Jump to content

Gianna Kneepkens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gianna Kneepkens
No. 5 – Utah Utes
PositionGuard
LeagueBig 12 Conference
Personal information
Born (2003-03-04) March 4, 2003 (age 21)
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Career information
High schoolMarshall School (Duluth, Minnesota)
College
  • Utah (2021–present)
Career highlights and awards
  • WBCA Honorable Mention All-American (2023)
  • 2× First-team All-Pac-12 (2022, 2023)
  • Pac-12 Freshman of the Year (2022)
  • Pac-12 All-Freshman Team (2022)

Gianna Kneepkens (born March 4, 2003) is an American college basketball player for the Utah Utes of the Big 12 Conference.

Early life and high school career

[edit]

Kneepkens was born in Duluth, Minnesota[citation needed] to Donald and Betsy Kneepkens.[1] The youngest of six siblings, Kneepkens grew up playing basketball against her five older brothers.[2] She played for Marshall School in Duluth. A varsity starter since the eighth grade, Kneepkens helped her team to two Minnesota state tournament appearances.[3] During her high school career, Kneepkens scored 3,704 points, fourth all-time in Minnesota.[3] In her final high school game, Kneepkens scored 67 points, another all-time state record.[3] As a senior, she was named Gatorade Minnesota Girls Basketball Player of the Year, joining Paige Bueckers who won the award the year before.[3] Kneepkens then committed to playing college basketball for Utah.[4]

College career

[edit]

Kneepkens made her debut for the Utes on November 10, 2021, against Lipscomb University. She later earned a starting role after coming off the bench and putting up 29 points against in-state rival BYU on December 4, 2021.[5] During the season, Kneepkens went on to average 11.8 points per game, shooting 38.4% from three and 87.1% from the free-throw line.[1] Kneepkens was named Pac-12 freshman of the year, First Team All-Pac-12, and given Pac-12 All-Freshman honors.[1]

During her sophomore campaign, Kneepkens continued to see success, starting in every game and scoring an average 15.3 points per game.[1] During the Utes's NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament appearance that season, She was again named to the First Team All-Pac-12 and was named a WBCA Coaches' Honorable Mention All-American.[1]

Career statistics

[edit]
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

College

[edit]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021–22 Utah 33 25 23.7 44.6 38.4 87.1 4.4 1.2 0.7 0.4 1.1 11.8
2022–23 Utah 32 32 28.3 49.8 42.3 83.1 5.2 2.1 0.9 0.5 1.6 15.3
2023–24 Utah 8 8 25.1 63.3 54.0 78.9 5.5 3.9 2.0 0.3 2.3 17.8
Career 73 65 25.9 49.1 42.3 84.1 4.8 1.9 0.9 0.5 1.4 14.0
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Gianna Kneepkens". University of Utah. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  2. ^ "Getting to Know U: Freshman Gianna Kneepkens". Pac-12. October 20, 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Nowacki, Jon (May 27, 2021). "Prep Girls Basketball: Duluth Marshall's Kneepkens earns Gatorade Minnesota Player of the Year Honors". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Nowacki, Jon (May 5, 2020). "Girls Basketball: Marshall's Kneepkens Commits to Utah". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  5. ^ Drew, Jay (February 8, 2022). "Freshman guard Gianna Kneepkens an instant success for Utah women's basketball". Deseret News. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  6. ^ "Gianna Kneepkens College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
[edit]