Press Release :: Women's Basketball Coaches Association

"Charles has been one of the most-touted high school players both on and off the court this season," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "We are delighted to present her with this year's State Farm/WBCA High School Player of the Year Award and we look forward to watching her continued success in the future of women's basketball."

This year at Christ the King High School, the 6'3" forward is averaging 21 points per game, dishing out three assists per game while grabbing a remarkable 14 rebounds per game. She has accumulated over 900 rebounds through her high school career and tallied well over 1,300 points.

Charles' accolades include: Parade All-America First Team 2005, USA Today All-America Second Team 2005, EA Sports All-America 2005, Nike Skills Academy 2005, Street & Smith All-America First Team 2005 (Fifth Team 2004, Honorable Mention 2003), USA Today Sophomore All-America, End of the Trail Co-MVP 2004, Nike All-America Camp 2004, AA All-State First Team 2004 and 2005 and USA Youth Development Festival.

"Congratulations to Tina Charles on being selected the State Farm/WBCA Player of the Year", said Mark D. Gibson, Assistant Vice President of Advertising at State Farm. "This is a wonderful honor for such an outstanding student-athlete and we concur with Beth and look forward to seeing Tina Charles fulfill the rest of her basketball dreams."

Charles has signed with the University of Connecticut where she will follow in the footsteps of the 2002 State Farm/WBCA High School Player of the Year, Ann Strother.

The State Farm/WBCA Player of the Year Award is selected by the eleven-member WBCA High School Player of the Year Committee, which consists of one WBCA-member coach from each of the nine WBCA high school districts, the present committee chair, and the past committee chair.

Charles will be formally honored on Saturday, April 1 during the "WBCA Night of All-Stars" at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena in Boston, Mass., where she will also be competing in the WBCA High School All-America Game presented by Nike. The "WBCA Night of All-Stars" doubleheader event is part of the 2006 WBCA National Convention held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women's Final Four®. This year the WBCA celebrates it's Silver Anniversary, marking 25 years of existence.

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Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game as an amateur sport for women and girls. For additional information about the WBCA, please visit WBCA.org.