Entering the 2017-18 season, NC State’s women’s basketball team is looking for leadership and experience after the graduation of four seniors in May. A newcomer favored to fill that void is guard Kiara Leslie who transferred to NC State from Maryland this summer. The redshirt junior is aiming to be a leader for her new team while staying true to her game and her playing style.

Growing up just down the road in Holly Springs, North Carolina, Leslie has always been surrounded by a family that loves basketball. Her brother, C.J. Leslie, starred on NC State’s men’s team from 2010 to 2013 and currently plays professionally in the Lebanese Basketball League. 

“All my family inspires me in basketball,” Leslie said. “They all played on both my mom’s and dad’s side. My brother played here. It’s a family sport.”

In her first season as a member of the Wolfpack, Leslie is not only ready to start playing for her local team but also to come back strong after a tough injury last offseason that kept her off the court all year.

“I’m very excited to play again,” Leslie said. “I had a very traumatic injury and so I’m excited to get back on the floor and show everybody that I can bounce back and be healthy again.”

After graduating from Maryland, Leslie brings new elements to a very different-looking Wolfpack team from a season ago.

“She’s got great size and athleticism for a guard,” head coach Wes Moore said. “We think defensively, she’ll be able to match up with most guards. Offensively, she’s able to get to the rim, and if you back off and try to contain, she is able to knock down the open three. She’s got good balance to her offensive skills.”

Leslie agrees with her head coach that she has a lot to offer the Pack.

“I think I bring athleticism to this team,” Leslie said. “I like to run, jump, rebound, layups…. Finishing with contact is probably my favorite, but I’ve been working on improving my shot.”

Although she grew up with basketball, Leslie started competing in track and did not get serious about playing on the court until middle school and Athletic Union ball. She then attended Holly Springs High School, where she averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds a game as a junior and scored 1,000 career points that same year. After missing the majority of her senior season with an injury, Leslie was ranked as the nation’s eighth-best guard prospect and was given a 96 scouting grade by ESPNW after high school.

Leslie spent three seasons playing for Maryland, where she made a Final Four appearance as a freshman, was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team as a sophomore and amassed a 65-7 record in her two seasons for the Terrapins. Having to sit her whole junior season with injury, Leslie graduated from Maryland in three years with a degree in criminology and criminal justice.

Joining the Wolfpack as a graduate student, Leslie is ready to demonstrate her maturity, hard work and determination to her new teammates. Through her challenges in injuries and changing programs, Leslie tries to exemplify what her mother has taught her.

“My mom inspires me personally,” Leslie said. “She’s a hard-working woman. She’s dedicated to her work and gets the job done.”

The same can be said about Leslie’s example she leaves for her new squad.

“She’s been in a Division I program that has quite a bit of success, and she graduated from there in three years, so that says a lot about her ability to digest knowledge,” Moore said. “She comes in with a lot of maturity and, considering we lost three starting guards to graduation, I think that it will be a big bonus for us to have her kind of experience.”

Leslie is thankful to be at her “family school” and credits Moore and his staff for her transition and recovery in a new program.

“The trainers have helped me a lot bouncing back from my injury,” Leslie said. “Coach Moore has instilled faith in me. He’s helped me build my confidence back so that I can get back to my rhythm and get back on the court and play.”

With two years of eligibility remaining, Kiara Leslie is ready to get back out on the basketball court and prove to herself and others that she can come back better and be a leader for this season’s Wolfpack.

“I want to get back to my game and keep improving,” Leslie said. “I want to help this team go out and play the best that they can.”