INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever announced today the team signed forward Katie Lou Samuelson to a multi-year contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky last played in 2022 with the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2022, Samuelson averaged a career-high 9.7 points per game, to go along with 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 32 games with 29 starting appearances.
Samuelson is currently in her second season as the Director of Player Development for the Vanderbilt University women’s basketball program.
“Samuelson has size, length and the skillset to immediately help our team at the small forward and power forward positions,” General Manager Lin Dunn said. “She is an elite 3-point shooter and has shown she can win at the highest level with USA Basketball and from her time at UConn.”
In four seasons played in the WNBA, Samuelson averaged 6.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest in 101 games played with 57 starting appearances.
Samuelson was a two-time first-team All-America recipient and was the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons at the University of Connecticut. Samuelson was the 10th player in program history to record 2,000 points in a career and is fifth on the Huskies’ all-time scoring list. From 2015-19 with UConn, Samuelson helped the Huskies to a 145-5 record, including the 2016 national championship won at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
With USA Basketball, Samuelson won gold with the FIBA Americas U16 team in 2013. In 2019 she was a member of the USA FIBA AmeriCup team that won a gold medal, and she was named to the 3×3 Olympic qualifying team ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but was unable to participate due to illness.
The 25th Indiana Fever regular season will tip off on the road at the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, May 14 at 8 p.m. ET. The 2024 home schedule at Gainbridge Fieldhouse will begin two days later on May 16 against the New York Liberty at 7 p.m. ET.