Katie Douglas
Douglas in 2012
Personal information
Born (1979-05-07) May 7, 1979 (age 44)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight165 lb (75 kg)
Career information
High schoolPerry Meridian
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
CollegePurdue (1997–2001)
WNBA draft2001: 1st round, 10th overall pick
Selected by the Orlando Miracle
Playing career2001–2014
PositionShooting guard / small forward
Career history
2001–2007Orlando Miracle / Connecticut Sun
2002–2003Ano Liosia Basketball
2003–2004S.U. Glyfada Esperides Kyklos
2004–2007Lietuvos telekomas / TEO Vilnius
2007–2008Ros Casares Valencia
2008–2013Indiana Fever
2008–2009CSKA Moscow
2009–2010Galatasaray
2010–2011Ros Casares Valencia
2011–2012Nadezhda Orenburg
2012–2013[1]Wisła Can-Pack Kraków
2014Connecticut Sun
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Medals
Women's Basketball
Representing USA
World University Games
Silver medal – second place 1999 Palma de Mallorca Team Competition

Kathryn Elizabeth Douglas (born May 7, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. Her primary position was shooting guard, her secondary was small forward. She was known league-wide as one of the most prominent two-way players for her long-range shooting and high scoring abilities on offense as well as her defensive abilities.

In the WNBA, she has been a multiple time WNBA All-Star and has been a selection to both the All-WNBA Team and WNBA All-Defensive First Team. She won WNBA Championship with the Indiana Fever in 2012. In 2023, she was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.[2]

College years

After attending Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis, Douglas attended Purdue University and graduated in 2001 as a communications major. She helped lead Purdue to an NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship in 1999 and was a two-time Kodak All-America in 2000 and 2001, as well as being named to the 1999 and 2001 NCAA Women's Final Four All-Tournament Team. She shared Big Ten Conference Player of the Year honors in 2000 with Helen Darling, and in 2001 was the unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year and winner of the Silver Basketball from the Chicago Tribune. Douglas also received the 2001 Big Ten Conference Suzy Favor Award, which is given to the conference's female athlete of the year across all sports. Douglas played at Purdue for head coach Carolyn Peck.

Purdue statistics

Source[3]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1997-98 Purdue 33 285 44.9% 25.0% 75.4% 4.3 3.7 1.9 0.4 8.6
1998-99 Purdue 35 493 46.5% 34.9% 81.8% 6.2 3.5 2.6 0.5 14.1
1999-00 Purdue 30 613 42.5% 32.4% 82.8% 6.5 4.7 2.4 0.6 20.4
2000-01 Purdue 37 574 44.7% 35.8% 77.6% 4.7 3.7 2.7 0.5 15.5
Career Purdue 135 1965 44.5% 34.3% 79.8% 5.4 3.9 2.4 0.5 14.6

USA Basketball

Douglas played on the team presenting the US at the 1999 World University Games held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The team had a 4–2 record and earned the silver medal. Douglas was the leading scorer on the USA team with 17.6 points per game.[4]

WNBA career

Douglas was selected the 10th overall pick by the Orlando Miracle in the 2001 WNBA draft. She remained with the franchise even when the Miracle relocated to Uncasville, Connecticut, and was renamed the Connecticut Sun prior to the 2003 season. Before becoming an all-star in the league, Douglas earned some WNBA Finals experience early in her career while the Connecticut Sun were championship contenders in both the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The Sun made it to the finals in both seasons but would lose both times to the Seattle Storm and Sacramento Monarchs respectively. Following the 2005 WNBA season, Douglas had a breakout year in 2006, averaging 16.4 ppg and being voted as a WNBA all-star for the first time. Douglas was named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team and received the Most Valuable Player award in the 2006 WNBA All-Star Game.

In 2007, Douglas ranked 5th in the league in steals (65), 7th in scoring (577), and 12th in assists (125). Douglas was again selected for the WNBA All-Defensive First Team.

On February 19, 2008, the Connecticut Sun traded Douglas to her hometown team, the Indiana Fever for Tamika Whitmore and the Fever's first round pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft, she would play alongside superstar small forward Tamika Catchings.[5] She would have a solid season in her first year with the team by averaging 15.6 ppg, but unexpectedly struggled in the playoffs, averaging only 7.3 ppg. The Fever had gotten eliminated in the first round 2-1 by the Detroit Shock. In the 2009 season, Douglas would have the best season of her career, she had back-to-back 30+ point games, becoming the first player in franchise history to do so.[6] She also scored a career high and franchise record, 34 points in a regular season game win against the Washington Mystics and averaged a career-high 17.6 ppg. Douglas would be voted into the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game. The Fever would make it to the finals that year, but lost 3–2 to the Phoenix Mercury. A few seasons later, Douglas would win her first WNBA Championship with the Indiana Fever in 2012 as they had beat the Minnesota Lynx 3–1. It was her fourth career WNBA Finals appearance, although she was sidelined for the series after sustaining an ankle injury during the Eastern Conference Finals.[7] With a few seconds left in the final game of the series at home and the Fever with a comfortable lead, Douglas was subbed in while the crowd was giving a standing ovation.[8] En route to her first championship, Douglas had another great year during the 2012 season, averaging 16.5 ppg. In a regular season game win against the Atlanta Dream, Douglas scored 29 points along with a franchise-record 7 three-pointers.[9]

Douglas wouldn't see much playing time in the 2013 season, missing a huge bulk of the season due to a lower back injury and playing a total of only 4 games. The injury would also cause her to miss the playoffs.[10][11] This season would be Douglas's last season with the Fever as she became an unrestricted free agent.

On March 24, 2014, Douglas returned to the Connecticut Sun in free agency, signing a 2-year deal with a third-year option.[12][13][14] She had another productive season averaging 13.1 ppg and was voted into the WNBA all-star game for the fifth time in her career. Despite her stats, the Sun finished last place in the Eastern Conference.

On May 1, 2015, Douglas announced her retirement after 14 seasons in the WNBA.[15]

Among the WNBA all-time leaders, Douglas ranks 16th in regular season scoring, 6th in regular season 3-pointers made, 5th in regular season steals, 10th in playoff scoring, 4th in playoff 3-pointers made and 4th in playoff steals.[16][17][18][19][20][21]

WNBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
† Denotes seasons in which Douglas won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2001 Orlando 22 0 20.0 .362 .316 .723 2.3 1.8 1.7 0.3 2.00 7.0
2002 Orlando 32 30 25.9 .449 .367 .866 4.2 1.7 1.5 0.4 1.31 8.5
2003 Connecticut 28 27 30.1 .438 .382 .721 3.8 2.0 1.1 0.4 1.00 12.0
2004 Connecticut 34 34 32.9 .389 .346 .792 3.9 2.6 1.5 0.4 1.53 10.7
2005 Connecticut 32 32 31.2 .413 .282 .774 4.1 2.9 1.5 0.1 1.69 11.0
2006 Connecticut 32 32 31.3 .443 .422 .839 3.8 2.5 1.9 0.1 2.28 16.4
2007 Connecticut 34 34 33.3 .428 .338 .779 4.6 3.7 1.9 0.3 2.79 17.0
2008 Indiana 33 33 34.4 .371 .324 .799 4.1 3.2 1.6 0.3 3.03 15.6
2009 Indiana 31 31 32.4 .410 .349 .861 3.9 2.7 1.8 0.2 2.42 17.6
2010 Indiana 34 34 29.8 .449 .391 .831 3.4 3.3 1.4 0.4 1.97 13.7
2011 Indiana 32 32 29.4 .465 .440 .671 3.9 2.8 1.3 0.3 2.03 13.9
2012† Indiana 32 32 30.9 .413 .423 .844 3.8 2.2 1.5 0.3 1.66 16.5
2013 Indiana 4 4 35.8 .389 .259 1.000 2.8 1.5 1.8 0.5 2.75 15.0
2014 Connecticut 32 32 32.5 .358 .356 .848 3.3 2.2 0.9 0.4 2.22 13.1
Career 14 years, 3 teams 412 387 30.7 .415 .367 .805 3.8 2.6 1.5 0.3 2.05 13.5

Postseason

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2003 Connecticut 4 4 31.5 .333 .250 .857 2.5 3.0 0.8 0.2 0.25 7.3
2004 Connecticut 8 8 33.5 .348 .297 .926 4.0 2.8 1.2 0.0 2.00 10.3
2005 Connecticut 8 8 34.8 .463 .395 .655 4.6 2.3 1.4 0.1 1.00 12.0
2006 Connecticut 4 4 31.3 .400 .296 .800 3.8 2.5 1.0 0.2 2.75 12.0
2007 Connecticut 3 3 38.0 .346 .286 .889 5.3 3.3 3.3° 0.0 5.00 17.3
2008 Indiana 3 3 31.0 .318 .125 .700 2.3 2.3 1.3 0.7 3.33 7.3
2009 Indiana 10 10 36.1 .362 .310 .814 3.5 4.0 1.4 0.6 1.90 15.5
2010 Indiana 3 3 31.7 .458 .333 .833 3.0 3.3 1.3 0.3 1.00 11.7
2011 Indiana 6 6 33.5 .426 .436 .840 5.0 2.7 0.8 0.2 2.17 19.7
2012† Indiana 7 6 24.6 .455 .355 .750 2.0 1.3 1.0 0.0 1.57 13.3
Career 10 years, 2 teams 56 55 32.7 .395 .331 .803 3.7 2.8 1.3 0.2 1.91 13.0

Overseas career

From her second year to her thirteenth year in the WNBA, Douglas played overseas every off-season. Douglas went to Greece to play for Ano Liosia Basketball in the 2002-03 off-season. Douglas played in Greece once again for S.U. Glyfada Esperides Kyklos the following off-season. From 2004 to 2007, Douglas played three off-seasons in Lithuania for Lietuvos telekomas / TEO Vilnius. In the 2007-08 off-season, Douglas played for Ros Casares Valencia of the Spanish League. In the 2008-09 off-season, Douglas played for CSKA Moscow before the team folded the same year.[22] Douglas played for Galatasaray of the Turkish League during the 2009-10 off-season with then Indiana Fever teammate Tamika Catchings.[23] Douglas returned to Spain to play once again for Ros Casares Valencia in the 2010-11 off-season. In the 2011-12 off-season, Douglas played for Nadezhda Orenburg in the Russian League and finished off her overseas career playing in Poland for WBC Wisła Kraków in the 2012-13 off-season.

Personal life

Douglas lost both her parents to cancer; her father in 1997 and her mother less than three years later in 2000. She was awarded the first-ever Jim V Foundation Comeback of the Year Award in 2001 for her perseverance after a string of tragic, personal losses.[24]

One week after the 2005 WNBA Finals loss to the Sacramento Monarchs, Douglas married Vasilis Giapalakis in Athens, Greece.[25] Giapalakis is a sports agent who represents male and female basketball players. Douglas, who played for a Lithuanian basketball team in the WNBA offseason, met Giapalakis when she was playing for a Greek club. The couple divorced a few years later.

In July 2015, just a couple months after her retirement, Douglas married Fred Poe, who is an owner of a fence company named K & K Fence Co.[26][27] Douglas and her husband have a second in home in Fort Myers, Florida.[27]

Business ventures

In 2017, Douglas opened an Orangetheory Fitness franchise fitness center in Greenwood, Indiana.[28][29][30][31]

Awards and achievements

References

  1. ^ "TINA CHARLES joins Wisła Can-Pack!". Wisła Can-Pack. May 5, 2012. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  2. ^ "Katie Douglas - Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame". Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  3. ^ "Purdue Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 8, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  4. ^ "Nineteenth World University Games – 1999". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  5. ^ Woods, David (February 18, 2008). "Fever to acquire Indy native Douglas | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star". IndyStar.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  6. ^ "Fever's Douglas tops 30 points again". July 31, 2009. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  7. ^ Voepel, Mechelle (October 21, 2012). "Turning disappointment into a title". ESPN. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  8. ^ "The final piece...WNBA Champions!".
  9. ^ "Douglas knocks down seven threes as Indiana knocks off Atlanta". www.fullcourt.com.
  10. ^ "Player Review 2013: Katie Douglas". NBA.com. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  11. ^ "FEVER: Katie Douglas to Miss Remainder of 2013 Postseason". www.wnba.com.
  12. ^ Sun Sign Katie Douglas To Free Agent Contract. wnba.com (March 24, 2014)
  13. ^ "Sun History". NBA.com. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  14. ^ "Katie Douglas returning to play for Connecticut Sun". March 25, 2014.
  15. ^ Katie Douglas Announces Retirement. wnba.com (May 1, 2015)
  16. ^ "All-Time Leaders - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA".
  17. ^ "All-Time Leaders - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA".
  18. ^ "All-Time Leaders - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA".
  19. ^ "All-Time Leaders - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA".
  20. ^ "All-Time Leaders - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA".
  21. ^ "All-Time Leaders". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  22. ^ "Offseason 2008–09: Overseas Roster". Wnba.com. January 8, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  23. ^ "Katie Douglas Galatasaray'da". Galatasaray.org. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  24. ^ "2010 V Foundation Comeback Award Finalists Announced". The V Foundation. August 11, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  25. ^ "Katie Douglas USA Basketball // As of March 6, 2007". Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  26. ^ ALTAVILLA, JOHN (August 16, 2015). "Katie Douglas Added To Sun's Banner Of Honor".
  27. ^ a b "Katie Douglas-Poe opens Southside fitness center". The Southsider Voice.
  28. ^ "After the Lights: Katie Douglas is Bringing Business to Greenwood - Indiana Fever".
  29. ^ Davis, Lauren Casey, Victoria T. (June 6, 2017). "Former Fever player brings new fitness studio to Greenwood".((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "New Orangetheory Fitness gym of former Fever star Douglas has no basketball goals". August 14, 2017. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  31. ^ "Orange is the new goal". SOUTH. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

External links

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