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DiJonai Carrington

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DiJonai Carrington
Carrington with the Dallas Wings in 2025
No. 7 – Chicago Sky
PositionShooting guard / forward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1998-01-08) January 8, 1998 (age 28)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolHorizon Christian
(San Diego, California)
College
WNBA draft2021: 2nd round, 20th overall pick
Drafted byConnecticut Sun
Playing career2021–present
Career history
2021–2024Connecticut Sun
2025Mist BC
2025Dallas Wings
2025Minnesota Lynx
2026–presentChicago Sky
Career highlights
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

DiJonai Victoria Carrington (/diːʒoʊˈneɪ/ dee-zhoh-NAY;[1] born January 8, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for Stanford and Baylor before being drafted 20th overall by the Connecticut Sun in the 2021 WNBA draft.

Early life and education

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Carrington is the daughter of former NFL player Darren Carrington and Victoria Carrington. Her older brother Darren Carrington II went on to be a wide receiver for the Oregon Ducks. Carrington's undergraduate degrees from Stanford are in psychology, African studies and African-American studies.[2]

Carrington attended Horizon Christian Academy in San Diego, California. She scored over 2,000 career points for Horizon, averaging 18.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. She was named a McDonald's All-American and a Jordan Brand Classic All-American.[3] Following her outstanding high school career, she committed to play for Stanford.

College career

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Stanford (2016–2020)

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Carrington played basketball for four years at Stanford. During her time there, she helped the Cardinal win two Pac-12 tournament championships (2017 and 2019). She also was named to the All Pac-12 Team from both the Coaches and Media in 2019. She was also named to the Academic Honor Roll in 2020 and was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention team in 2018 and 2019.[4]

Baylor (2020–2021)

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Following her time at Stanford, Carrington grad-transferred to Baylor to compete with the Lady Bears.[5] In her one season there, Carrington averaged 14.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. She was named Big-12 Newcomer of the Year and the Sixth Person of the Year.[6]

Professional career

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WNBA

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Carrington was the 20th pick by the Connecticut Sun in the 2021 WNBA draft.[7][8]

Connecticut Sun (2021–2024)

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Carrington drives to the basket against Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, June 2023.

After attending the Sun training camp, she earned one of the Sun's 11 roster spots.[9][10] On September 25, 2024, the WNBA announced that Carrington was named the Most Improved Player for 2024.[11] On September 29, 2024, the WNBA announced that Carrington had been named to the 2024 All-Defensive First Team.[12]

Dallas and Minnesota (2025)

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On February 2, 2025, Carrington was traded to the Dallas Wings. The deal was originally reported as Carrington, plus the 12th pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, and swap rights for the Sun's 2026 second-round pick, being traded in exchange for Jacy Sheldon and the 8th overall pick in the 2025 draft;[13] however, it was officially part of a larger four-team trade.[14]

On August 3, Carrington was traded to the Minnesota Lynx for Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson, and Minnesota’s 2027 second-round draft pick.[15] Due to a foot injury sustained in September 2025, Carrington was unable to finish the playoff run with the Lynx.[16]

Chicago Sky (2026–present)

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On April 12, 2026, Carrington signed a one year deal with the Chicago Sky.[17] Due to the injury from the prior season, Carrington was unable to play the first 27 games of the season. She returned to play on July 30, 2026, scoring nine points in 17 minutes to assist a Sky win against the Connecticut Sun.[18]

In 2025, she became the second Reebok-endorsed WNBA player after Angel Reese.[19]

Unrivaled League

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On September 4, 2024, it was announced that Carrington would appear and play in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a new women's 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.[20] She played for the Mist in the 2025 season.

Due to a foot injury sustained in the 2025 WNBA Season, Carrington was not able to appear in the 2026 Unrivaled season as planned.[21]

Athletes Unlimited

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In 2022, Carrington competed in the inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball, where she was one of only two players to score double figures in all fifteen games; she finished 7th on the league leaderboard. She was named in the league's inaugural All-Defensive Team for her performance during the season.[22]

Career statistics

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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

WNBA

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Regular season

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Stats current through end of 2025 season

WNBA regular season statistics[23]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021 Connecticut 2419.2.329.143.7332.00.50.50.10.92.8
2022 Connecticut 36217.5.414.306.7503.11.10.80.11.66.8
2023 Connecticut 32017.2.417.371.7572.91.30.60.11.18.3
2024 Connecticut 393929.6.403.250.7905.01.61.60.41.912.7
2025 Dallas 201324.9.354.260.8255.11.81.10.52.510.4
Minnesota 11116.6.485.455.7602.11.11.20.40.98.6
Career 5 years, 3 teams 1625620.0.399.293.7773.51.21.00.21.58.5

Playoffs

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WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021 Connecticut 200.5———0.00.00.00.00.00.0
2022 Connecticut 12014.6.450.231.7002.70.81.00.21.35.9
2023 Connecticut 6013.7.464.250.6002.30.50.70.01.35.0
2024 Connecticut 7733.6.439.231.7786.12.01.70.61.713.7
2025 Minnesota 2012.5.500.571.5001.01.00.50.50.58.5
Career 5 years, 2 teams 29717.9.451.297.7223.11.01.00.21.27.4

College

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Source[24]

Ratios
Year Team GP FG% 3P% FT% RBG APG BPG SPG PPG
2016-17 Stanford 35 44.3% 23.8% 57.9% 2.29 0.40 0.09 0.54 2.46
2017-18 Stanford 32 40.1% 28.0% 68.4% 5.56 1.81 0.22 1.44 8.84
2018-19 Stanford 36 45.3% 33.0% 68.8% 7.47 1.56 0.39 1.11 14.03
2019-20 Stanford 5 48.6% 28.6% 40.0% 5.20 1.00 0.60 0.20 7.60
2020-21 Baylor 27 42.6% 28.5% 72.3% 4.89 2.33 0.56 2.07 14.15
Career 135 43.3% 29.4% 68.7% 5.07 1.45 0.31 1.20 9.59
Totals
Year Team GP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA REB A BK ST PTS
2016-17 Stanford 35 35 79 5 21 11 19 80 14 3 19 86
2017-18 Stanford 32 107 267 30 107 39 57 178 58 7 46 283
2018-19 Stanford 36 180 397 37 112 108 157 269 56 14 40 505
2019-20 Stanford 5 17 35 2 7 2 5 26 5 3 1 38
2020-21 Baylor 27 135 317 39 137 73 101 132 63 15 56 382
Career 135 474 1095 113 384 233 339 685 196 42 162 1294

Personal life

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Carrington dated another professional basketball player, NaLyssa Smith, starting when they were teammates at Baylor.[25][26] In March 2025, while appearing on Angel Reese's podcast, Unapologetically Angel, when asked if she had always dated women, Carrington said, "No, I'm not even like into girls," and later stated that "I’m not gay, I just like Lyss."[27] The two split up later that year.

In 2026, Carrington was at the center of public commentary about the flagrant 2 foul she committed on Sophie Cunningham, and the events immediately surrounding it: Following the ejection Carrington posted "WHITE PRIVILEGE" on social media and tagged the Fever.[28][29] Carrington later posted that "I've never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege" and told a reporter "I would just love consistency across the board when it comes to things like that. Whether it's the foul that I commit, whether it's the reaction or retaliation, I would just love for it to be consistent across the board, regardless ⁠of the name on your jersey or your skin color or the score of the game."[30]

References

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  1. ↑ Chicago Sky X post from Friday 22 May 2026 featuring a video of DiJonai Carrington explaining the origin of her first name. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  2. ↑ Pande, Ritvan (July 14, 2024). "Despite Ditching Stanford for Baylor, DiJonai Carrington Credits Californian University for Major "Psychology" Influence in Her Sun Career". Essentially Sports. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  3. ↑ "DIJONAI CARRINGTON". baylorbears.com. baylorbears.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  4. ↑ "DiJonai Carrington". gostanford.com. gostanford.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  5. ↑ Steve Brand (May 18, 2020). "DiJonai Carrington, former Horizon star, transfers to Baylor from Stanford". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  6. ↑ Conine, Chad. "Baylor Lady Bears Smith, Carrington earn Big 12 individual honors". wacotrib.com. wacotrib.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  7. ↑ Meredith Cash (April 16, 2021). "A March Madness star was sure she knew which WNBA team would draft her, and she made sure to tell her new coach when he proved her right". Insider.com (in Icelandic). Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  8. ↑ John Maffei (April 15, 2021). "Ex-Horizon standout DiJonai Carrington picked in WNBA Draft". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  9. ↑ Charlotte Carroll (May 17, 2021). "DiJonai Carrington on making Connecticut Sun: 'It's always been a dream'". The Athletic. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  10. ↑ Mike Mavredakis (May 19, 2021). "Looks like Sun rookie DiJonai Carrington can give her coach a lesson or two". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Connecticut Sun's DiJonai Carrington Named 2024 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player". www.wnba.com. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  12. ↑ WNBA (September 29, 2024). "Announcing the 2024 WNBA All-Defensive Teams". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  13. ↑ Jack Maloney (February 2, 2025). "DiJonai Carrington trade: Sun sending guard to Wings for Jacy Sheldon, No. 8 pick in 2025 draft, per report". CBS Sports. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Dallas Wings Complete Four-Team Trade With Connecticut, Phoenix and Indiana". wings.wnba.com. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Minnesota Lynx Acquire Guard DiJonai Carrington". lynx.wnba.com. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  16. ↑ Strauss, Ben (September 21, 2025). "DiJonai Carrington out for rest of playoffs with ankle injury". yahoo!sports Clutchpoints. Retrieved August 8, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Chicago Sky Sign Guard/Forward DiJonai Carrington". Chicago Sky. April 12, 2026. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  18. ↑ Anderson, Kari (July 30, 2026). "DiJonai Carrington's season debut after return from foot injury helps lead Sky to win over Sun". yahoo!sports. Retrieved August 8, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Reebok Basketball Signs WNBA Star DiJonai Carrington". Kicks On SI. April 3, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  20. ↑ Maloney, Jack (January 17, 2025). "Unrivaled basketball league: Full rosters, list of players participating, teams, head coaches, 'wildcards'". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on January 19, 2025. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
  21. ↑ Hasslet, Jack (October 30, 2025). "Unfortunate Update on DiJonai Carrington's Availability for Unrivaled". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
  22. ↑ Cartledge, Poppy (June 30, 2022). "Carrington carries confidence gained from AU to the Connecticut Sun". Athletes Unlimited. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  23. ↑ "DiJonai Carrington WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
  24. ↑ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  25. ↑ Messman-Rucker, Ariel (July 1, 2025). "Why the WNBA power couple NaLyssa Smith & DiJonai Carrington news has lesbians spiraling". Yahoo News. Pride. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  26. ↑ Avila, Alejandro (July 26, 2026). "WNBA rocked by multi-player cheating scandal as DiJonai Carrington calls out ex NaLyssa Smith". OutKick. Fox News. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  27. ↑ Cassidy, Kayley (March 13, 2025). "'I'm Not Even Into Girls.' DiJonai Carrington Speaks On Her Relationship With NaLyssa Smith". GO. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  28. ↑ Associated Press (August 8, 2026). "Mitchell scores 27 to set a WNBA record, Clark has 26 and the Fever beat the Sky 90-86". CBS Sports. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
  29. ↑ Copeland, Kareem (August 8, 2026). "Sky's Carrington tossed after hard foul on Fever's Cunningham". ESPN. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
  30. ↑ "DiJonai Carrington: 'White privilege' comment wasn't about ejection". Reuters. August 10, 2026. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
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