Women’s basketball adds fifth WNBA veteran to coaching staff

WNBA forward Karlie Samuelson ’17 is the newest addition to the Stanford women basketball’s coaching staff, serving as an intern for the 2025-26 season. She joins four other Stanford alumni and WNBA veterans on staff this season. 

Samuelson, who was slated to play for the Minnesota Lynx this season, returns to The Farm after sustaining a serious foot injury in a game against the Connecticut Sun in late June. When it came time to find a place to rehab this season, she knew exactly who to call: Stanford head coach Kate Paye.

“Stanford is home to me. I’m so grateful for her,” said Samuelson, who underwent her second surgery just last week, about Paye. “She, with no doubt in her mind, was just like, ‘Yeah, come here,’ and she introduced me to some people and some [physical therapists], and I was on my way from there.”

Known for her sharpshooting ability in the league, Samuelson left Stanford in 2017 with a 44.3% career three-point percentage over 121 games, the second-highest mark in Stanford history and the best in the Pac-12 since 1990 at the time. Her 249 career three-pointers currently rank fifth in Stanford’s record books.

Samuelson led the nation in postseason three-pointers in the 2016 and 2017 NCAA tournaments, when the Cardinal appeared in the Elite Eight and Final Four, respectively. In her senior year, she earned honorable mention All-American honors.

“I loved coaching Karlie,” Paye said. “She’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached, to wear a Stanford uniform. When she was a player, you knew she would be a coach one day.”

Although Tara VanDeever was head coach during her time, Samuelson said she always knew that then-assistant coach Paye would be next in line. Samuelson has also reunited with another familiar face on the coaching staff: assistant coach Erica McCall ’17. The two played all four years together at Stanford as members of the same recruiting class before both entering the WNBA draft. 

“Erica McCall and I joke a lot that if someone would’ve told us in 2025 that she would be in her third year coaching at Stanford, and I’d still be playing, we would’ve thought they were joking,” Samuelson said. “She was always gonna be the one playing, and I was gonna be the one coaching after college. So it’s just funny.”

Samuelson has since played for six different WNBA franchises across seven seasons. Last year, she appeared in 29 games for the Washington Mystics, posting a career high of 8.4 points per game and ranking ninth all-time in the WNBA for three-point percentage before being traded to the Lynx.

Paye called Samuelson an “invaluable resource” for both her experiences as a former Cardinal and her insight into playing at the professional level. Samuelson also hopes to share lessons from her time overseas, where she made her professional debut and competed in various Euroleague stints.

Although rehabbing from her injury is currently the priority, Samuelson said she has loved helping the program and watching its growth. She joins the program as Stanford welcomes the nation’s third-best recruiting class, according to ESPN. 

As the Cardinal prepare to open its season against University of North Carolina Greensboro at home on Monday, Samuelson reflected on the significance of the moment.

“When you’re a senior, it’s a big feeling to play your last season opener,” said Samuelson. “Everyone’s taken on new roles, whether it be the juniors or the sophomores [who] aren’t rookies anymore, and then we have a really great freshman class so, just excited to see all of their hard work pay off in game.”