Nia Clouden
No. 2 – Los Angeles Sparks
PositionGuard
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (2000-05-17) May 17, 2000
Owings Mills, Maryland, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight139 lb (63 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt. Frances
(Baltimore, Maryland )
College
WNBA draft2022: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Connecticut Sun
Playing career2022–present
Career history
2022Connecticut Sun
2023–presentLos Angeles Sparks
2023REG
Career highlights and awards
  • WBCA Honorable Mention All-American (2022)
  • AP Honorable Mention All-American (2022)
  • 2x All-Big Ten First Team (2021, 2022)
  • All-Big Ten Second Team (2020)
  • All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2019)
  • All-Big Ten Freshman Team (2019)

Nia Clouden (born May 17, 2000) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Michigan State. Clouden was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2022 WNBA draft.

College career

Clouden came into her freshman year at Michigan State after being ranked the 42nd overall recruit in the 2018 ESPN HoopGurlz rankings.[1]

Clouden's Spartan debut came in an exhibition game and she showed early how good she could become. She posted a near triple-double with 13 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds against Hillsdale. Clouden started right away as a freshman and impressed head coach Suzy Merchant with her ability to run the team.[2] Clouden continued to impress throughout her freshman year and was awarded being selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team, as well as All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.[3]

Clouden impressed in her second season in East Lansing as she was the leading scorer for the Spartans at 14.5 points per game.[4] Clouden was named to the All-Tournament team when the Spartans went to the Junkanoo Jam tournament in November 2019.[5] She scored a then career-high 28 points against Notre Dame in an early season win for the Spartans as well. She made 4 3-pointers, and added 3 steals and 3 rebounds[6] Clouden was once again awarded from the Big Ten Conference for her year, this time earning All-Big Ten Second Team.[7]

Clouden improved her scoring in her junior year once again. She was fifth overall in the entire conference averaging 18.7 points. She also became a top stealer - ranking 15th overall in the conference with 1.6 steals. In a rivalry game against in-state Michigan, Clouden set a new career high with 34 points.[8] She again also improved in her honors from the Big Ten - this time moving up to All-Big Ten First Team.[9]

In her senior season, Clouden put on one last show for the Spartans. She dropped a career high 50 points against Florida Gulf Coast. The 50 points broke the Michigan State women's basketball single game scoring record of 42 - previously held by Tori Jankoska.[10] Clouden was award All-Big Ten First Team for a 2nd time in her career and added some All-American Honorable Mentions to her collection - from the AP and the WBCA.[11]

College statistics

Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Michigan State 33 397 .442 .368 .747 3.6 3.9 1.2 0.2 12.0
2019–20 Michigan State 30 436 .381 .274 .823 4.0 3.3 1.7 0.2 14.5
2020–21 Michigan State 24 448 .464 .324 .780 4.2 3.9 1.6 0.2 18.7
2021–22 Michigan State 30 601 .427 .396 .885 4.2 4.2 1.2 0.4 20.0
Career 117 1882 .427 .341 .813 4.0 3.8 1.4 0.2 16.1

Professional career

Connecticut Sun

In the 2022 WNBA draft, Clouden was selected in the 1st Round - 12th overall - by the Connecticut Sun.[12] Clouden made the opening day roster for 2022 - one of three new additions to the team from 2021.[13]

Overseas

On November 25, 2023, Clouden signed a short-term contract with REG from Rwanda to play in the FIBA Africa Women's Basketball League (AWBL).[14]

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 Connecticut 2808.9.340.414.5880.80.80.20.00.42.1
Career 1 year, 1 team 2808.9.340.414.5880.80.80.20.00.42.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2022 Connecticut 704.6.444.5001.0000.30.70.30.00.11.9
Career 1 year, 1 team 704.6.444.5001.0000.30.70.30.00.11.9

References

  1. ↑ "2018 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  2. ↑ Tidwell; Trofatter, Sara; Chloe. "Moments that defined Nia Clouden's Spartan career ahead of the WNBA Draft". state news.com. The State News. Retrieved May 7, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced On BTN". bigten.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  4. ↑ "2019-20 W. Basketball Cumulative Statistics". msuspartans.com. MSU Athletics. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ Michigan State Women's Basketball. "Congrats to our own @NiaClouden for earning @JunkanooJam All-Tournament honors!! Back to Michigan we go ✈️". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  6. ↑ "No. 16 Michigan State women hold off No. 15 Notre Dame 72-69". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  7. ↑ "2019-20 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced On BTN". bigten.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Michigan State vs. Michigan". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  9. ↑ "2020-21 All-Big En Women's Basketball Teams & Honors" (PDF). bigten.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  10. ↑ Hruby, Emma. "MICHIGAN STATE'S NIA CLOUDEN DROPS 50 POINTS IN LOSS TO FGCU". justwomenssports.com. Just Women's Sports. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Nia Clouden Earns WBCA Honorable Mention All-American Honors". msuspartans.com. MSU Athletics. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  12. ↑ Garcia, Tony. "WNBA draft: Michigan State star Nia Clouden drafted to Connecticut Sun in Round 1". freep.com. Detroit Free Press. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Connecticut Sun Finalizes Opening Day Roster". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  14. ↑ Sikubwabo, Damas (2023-11-25). "WNBA star Nia Clouden agrees to short-term deal with REG Women". The New Times. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
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