Alaina Coates locks in new opportunity, this time with reigning WNBA champions
Alaina Coates is back in the WNBA.
The former Dutch Fork and South Carolina basketball standout signed with the reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics on Monday.
“So blessed and grateful for this opportunity,” Coates posted on Twitter.
Washington will be Coates’ fourth WNBA team. She played 55 career games with Chicago, Minnesota and Atlanta. In 23 games with Minnesota and Atlanta last year, she averaged 2.6 points and 2.6 rebounds.
Coates also played overseas for Hatay BSB in Turkey, where she averaged 10 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Coates, the former first-round pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft, was the first player in South Carolina history with 50 double-doubles for her career and was a two-time first-team All-SEC selection.
Coates will be one of several former Gamecocks playing in WNBA this season. Former No. 1 overall pick A’ja Wilson is with the Las Vegas Aces. Others are Ty Harris (Dallas Wings), Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings), Tiffany Mitchell (Indiana Fever) and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (Minnesota Lynx).
The WNBA will play a 22-game season beginning in late July at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
