Katherine Anne Paye (born March 6, 1974) is an American former collegiate and professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who is currently the head coach of the

Stanford Cardinal women's basketball The Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represents Stanford University, located in Stanford, California. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cardinal are led by head coach Kate Paye, who previously s ...

team.

Early life and college career

Paye was born at the medical center of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

's hospital, and was raised in

Woodside, California Woodside is a incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It has a council–manager system of government. The population of the town was 5,309 at the 2020 census. The town's population ha ...

in a family of Stanford student-athletes. Both of her parents, her sister and brother all went to the school. Her father was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for Stanford's football team while her brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

for Stanford's basketball team and

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the Cardinal in the mid-1980s, and later was her basketball coach at

Menlo School Menlo School, commonly referred to as just Menlo, is a private college preparatory school in Atherton, California, United States. The school comprises a middle school, grades 6–8, with approximately 230 students and a high school, grades 9–1 ...

. At Menlo, Kate led the team to three consecutive

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have s ...

Division V state basketball championships from 1989 to 1991. After high school, she was recruited by (and turned down)

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

. Stanford never recruited her, so Paye attended its women's basketball team training camp as a walk-on and tried out. She was accepted and won a spot as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

on the team. In her

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

year in 1992, she played on Stanford's 1992 championship team and earned a scholarship for the following year. She graduated in 1995 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

ABL and WNBA

In 1996, Paye began her professional basketball career with the

Seattle Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

in the American Basketball League (ABL) for three seasons until the league folded. She later joined the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA) in 2000, and played for the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

for two seasons. After she was waived by Lynx in May 2002, she signed a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

contract with the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

and played for them in the 2002 season. During her WNBA career, she spent the offseason pursuing a JD/MBA degree. She graduated from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

and the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

with a

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in the spring of 2003.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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College

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Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, 30, , -, , -, , 23.1, , 10.5, , 68.2, , 1.3, , 0.8, , 0.5, , 0.0, , -, , 1.7 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1992–93 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 32, , -, , -, , 37.0, , 31.7, , 68.8, , 2.8, , 2.5, , 0.6, , 0.0, , -, , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1993–94 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 31, , -, , -, , 39.8, , 35.8, , 75.8, , 3.5, , 5.1, , 1.6, , 0.0, , -, , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1994–95 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 33, , -, , -, , 37.2, , 39.4, , 75.5, , 3.4, , 4.4, , 1.3, , 0.0, , -, , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 126, , -, , -, , 37.2, , 35.4, , 73.0, , 2.8, , 3.2, , 1.0, , 0.0, , -, , 5.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from

Sports-Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Ref ...

Coaching career

After graduating from Stanford, Paye started her coaching career in 1995 as an assistant coach at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

for one season. She left the following year to embark upon her playing career in the ABL. After her playing career ended, Paye returned to coaching when she was hired as a women's basketball assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

for the 2004–05 season. She returned to

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

the next season as an assistant coach. In June 2007, Paye returned to Stanford as an assistant coach. On April 16, 2024, she was named head coach following the retirement of long-time coach

Tara VanDerveer Tara Ann VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) is an American former basketball coach who was the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University from 1985 until her retirement in 2024. Designated the Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketba ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Stanford University Coaching ProfileWNBA Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paye, Kate 1974 births Living people American women's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Minnesota Lynx players Pepperdine Waves women's basketball coaches San Diego State Aztecs women's basketball coaches Seattle Reign (basketball) players Seattle Storm players Shooting guards Stanford Cardinal women's basketball coaches Stanford Cardinal women's basketball players Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Stanford Law School alumni People from Woodside, California Basketball players from San Mateo County, California