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Kaila Charles

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Kaila Charles
Charles with the Dallas Wings in 2025
No. 6 – Golden State Valkyries
PositionShooting guard / small forward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1998-03-23) March 23, 1998 (age 27)
Glenn Dale, Maryland, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight168 lb (76 kg)
Career information
High schoolRiverdale Baptist
(Upper Marlboro, Maryland)
CollegeMaryland (2016–2020)
WNBA draft2020: 2nd round, 23rd overall pick
Drafted byConnecticut Sun
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–2021Connecticut Sun
2022Atlanta Dream
2023Seattle Storm
2023–2025DVTK HUN-Therm
2025Dallas Wings
2025Golden State Valkyries
Career highlights
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Kaila Charles (born March 23, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins. She was drafted by the Connecticut Sun with the 23rd overall pick in the 2020 WNBA draft. She also previously played for the Atlanta Dream, Seattle Storm, and Dallas Wings in the WNBA.

Early life

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High school

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Charles hails from Glenn Dale, Maryland. For her first three years of high school, she attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in nearby Greenbelt, where her teams had a combined 72 and 5 record. While at Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles' teams won two Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Class AAAA state championships (2014 and 2015). Charles also earned Washington Post All-Metro honors as a sophomore and junior. She transferred her senior year to Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro, and helped the team to a national championship game. She was a McDonalds and Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-American selection as a senior, and also received All-Metro Player of The Year honors from the Post.[1]

Recruiting

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Charles was ranked as the 25th best player in her national class by ESPN and the Collegiate Girls Report, though the All Star Girls Report had her ranked as high as 21st. She was a highly-sought player as a five-star recruit, and received over 30 scholarship offers, eventually signing with Brenda Frese and the nearby Maryland Terrapins over Tennessee and South Carolina.[2][3]

College career

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Freshman season (2016–17)

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Charles earned a double-double in her first game and saw a large amount of playing time. She was eventually named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.[1]

Sophomore season (2017–18)

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As a sophomore, Charles was named a Preseason All-Big Ten team member, as well as a preseason Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list member. Charles became the third player in program history to score 600 points as a second year player, and her 17.9 points per game remain the highest-ever for a Maryland sophomore. Charles earned her first Big Ten Player of the Week honors as a sophomore, and finished the season as a First Team All-Big Ten selection.[1]

Junior season (2018–19)

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Charles received Player of the Week in February of this season, and finished the season receiving Associated Press and WBCA Honorable Mention All-American honors, and becoming a Cheryl Miller Award finalist. She was also a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection, and appeared on the watchlist for the Wade Trophy.[1]

Senior season (2019–2020)

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Prior to the 2019-20 season, she was named an AP Preseason All-American, as well as the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.[4] Charles was Big Ten, United States Basketball Writers Association, and ESPNW player of the week for December 30, and would receive Big Ten Player of the Week Honors once again in February. Charles finished her Maryland career by winning the 2020 Big Ten women's basketball tournament, the first time the team had done so since her freshman year, after losing to Ohio State and Iowa in the championship game the two previous years.[1]

Charles became one of six players in program history to be in the program's top ten scorers and rebounders, holding sixth place for both. She also tied Sun teammate Alyssa Thomas' record of career starts (135), as she started every game of her career.[1]

Professional career

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WNBA

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Connecticut Sun (2020–2021)

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Charles was drafted by the Connecticut Sun with the 23rd pick in the second round of the 2020 WNBA draft.[5] She appeared in 21 games for the Sun in her rookie year, starting seven. She averaged 5.4 points and 2.6 rebounds over 17.9 minutes per game. Despite being the seventh seed (of eight) in the 2020 WNBA Playoffs, the Sun made it to the semifinals before losing to the Las Vegas Aces in five games.

Charles was waived by the Sun on May 5, 2022.[6] On May 6, Charles joined the New York Liberty on a hardship contract.[7] Two days later, she was released from the hardship and did not appear in any games.

Atlanta Dream (2022)

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On August 12, 2022, Charles signed with the Atlanta Dream on a hardship contract.[8] She played only two minutes in one game.

Seattle Storm (2023)

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On February 6, 2023, Charles signed a training camp contract with the Seattle Storm.[9] She made the opening day roster.[10] She appeared in four games but was waived by the Storm on June 8.[11]

Dallas Wings (2025)

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On February 2, 2025, Charles signed a training camp contract with the Dallas Wings.[12] She made the opening day roster.[13] On June 14, she was waived by the Wings.[14] However, the Wings signed her to a hardship contract on June 17.[15] On June 30, she was released by the Wings.[16] Overall Charles appeared in 17 games for Dallas, averaging 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds.

Golden State Valkyries (2025)

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On August 1, 2025, Charles signed a seven-day hardship contract with the Golden State Valkyries.[17]

Overseas

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DVTK HUN-Therm

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On July 4, 2023, Charles signed with Hungarian team DVTK HUN-Therm in the EuroLeague to play in 2023 after the completion of the WNBA season.[18]

Career statistics

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WNBA

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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

Regular season

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Stats current through game on June 28, 2025

WNBA regular season statistics[19]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2020 Connecticut 21 7 17.9 .412 .367 .710 2.6 0.9 0.8 0.3 0.9 5.4
2021 Connecticut 30 4 16.3 .368 .303 .875 2.8 1.1 0.5 0.4 0.9 4.3
2022 Atlanta 1 0 2.0 — — — 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2023 Seattle 4 0 10.3 .250 .000 — 1.3 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 1.5
2024 Did not appear in league
2025 Dallas 17 4 15.8 .363 .333 .815 4.0 1.1 0.5 0.2 0.9 5.3
Career 5 years, 4 teams 73 15 16.1 .376 .326 .793 2.9 1.0 0.5 0.3 0.8 4.6

Postseason

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2020 Connecticut 7 0 11.7 .375 .182 1.000 1.7 0.4 0.1 0.1 1.3 4.0
2021 Connecticut 4 1 13.3 .313 .000 .000 3.0 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.3 2.5
Career 2 years, 1 team 11 1 12.3 .350 .167 1.000 2.2 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.9 3.5

College

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Source[20]

Ratios
YEAR Team GP FG% 3P% FT% RBG APG BPG SPG PPG
2016-17 Maryland 35 51.1% - 68.5% 5.57 1.23 0.51 1.26 9.69
2017-18 Maryland 34 50.3% 33.3% 73.2% 8.09 2.12 1.06 1.56 17.94
2018-19 Maryland 33 48.6% 7.1% 80.5% 6.91 2.33 0.70 1.30 17.55
2019-20 Maryland 32 50.0% 30.0% 69.5% 7.25 2.22 0.63 1.59 14.25
Career 134 49.9% 22.2% 74.0% 6.94 1.96 0.72 1.43 14.81
Totals
YEAR Team GP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA REB A BK ST PTS
2016-17 Maryland 35 139 272 0 3 61 89 195 43 18 44 339
2017-18 Maryland 34 246 489 6 18 112 153 275 72 36 53 610
2018-19 Maryland 33 221 455 1 14 136 169 228 77 23 43 579
2019-20 Maryland 32 190 380 3 10 73 105 232 71 20 51 456
Career 134 796 1596 10 45 382 516 930 263 97 191 1984

EuroLeague

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Year[21] Team GP MPG PPG PTS RPG APG FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT%
2023-24 DVTK HUN-Therm 19 32.9 11.5 219 8.3 2.8 4.3-12.5 34.6 0.8-2.7 31.4 2.1-2.9 69.6

Personal life

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Charles' mother, Ruperta Charles, competed in the 100 meter dash at the 1984 Summer Olympics on behalf of Antigua and Barbuda after attending Howard University. She has three older siblings. Her sister, Afia, was a track athlete at the University of Central Florida and represented Antigua and Barbuda in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Her brother Akil plays basketball at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Kaila Charles - Women's Basketball". University of Maryland Athletics. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  2. ^ Spinks, Redell (2015-05-18). "Kaila Charles is a Future Terp!". Team Takeover. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  3. ^ "kaila-charles". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  4. ^ staff, Baltimore Sun (31 October 2019). "Maryland's Kaila Charles named preseason All-American; Orioles OF Mason Williams becomes free agent". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Kaila Charles, Juicy Landrum discuss joining Connecticut Sun". High Post Hoops. 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  6. ^ "Connecticut Waives Kaila Charles". Connecticut Sun. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  7. ^ New York Liberty [@nyliberty] (2022-05-06). "The New York Liberty announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Kaila Charles on a hardship contract" (Tweet). Retrieved 2022-05-06 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ Atlanta Dream [@AtlantaDream] (August 12, 2022). "ROSTER UPDATE: The Atlanta Dream has signed Kaila Charles to a hardship contract. She will be available for tonight's game. #DoItForTheDream" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ "Storm adds guard Kaila Charles". storm.wnba.com. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  10. ^ "Meet the 2023 Seattle Storm". The Seattle Times. 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  11. ^ "Storm waives Kaila Charles". storm.wnba.com. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  12. ^ "Dallas Wings Sign Kaila Charles, Joyner Holmes, Luisa Geiselsöder To Training Camp Contracts". wings.wnba.com. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  13. ^ "Dallas Wings Announce Opening Day Roster". wings.wnba.com. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  14. ^ Martinez, Matt (2025-06-14). "Wings trade for center Li Yueru; waive backup guard Kaila Charles". Mavs Moneyball. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  15. ^ https://wings.wnba.com/news/dallas-wings-sign-kaila-charles-haley-jones-to-hardship-contracts
  16. ^ Afseth, Grant (2025-06-30). "Dallas Wings Trade NaLyssa Smith to Las Vegas Aces, Waive Kaila Charles". Dallas Hoops Journal. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  17. ^ "Golden State Valkyries Sign Free Agent Kaila Charles To Hardship Contract". valkyries.wnba.com. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
  18. ^ "Kaila Charles a DVTK HUN-Therm játékosa". 4 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Kaila Charles WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
  20. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  21. ^ "Kaila CHARLES at the EuroLeague Women 2023-24".
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