Kayla Danielle Pedersen (born April 14, 1989) is an American basketball

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

who is currently 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 ...

. She was selected 7th overall in the

2011 WNBA draft The 2011 WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 11, 2011, at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut. The first round ...

. She was selected for the 2006

State Farm Holiday Classic The State Farm Holiday Classic, named after the title sponsor State Farm Insurance, is one of the largest co-ed, high school holiday basketball tournaments in the United States, with 64 teams (32 boys and 32 girls). Held annually for four days fol ...

all-tournament as a senior at

Red Mountain High School Red Mountain High School is a four-year public high school in the Eastern part of Mesa, Arizona. It opened in 1988 with Robert Free as the founding principal. In the 1994–95 and 1995-96 school years, it was honored as a Blue Ribbon school. RMH ...

in Arizona. After attending high school she went to

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 ...

, where she had a highly successful career. She has a brother who is younger "Kyle Pedersen" who is a successful Science teacher at Gilbert HighSchool.

Career

High school

Pedersen went to

in Mesa, Arizona. She led her team to a 5A-DI state title as a senior. She set records for 5A with 2,611 points, 1,444 rebounds, 434 assists and 304 blocks.

USA Basketball

Pedersen was a member of the USA Women's U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. The event was held in July 2006, when the USA team defeated Canada to win the championship. Pederson has 12 rebounds in the game against Brazil. She averaged 6.0 points per game over the course of the event. Pedersen continued as a member of the USA Women's U19 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championship in

Bratislava, Slovakia Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the capital and largest city of the Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all cities on the river Danube. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, ...

. The event was held in July and August 2007, when the USA team defeated Sweden to win the championship. She averaged 2.8 points per game. Pedersen was named a member of the team representing the USA at the 2009 World University Games held in

Belgrade, Serbia Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. The team won all seven games to earn the gold medal. Pedersen averaged 5.1 points per game, and was the team's third leading rebounder, with 6.4 per game. In 2010, she led the NCAA in scoring, assists, and rebounds. She was a top 10 draft prospect.

Stanford

At Stanford, Pedersen was a huge contributor;

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 ...

(the coach at Stanford) has complimented her many times. In her freshman year, the team reached the final four, Pedersen being a huge contributor, averaging 12.6 points per game. She also averaged 8.4 rebounds a game. She was named

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

freshman of the year. She also set a Stanford freshman record by starting all 39 games. They eventually lost to UConn (Connecticut) in the final four, but Pedersen managed 17 points and 7 rebounds and received much praise from the fans. During her remaining years in college, the Cardinal reached the final four every single year, with Pedersen being a consistent stand-out contributor. UConn continued to be a huge barrier to success for them, but Stanford finally beat them on December 30, 2010. However, they then went on to lose in the final four to Texas A&M. Pedersen has set Stanford's career record in both games (150) and minutes played (4,762), and she is seventh in the all-time points list (1,941 points).

WNBA

Pedersen was selected 7th overall in the

by Tulsa Shock.2011 WNBA Draft board
/ref> Former head coach, Nolan Richardson, once called her the "female Larry Bird-type player". Pedersen was traded to the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

for a 2nd Round Pick in the

2014 WNBA draft The 2014 WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 14, 2014, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut at 8:00 pm ...

on June 20, 2013.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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, 27, , 25, , 23.2, , 29.7, , 25.0, , 59.0, , 4.4, , 1.6, , 1.0 , , 0.5, , 1.3, , 4.2 , - , align="left" rowspan=2 ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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, 33, , 1, , 15.5, , 43.3, , —, , 82.6, , 2.6, , 1.2 , , 0.7, , 0.2, , 0.6, , 2.9 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , ''2016'' , style="text-align:center;" colspan="13" , ''Did not play (personal-rest)'' , - , align="left" ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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, 26, , 0, , 10.2, , 37.1, , 0.0, , 70.6, , 2.3, , 0.6 , , 0.3, , 0.1, , 0.4, , 1.5 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 7 years, 2 teams , 184, , 52, , 15.9, , 37.6, , 30.5, , 70.7, , 3.0, , 1.1 , , 0.6, , 0.3, , 0.8, , 3.4

Playoffs

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College

Personal

Pedersen was born in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

, on April 14, 1989, to Kelli and Gary Pedersen. Her father played basketball at Saint Mary's in California. Her family later moved to

Fountain Hills, Arizona Fountain Hills is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Known for its impressive fountain, once the tallest in the world, it borders the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and Scottsdale. Th ...

, when she was six years old, where she still resides. She has one younger brother, Kyle.

References

External links

*
WNBA profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Kayla 1989 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from Flint, Michigan Connecticut Sun players Forwards (basketball) Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Fountain Hills, Arizona Basketball players from Maricopa County, Arizona Stanford Cardinal women's basketball players Tulsa Shock draft picks Tulsa Shock players FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Summer World University Games medalists in basketball Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade