DiJonai Carrington
_(cropped).jpg) Carrington with the Connecticut Sun in 2023 | |
| No. 21 – Connecticut Sun | |
|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | January 8, 1998 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Horizon Christian (San Diego, California) |
| College | |
| WNBA draft | 2021: 2nd round, 20th overall pick |
| Selected by the Connecticut Sun | |
| Playing career | 2021–present |
| Career history | |
| 2021–present | Connecticut Sun |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
DiJonai Carrington (born January 8, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. She played college basketball for Stanford and later Baylor before being drafted by the Sun in the 2021 WNBA draft.
Early life
[edit]Carrington attended Horizon Christian Academy in San Diego, California. She scored over 2,000 career points for Horizon, while averaging 18.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. She was named a McDonald's All-American and a Jordan Brand Classic All-American.[1] Following her outstanding high school career, she committed to play for Stanford.
College career
[edit]Stanford
[edit]Carrington played basketball for four years at Stanford. During her time there, she helped the Cardinal win two Pac-12 tournament championships (2017 and 2019). She also was named to the All Pac-12 Team from both the Coaches and Media in 2019. She was also named to the Academic Honor Roll in 2020 and was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention team in 2018 and 2019.[2]
Baylor
[edit]Following her time at Stanford, Carrington grad-transferred to Baylor to compete with the Lady Bears.[3] In her one season there, Carrington averaged 14.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. She was named Big-12 Newcomer of the Year and the Sixth Person of the Year.[4]
Professional career
[edit]WNBA
[edit]Carrington was the 20th pick in the 2021 WNBA draft by the Connecticut Sun.[5][6] She attended the Sun training camp and earned one of the Sun's 11 roster spots.[7][8] On September 25, 2024, the WNBA announced that Carrington was named the Most Improved Player for 2024.[9] On September 29, 2024, the WNBA announced that Carrington had been named to the 2024 All-Defensive First Team.[10]
Unrivaled
[edit]On September 4, 2024, it was announced that Carrington would appear and play in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a new women's 3x3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.[11]
Career statistics
[edit]| 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 |
WNBA
[edit]Regular season
[edit]Stats current through end of 2024 season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Connecticut | 24 | 1 | 9.2 | .329 | .143 | .733 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 2.8 |
| 2022 | Connecticut | 36 | 2 | 17.5 | .414 | .306 | .750 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.8 |
| 2023 | Connecticut | 32 | 0 | 17.2 | .417 | .371 | .757 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 8.3 |
| 2024 | Connecticut | 39 | 39 | 29.6 | .403 | .250 | .790 | 5.0 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 12.7 |
| Career | 4 years, 1 team | 131 | 42 | 19.5 | .402 | .285 | .770 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 8.2 |
Playoffs
[edit]| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Connecticut | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | Connecticut | 12 | 0 | 14.6 | .450 | .231 | .700 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 5.9 |
| 2023 | Connecticut | 6 | 0 | 13.7 | .464 | .250 | .600 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 5.0 |
| 2024 | Connecticut | 7 | 7 | 33.6 | .439 | .231 | .778 | 6.1 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 13.7 |
| Career | 4 years, 1 team | 27 | 7 | 18.3 | .457 | .233 | .731 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 7.3 |
College
[edit]Source[13]
| YEAR | Team | GP | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RBG | APG | BPG | SPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | Stanford | 35 | 44.3% | 23.8% | 57.9% | 2.29 | 0.40 | 0.09 | 0.54 | 2.46 |
| 2017-18 | Stanford | 32 | 40.1% | 28.0% | 68.4% | 5.56 | 1.81 | 0.22 | 1.44 | 8.84 |
| 2018-19 | Stanford | 36 | 45.3% | 33.0% | 68.8% | 7.47 | 1.56 | 0.39 | 1.11 | 14.03 |
| 2019-20 | Stanford | 5 | 48.6% | 28.6% | 40.0% | 5.20 | 1.00 | 0.60 | 0.20 | 7.60 |
| 2020-21 | Baylor | 27 | 42.6% | 28.5% | 72.3% | 4.89 | 2.33 | 0.56 | 2.07 | 14.15 |
| Career | 135 | 43.3% | 29.4% | 68.7% | 5.07 | 1.45 | 0.31 | 1.20 | 9.59 |
| YEAR | Team | GP | FG | FGA | 3P | 3PA | FT | FTA | REB | A | BK | ST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | Stanford | 35 | 35 | 79 | 5 | 21 | 11 | 19 | 80 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 86 |
| 2017-18 | Stanford | 32 | 107 | 267 | 30 | 107 | 39 | 57 | 178 | 58 | 7 | 46 | 283 |
| 2018-19 | Stanford | 36 | 180 | 397 | 37 | 112 | 108 | 157 | 269 | 56 | 14 | 40 | 505 |
| 2019-20 | Stanford | 5 | 17 | 35 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 38 |
| 2020-21 | Baylor | 27 | 135 | 317 | 39 | 137 | 73 | 101 | 132 | 63 | 15 | 56 | 382 |
| Career | 135 | 474 | 1095 | 113 | 384 | 233 | 339 | 685 | 196 | 42 | 162 | 1294 |
Personal life
[edit]She is the daughter of former NFL player, Darren Carrington. She is in a relationship with Indiana Fever player and fellow Baylor alum, NaLyssa Smith. Her undergraduate degrees from Stanford are in psychology and African and African American studies.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "DIJONAI CARRINGTON". baylorbears.com. baylorbears.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ "DiJonai Carrington". gostanford.com. gostanford.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ Steve Brand (May 18, 2020). "DiJonai Carrington, former Horizon star, transfers to Baylor from Stanford". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ Conine, Chad. "Baylor Lady Bears Smith, Carrington earn Big 12 individual honors". wacotrib.com. wacotrib.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ Meredith Cash (April 16, 2021). "A March Madness star was sure she knew which WNBA team would draft her, and she made sure to tell her new coach when he proved her right". Insider.com (in Icelandic). Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ John Maffei (April 15, 2021). "Ex-Horizon standout DiJonai Carrington picked in WNBA Draft". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ Charlotte Carroll (May 17, 2021). "DiJonai Carrington on making Connecticut Sun: 'It's always been a dream'". The Athletic. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ Mike Mavredakis (May 19, 2021). "Looks like Sun rookie DiJonai Carrington can give her coach a lesson or two". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ "Connecticut Sun's DiJonai Carrington Named 2024 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player". www.wnba.com. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
- ^ WNBA (September 29, 2024). "Announcing the 2024 WNBA All-Defensive Teams". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- ^ @Unrivaledwbb (September 4, 2024). "DIJONAI CARRINGTON IS UNRIVALED👑 19/30✅" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "DiJonai Carrington WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
- ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ Pande, Ritvan (July 14, 2024). "Despite Ditching Stanford for Baylor, DiJonai Carrington Credits Californian University for Major "Psychology" Influence in Her Sun Career". EssentiallySports. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
External links
[edit]
- Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com and Basketball Reference
- Baylor Bears Bio
- Stanford Cardinal Bio