Khayla Pointer
Personal information
Born (1998-11-25) November 25, 1998
Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Career information
High schoolHoly Innocents
(Sandy Springs, Georgia)
College
  • LSU (2017–2022)
WNBA draft2022: 2nd round, 13th overall pick
Selected by the Las Vegas Aces
Playing career2022–present
PositionGuard
Number13
Career history
2022Indiana Fever
Career highlights and awards
  • AP All-American 2nd Team (2022)
  • 2x All-SEC 1st Team (2021, 2022)
  • All-SEC Defensive Team (2021)
  • All-SEC 2nd Team (2020)

Khayla Pointer (born November 25, 1998) is an American professional basketball player. She was drafted into the WNBA by the Las Vegas Aces and played for the Indiana Fever. She played college basketball at LSU from 2017 to 2022.

College career

Coming out of high school, Pointer was a 4-Star recruit and ranked the 70th overall recruit in ESPN HoopGurlz Ranking.[1] Pointer was the 14th ranked player from Prospect Nation before she made a commitment to play for the LSU Tigers program. When she committed, her aunt Nikki Fargas was the head coach of the team.[2]

During her freshman season, Pointer played in all 29 games for the Tigers, making 2 starts. She averaged 4.4 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists during the year. She scored a season-high in points on January 14, 2017, when LSU played Florida. Pointer scored 17 points on 6-11 shooting , while also grabbing 5 rebounds.[3]

Pointer moved into the starting role during her sophomore season and made a big impact for the Tigers. She increased her minutes per game to 31.7 and her scoring jumped up from the 4.4 her freshman season to 12.5 a game. In her junior season, Pointer once again averaged over 30+ minutes a game and became the team's leading scorer at 14.8 points. She became one of the SEC's best guards as she was Top 10 in many statical categories. Pointer ranked 10th in scoring, 3rd in assists, 5th in steals, 7th in assist/turnover ratio, and 10th in free throw percentage.[4] Pointer was rewarded for her top play and was named to the SEC All-Second Team in 2020.[5]

On December 20, 2022, Pointer scored her 1,000th career point against Loyola Marymount as the Tigers won 54-52.[6] Pointer again had a great statistical year for the Tigers averaging 16.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and was named to the All- SEC 1st Team and the All-Defensive Team.[7]

On April 9, 2021, it was announced that Pointer would return to LSU for her COVID-Extra year to play a 5th year for the Tigers.[8] Later that month, LSU hired Kim Mulkey as their new head coach. Mulkey stated that “She (Pointer) is an all-conference player, and she is a leader out there on the floor,” Mulkey. “She’s learning. It’s a new system for her. She will be one of our leaders as will Faus (Fuastine Aifuwa) and (Jailin) Cherry,” at one of her preseason press conferences.[9]

In her graduate season, Pointer was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award. She was named to the All-SEC 1st Team and made the AP and Sports Illustrated All-American 2nd Teams, as well as the USBWA All-American Third Team.[10][11][12] She averaged a career best 19.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.3 assists.

College statistics

Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 LSU 29 129 .324 .308 .719 1.4 2.3 0.9 0.1 4.4
2018–19 LSU 29 362 .436 .333 .628 4.0 4.5 1.7 0.1 12.5
2019–20 LSU 30 443 .414 .286 .725 4.0 4.7 2.1 0.1 14.8
2020–21 LSU 22 372 .394 .333 .605 4.1 4.1 2.5 0.0 16.9
2021–22 LSU 32 628 .419 .362 .656 6.4 5.3 1.8 0.2 19.6
Career 142 1934 .408 .331 .658 4.0 4.2 1.8 0.1 13.6

Professional career

Pointer was selected by the Las Vegas Aces in the 2nd round of the 2022 WNBA draft with the 13th overall pick. [13] Pointer was waived on May 2, 2022, and did not make the Aces' roster.[14]

Indiana Fever

On June 14, 2022, Pointer was signed by the Indiana Fever.[15] Pointer appeared in 10 games for the Fever during the 2022 season. During April 2023, Pointer was waived by the Fever prior to the start of training camp.[16]

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

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2022 Indiana 1005.8.583.250.5000.80.20.20.00.92.2
Career 1 year, 1 team 1005.8.583.250.5000.80.20.20.00.92.2

References

  1. ↑ "2017 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  2. ↑ Moore, Keil. "Pointer Picks LSU". prospectsnation.com. Prospects Nation. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ "LSU 66 , FLA 59". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Khayla Pointer: JUNIOR SEASON (2019-20) – Season cut short due to coronavirus". lsusports.com. LSU Sports. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  5. ↑ "SEC announces 2020 Women's Basketball Awards". secsports.com. SEC Sports. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Pointer propels LSU to last-second 54-52 win over LMU". wafb.com. WAFB9. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Judy. "LSU's Khayla Pointer named 2021 All-SEC and All-Defensive Team". crescentcitysports.com. Crescent City Sports. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  8. ↑ "LSU seniors Khayla Pointer, Faustine Aifuwa and Jailin Cherry return for 2021-2022 season". crescentcitysports.com. Crescent City Sports. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  9. ↑ Shipp, Sonny. "Kim Mulkey will lean on Khayla Pointer to lead LSU". 247sports.com. 247 Sports. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Five finalists announced for 2022 Nancy Lieberman Award". NCAA.com. NCAA. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  11. ↑ "2022 SEC women's basketball awards announced". secsports.com. SEC Sports. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  12. ↑ Jackson, Wilton; Pickman, Ben. "SI's College Basketball 2021–22 Women's All-Americans". si.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  13. ↑ Sanders, Dylan. "Khayla Pointer selected 13th overall in WNBA Draft, headed to Las Vegas Aces". lsureveille.com. LSU Reveille. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Aces Waive Hollingshed & Pointer". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Fever Sign Khayla Pointer". fever.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Fever Waive Khayla Pointer". fever.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
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