Kiah Stokes

Kiah Irene Stokes (/ˈkiːə/ KEE-ə; born March 30, 1993) is a Turkish-American professional basketball player for the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected by the New York Liberty with the No. 11 pick in the first round of the 2015 WNBA draft.

Kiah Stokes

No. 41 – Golden State Valkyries
Position	Center
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1993-03-30) March 30, 1993 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	191 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High school	Linn-Mar (Marion, Iowa)
College	UConn (2011–2015)
WNBA draft	2015: 1st round, 11th overall pick
Drafted by	New York Liberty
Playing career	2015–present
Career history
2015–2021	New York Liberty
2015–2016	Cheongju KB Stars
2016–2017	Beşiktaş
2017–2018	Botaş
2018–2024	Fenerbahçe
2021–2025	Las Vegas Aces
2026–present	Golden State Valkyries
Career highlights
3× WNBA champion (2022, 2023, 2025) WNBA All-Rookie Team (2015) WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2015) Commissioner’s Cup champion (2022) 2× EuroLeague champion (2023, 2024) FIBA Europe SuperCup Women winner (2023) Triple Crown (2024) 4× Turkish Super League champion (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) 2× Turkish Cup champion (2019, 2020) Turkish Presidential Cup champion (2019) 3× NCAA champion (2013–2015) AAC Defensive Player of the Year (2015) Big East All-Rookie Team (2012) McDonald's All-American (2011) Iowa Miss Basketball (2011)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Women's basketball Representing the United States FIBA Americas U16 Championship 2009 Mexico Team Women's 3x3 basketball Representing the United States Youth Olympic Games 2010 Singapore Team

Stokes is a three-time WNBA champion, winning with the Aces in 2022, 2023, and 2025. She has also won two Euroleague championships with Fenerbahçe, in 2023 and 2024.

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.

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.

National team career

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.

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.

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.

Professional career

WNBA

In her first two seasons, she averaged 58.8% in field goals, 65.4% in free throws, and 6.3 points per game.

Stokes has won three WNBA championships in 2022, 2023, and 2025, all with the Las Vegas Aces.

Stokes' podcast Hangtime on the Underdog Sports Podcast Network is the first podcast hosted by a WNBA player.

Stokes signed with the Golden State Valkyries in April 2026.

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

*	Denotes seasons in which Stokes won an NCAA Championship
†	Denotes seasons in which Stokes won a WNBA championship

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2025 season

WNBA regular season statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2015	New York	34	6	25.4	.547	.000	.688	6.4	0.8	0.7	2.0	1.1	5.8
2016	New York	27	0	24.1	.641	—	.627	7.4	0.7	0.7	1.4	1.1	6.9
2017	New York	34	12	19.6	.531	.000	.796	6.3	0.9	0.4	1.1	1.2	4.8
2018	New York	30	4	14.2	.545	—	.533	4.5	0.4	0.4	0.6	0.7	3.1
2019	Did not play
2020	New York	22°	22°	27.3	.372	.235	.571	6.7	1.2	0.5	1.2	1.3	5.7
2021	New York	9	0	15.0	.545	.500	1.000	4.2	0.6	0.4	0.7	0.7	1.7
	Las Vegas	15	8	20.5	.588	—	.500	6.1	1.0	0.4	0.7	0.5	1.5
2022†	Las Vegas	31	4	15.4	.426	.208	.813	4.4	0.6	0.5	0.8	0.6	2.3
2023†	Las Vegas	40°	22	19.8	.434	.185	.500	5.9	0.6	0.7	1.0	0.4	2.2
2024	Las Vegas	39	29	18.4	.323	.225	.667	4.7	0.7	0.5	0.8	0.4	1.4
2025†	Las Vegas	40	18	12.9	.353	.130	.625	3.6	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	1.1
Career	10 years, 2 teams	321	125	19.1	.485	.211	.675	5.4	0.7	0.5	1.0	0.7	3.3

Playoffs

WNBA playoff statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2015	New York	6	0	26.2	.472	—	.857	8.2	0.0	0.8	1.3	1.2	6.7
2016	New York	1	0	10.0	.333	—	.500	2.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	3.0
2017	New York	1	0	16.0	.333	—	—	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	2.0
2021	Las Vegas	5	2	14.2	.400	—	.500	2.6	1.0	0.4	0.6	0.4	1.0
2022†	Las Vegas	10	10	25.9	.486	.200	1.000	7.2	0.4	0.6	0.8	0.8	3.7
2023†	Las Vegas	8	8	26.1	.563	.500	1.000	7.9	1.3	1.0	0.3	0.8	2.8
2024	Las Vegas	4	3	13.8	.000	.000	—	4.8	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.8	0.0
2025†	Las Vegas	9	0	1.3	—	—	—	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Career	7 years, 2 teams	44	23	18.3	.475	.300	.800	5.2	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.6	2.5

College

NCAA statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2011–12	UConn	36	0	13.4	.602	—	.653	4.5	0.5	0.5	1.4	0.8	4.5
2012–13*	UConn	32	1	10.7	.660	—	.600	3.5	0.7	0.1	1.2	0.6	2.8
2013–14*	UConn	39	2	18.5	.600	—	.698	7.1	0.9	0.3	2.3	0.9	4.5
2014–15*	UConn	39	4	18.3	.570	.500	.750	6.8	0.8	0.5	3.8	0.8	4.5
Career		146	7	15.5	.599	.500	.680	5.6	0.7	0.4	2.2	0.8	4.1

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
• 2015—WNBA All-Rookie Team
• 2015—WNBA All-Defensive Second Team

External links

• Career statistics from WNBA.com  · Basketball Reference 
• Media related to Kiah Stokes at Wikimedia Commons