2016Cheongju KB Stars
2016–2017Beşiktaş
2017–2018Botaş
2018–presentFenerbahçe
2021–presentLas Vegas Aces
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com

Stokes is a two time WNBA champion, winning with the Aces in 2022 and 2023. In 2023 she also won a Euroleague championship with Fenerbahçe.

Stokes played four years at the University of Connecticut where she was part of four consecutive Final Four teams and won three straight national championships, from 2013 to 2015. Prior to enrolling at UConn she played for Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa. She played on the USA Basketball U16 National Team, where she helped the team win the FIBA Americas U16 Championship Gold Medal.

Early life

Stokes is the daughter of Greg Stokes and Julie Saddler and has one brother, Darius. Her father was an all-American basketball player at the University of Iowa, played for the Philadelphia 76ers and won gold with the 1983 USA Pan American Games Team.[2]

According to her father, when she was four years old, he signed her up for a YMCA track team which was designed for five and six-year-olds. Despite being younger than everyone else, she competed in the 60-yard dash and beat everyone by 20 yards, and he realized she might have athletic talent.[3]

USA Basketball

2009 U16 Mexico City

Stokes was selected to be a member of the first ever U16 team for USA Basketball. The team competed in the First FIBA Americas U16 Championship For Women held in Mexico City, Mexico in August 2009. Stokes averaged 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She helped the team to a 5–0 record and the gold medal at the competition. The win secured an automatic bid to the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship.[4]

College career

Freshman year

Stokes ended her freshman campaign averaging 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in her 13.4 minutes per game. Stokes was second on the team in blocks as she averaged 1.4 denials per game. She led the Huskies in blocks in 13 of 38 contests. Stokes shot 60 percent from the field and 65.3 percent from the free throw line. She was named to the All-BIG EAST Rookie Team along with teammate Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.[5]

Sophomore year
Kiah Stokes, in her first career start, soars to secure the tip-off in the game against St. Johns 2013

As a sophomore in 2012–13, aided Connecticut to a 35–4 record and the 2013 NCAA National Championship. Stokes saw time in 32 games, averaging 2.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per contest. She was third on the team with 39 blocks, and as an efficient 35-53 from the field (.660) and dished-out 21 assists against 20 turnovers. Stokes recorded double-digit minutes in 17 games.

Junior year

Stokes helped lead her team to an undefeated 40–0 season and the 2014 National Championship. Stokes started two of 39 games and averaged 4.5 points and was third on the squad at 7.1 rebounds in only 18.5 minutes per contest. She recorded four double-doubles, after posting just one in her first two years, with double-digit rebounds on eight occasions. She had seven or more rebounds 21 times during the season.

WNBA career

In two seasons, she has averaged 58.8% in field goals, 65.4% in free throws, and 6.3 points per game.[6]

Kiah Stokes and the New York Liberty played in the 2016 WNBA playoffs.

Kiah Stokes' podcast Hangtime on the Underdog Sports Podcast Network is the first podcast ever hosted by a WNBA player.[7]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

College
Kiah Stokes Statistics at University of Connecticut[5]
Year G FG FGA PCT 3FG 3FGA PCT FT FTA PCT REB AVG A TO B S MIN PTS AVG
2011–12 36 65 108 .602 0 0 .000 32 49 .653 163 4.5 17 27 50 18 483 162 4.5
2012–13 32 35 53 .660 0 0 .000 18 30 .600 113 3.5 21 20 39 4 342 88 2.8
2013–14 39 69 115 .600 0 0 .000 37 53 .698 278 7.1 34 36 89 13 723 175 4.5
2014–15 39 73 128 .570 1 2 .500 30 40 .750 265 6.8 33 31 147 19 715 177 4.5
Totals 146 242 404 .599 1 2 .500 117 172 .680 819 5.6 105 114 325 54 2263 602 4.1

WNBA
† Denotes seasons in which Stokes won a WNBA championship

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2015 New York 34625.4.547.000.6886.40.80.72.01.15.8
2016 New York 27024.1.641.000.6277.40.70.71.41.16.9
2017 New York 341219.6.531.000.7966.30.90.41.11.24.8
2018 New York 30414.2.545.000.5334.50.40.40.60.73.1
2020 New York 22°22°27.3.372.235.5716.71.20.51.21.35.7
2021 New York 9015.0.545.5001.0004.20.60.40.70.71.7
2021 Las Vegas 15820.5.588.000.5006.11.00.40.70.51.5
2022† Las Vegas 31415.4.426.208.8134.40.60.50.80.62.3
2023 Las Vegas 40°2219.8.434.185.5005.90.60.71.00.42.2
Career 8 years, 2 teams 2427820.3.507.220.6775.80.70.51.10.84.0

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2015 New York 6026.2.472.000.8578.20.00.81.31.26.7
2016 New York 1010.0.333.000.5002.00.01.00.01.03.0
2017 New York 1016.0.333.000.0003.00.00.01.00.02.0
2021 Las Vegas 5214.2.400.000.5002.61.00.40.60.41.0
2022† Las Vegas 101025.9.486.2001.0007.20.40.60.80.83.7
Career 5 years, 2 teams 231222.3.463.200.7696.00.40.60.90.83.8

Awards and honors
  • Named to the 2009 Iowa Newspaper Association and Des Moines Register 4A All-State first team in 2009 and 2010.
  • Selected to the 2009 all-state tournament team.
  • Named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association 2009 4A
  • All-State first team.
  • Honored as an all-metro first team selection in 2009.
  • 2010—Parade Magazine All-America fourth team honors.
  • 2010—Gatorade State Player of the Year.
  • 2010—ESPN Rise.com All-America second team.
  • Tabbed 2010 All-Mississippi Valley Conference first team in 2009 and 2010 and all-conference second team in 2008.
  • 2015—First Team Senior CLASS Award All-American[8]
  • 2015—WNBA All-Rookie Team[9]
  • 2015—WNBA All-Defensive Second Team

References
  1. "Mosqueda-Lewis and Stokes Selected in First Round of WNBA Draft". UConn Athletics. April 16, 2015. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  2. "Kiah Stokes". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 22, 2014. Retrieved 24 Jun 2014.
  3. Bacharach, Eric (July 21, 2015). "Kiah Stokes, Liberty rookie, shooting to be two-way player again". Newsday. Retrieved 23 Jul 2015.
  4. "First FIBA Americas U16 Championship For Women -2009". Archived from the original on July 27, 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  5. "41 Kiah Stokes". Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 22 Apr 2015.
  6. "Kiah Stokes WNBA career". WNBA.com. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  7. "Hangtime on Apple Podcasts".
  8. "Kiah Stokes Named Senior CLASS Award All-American". 3 April 2015. Archived from the original on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 23 Apr 2015.
  9. "Storm's Jewell Loyd Headlines 2015 WNBA All-Rookie Team". www.wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2015. Retrieved 25 Sep 2015.
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