Alaina Coates

Personal: Coates is the daughter of Pamela and Gary Coates and has an older brother named Gary. Her uncle, Ben Coates, played 10 years in the National Football League and earned five Pro Bowl selections with the New England Patriots. She majored in sociology at South Carolina. She was honored as the Gatorade South Carolina Player of the Year at Dutch Fork High School. She secured back-to-back state titles in 2012 and 2013 while guiding her high school team to a perfect 29-0 record as a senior. She was honored as the 2012-13 South Carolina Miss Basketball by the Charlotte Observer.

Other Professional Experience: Coates is a five-year WNBA veteran who appeared in 95 career games from 2018-23. She was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2017 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky. She missed her rookie season due to ankle surgery but returned to appear in 32 games during the 2018 campaign, contributing 3.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. She split the 2019 season between Minnesota and Atlanta, appearing in 23 total games as a reserve where she posted 2.6 points per game and added 1.7 rebounds per outing. She competed for Washington during the 2020 season, seeing action in 20 games while scoring 2.5 points per contest. She did not play during the 2021 campaign before joining Indiana in 2022. She spent time with Phoenix in 2023 before being acquired by Las Vegas on August 2, 2023. She played in 10 games during the remainder of the 2023 campaign, helping the Aces win the WNBA title. She has also played overseas in Hungary, China, Turkey, Israel, and Italy.

International Experience: She guided Team USA to a 4-1 record and a Silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. She averaged 11.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game while starting all five contests. She shot 66.6 percent from the field while contributing six blocks. She also participated in the 2011 Team USA U-16 National Team Trials.

At South Carolina: Coates was a four-year letter winner at South Carolina who appeared in 133 games with 66 starts from 2013-17. She led the Gamecocks to the 2017 NCAA Division I title. She was an Honorable Mention selection on the 2017 Associated Press All-America Team. She also collected Honorable Mention notice on the 2016 WBCA All-America Team in addition to the 2015 Full Court Press All-America Team. She was recognized as the 2014 Southeastern Conference Sixth Player of the Year by the league’s coaches and received SEC Freshman of the Year honors from the league’s coaches and the Associated Press. She earned All-SEC distinction from the league’s coaches and the Associated Press during all four years. She secured back-to-back First-Team All-SEC citations from the league’s coaches and the Associated Press as a junior and senior. She is a two-time member of the SEC All-Defensive Team and was honored as the Most Outstanding Player at the 2015 NCAA Greensboro Regional. She is South Carolina’s all-time leader with a .620 career field goal percentage after converting 597-of-963 attempts. She ranks 13th in program history with 1,603 career points and stands third on the Gamecocks’ all-time list with 1,230 career rebounds. She is fourth in program history with 380 offensive rebounds and secured 850 career defensive rebounds, which is good for second place in South Carolina history. She led the Gamecocks in rebounding during all four years. She is third in school history with 57 career double-doubles and is also tied for third on South Carolina’s career blocked shots chart with 210. She holds the No. 7 position on South Carolina’s career free throws made list with 409. She owns the South Carolina single-season record with a .644 field goal percentage during the 2015-16 campaign. She is one of eight players in South Carolina history with a triple-double after scoring 29 points with 16 rebounds and a school-record 10 blocked shots against Winthrop on December 13, 2015. She converted 64.2 percent of her field goal attempts in 11 career NCAA Tournament games, which is the best mark in school history. She served as a team captain during the 2016-17 campaign. She ranked fourth in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage as a senior. She led the SEC in rebounding average (10.3) and double-doubles (20) during her junior season. She collected 12 double-double efforts as a sophomore, ranking second in the SEC. She held the distinction of being the only freshman in the SEC to rank among the league’s top 25 scorers during the 2013-14 season while establishing a new South Carolina freshman record with 73 blocked shots. She also set new freshman marks for field goal percentage (.612) and double-doubles (10).