Tina Charles
Tina Charles at Championship Dinner
College	Connecticut
Conference	Big East
Sport	Basketball
Position	Center
Jersey #	31
Class	Senior
Nickname	"Miss Basketball"
Career	2006–present
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight
Nationality	American
Born	December 5, 1988 (1988-12-05) (age 21) Jamaica, NY
High school	Christ the King (N.Y.)
Awards
2006 USA Today National Player of the Year 2006 McDonald's National Player of the Year 2006 Parade Magazine National Player of the Year 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year 2006 WBCA National Player of the Year 2006 EA Sports National Player of the Year 2006 Miss New York Basketball
Championships
2009 NCAA Championship

Tina Charles (born December 5, 1988)^[1] is an American basketball player from Jamaica, New York. In 2009, she led the UConn Huskies to a National Championship.

[edit] High school

Charles played basketball at Christ the King High School in Middle Village, NY. After averaging 26.5 points, 14.8 rebounds and 5.2 blocked shots per game her senior year, she was named WBCA National Player of the Year, “Miss Basketball” for New York state, and was selected as a McDonald’s All-American and tabbed New York City Player of the Year by Newsday, the Daily News and the New York Post.^[2] Charles was the leading scorer on the team that won 57 consecutive games, leading to a USA Today #1 ranking in the country after an undefeated season in 2006.^[3] Charles was named a WBCA All-American.^[4] She participated in the 2006 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored fifteen points and had twelve rebounds.^[5]

[edit] College

Commemorative Ball for 1000 points

In 2009, Charles led the UConn Huskies to a national title as a junior.^[6] She was named Final Four MOP and one of the 10 players on the State Farm All-America team during Final Four weekend^[6]. Charles made a comment to ESPN during a post-championship interview, in regards to the tradition of sports champions who visit the White House after their title game victories. She said, "Barack Obama, we'll be here soon, baby!"

Charles was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009, one of only three college players invited to the training camp.^[7] The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, thirteen of the nineteen invitees will be selected to travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.^[7] On 5 October 2009, Charles was selected to be one of the team members to travel to the 2009 Ekaterinburg International Invitational. She was the only college player on the team.^[8]

Charles contributed to the USA Basketball win at the Ekaterinburg Tournament. She had double-digit scoring in all three games, with the second game, against Euroleasing Sopron, her best result, scoring 15 points in only 13 minutes of play.^[9]

Charles was named the USA Basketball 2009 Female Athlete Of The Year, for her contributions to the Gold Medal earned at the 2009 USA Women's World University Games, the Gold Medal earned at the 2009 Ekaterinburg International Invitational, and the undefeated season leading to a National Championship.^[10]

[edit] Awards

• 2006 USA Today National Player of the Year^[1]
• 2006 McDonald's National Player of the Year^[1]
• 2006 Parade Magazine National Player of the Year^[1]
• 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year^[1]
• 2006 WBCA National Player of the Year^[1]
• 2006 EA Sports National Player of the Year^[1]
• 2006 Miss New York Basketball^[1]
• 2009 2009 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year^[10]

[edit] University of Connecticut Statistics

[edit] References