Kiara Leslie will redshirt for Maryland women’s basketball after a promising sophomore season

Maryland women’s basketball starts its season on Nov. 13 against UMass Lowell. Until then we’re profiling every player on the team.

Kiara Leslie, junior, guard, 6’2, No. 2

Hometown: Holly Springs, N.C.

High School: Holly Springs

Twitter: @Kiaraleslie30

Recruiting Ratings: Four stars, No. 55 overall, No. 10 guard, No. 4 player in North Carolina

Collegiate Stats: 4.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, .407 FG/.304 3P/.676 FT (67 games)

How did she get to College Park?

She missed the majority of her senior season with a hip injury, but Leslie averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds as a junior, which helped her surpass the 1,000-point mark in January 2013. Leslie’s older brother, C.J. Leslie, played at nearby N.C. State, but she wanted to build her own legacy at Maryland under head coach Brenda Frese.

Career highlight

Leslie went off against Maryland-Eastern Shore last season, dropping 22 points while going 3-for-4 from three-point range.

2016-17 prospectus

Leslie will have to redshirt her junior year due to an offseason ankle injury, which is unfortunate considering she made seven starts as a sophomore. In 32 games last season, Leslie averaged 4.4 points and 3.0 rebounds with a .408 field goal percentage. She’s a versatile wing that would’ve made for a great running mate alongside Destiny Slocum in the backcourt.

Aja Ellison will redshirt this upcoming season as well.

What a dream season might look like

Leslie spends her redshirt season getting stronger, and gets the opportunity to break the starting lineup in 2017-18 with the departure of Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Brionna Jones.

Up next

She tied a program record (along with Walker-Kimbrough) with most three-pointer’s made in a season.

Leaderboard

Terpshok94 and ImFromMarylandAndNobodyCanBeatMe have 2. Turtle Shell, NeonParkTerp, jatk13, thoward7 and ibleedturtleblood all have 1.