Aziaha James

James played basketball for Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. As a junior, she repeated as the Daily Press All-Tidewater Player of the Year and was named Virginia High School League Class 5 Player of the Year.{{cite web |title=Princess Anne's Aziaha James adds VHSL state Class 5 Player of Year to many honors |url=https://www.pilotonline.com/2020/04/03/princess-annes-aziaha-james-adds-vhsl-state-class-5-player-of-year-to-many-honors/ |website=The Virginian-Pilot |access-date=March 31, 2024 |date=April 3, 2020}} Four days after the death of her brother, James scored a career-high 41 points in a quarterfinal win at the Class 5 state tournament.{{cite web |title=Princess Anne's Aziaha James persevered, became the All-Tidewater Girls Basketball Player of the Year |url=https://www.dailypress.com/2020/03/20/princess-annes-aziaha-james-persevered-became-the-all-tidewater-girls-basketball-player-of-the-year/ |website=Daily Press |access-date=March 31, 2024 |date=March 20, 2020}} She helped her team win the state title in each of her four seasons and its eighth straight as a senior.{{cite web |title=Princess Anne wins 8th consecutive girls basketball state championship |url=https://www.pilotonline.com/2021/02/20/princess-anne-wins-8th-consecutive-girls-basketball-state-championship/ |website=The Virginian-Pilot |access-date=March 31, 2024 |date=February 20, 2021}} Rated a four-star recruit by ESPN, she committed to play college basketball for NC State.{{cite web |title=Aziaha James 2021 High School Girls' Basketball Profile |url=https://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/238403 |publisher=ESPN |access-date=March 31, 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Friedlander |first1=Brett |title=Women's Basketball Lands Another 5-Star Recruit |url=https://www.si.com/college/ncstate/basketball/ncstate-womens-basketball-recruit-5star-aziaha-james-commitment |website=Sports Illustrated |access-date=March 31, 2024 |date=May 30, 2020}}

As a freshman at NC State, James averaged 4.2 points per game and was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Freshman Team.{{cite web |last1=Rubama |first1=Larry |title=Former Princess Anne star Aziaha James returns to Hampton Roads to lead No. 3 N.C. State against ODU |url=https://www.pilotonline.com/2023/12/19/former-princess-anne-star-aziaha-james-returns-to-hampton-roads-to-lead-no-3-n-c-state-against-odu/ |website=The Virginian-Pilot |access-date=March 31, 2024 |date=December 19, 2023}} In her sophomore season, she averaged 6.8 points and 2.3 assists per game, primarily coming off the bench.{{cite web |last1=Ellis |first1=Ben |last2=Trotter |first2=Colby |title=NC State women's basketball dominates Florida State, advances to ACC title game |url=https://www.technicianonline.com/sports/nc-state-women-s-basketball-dominates-florida-state-advances-to-acc-title-game/article_9b1b4558-de78-11ee-9717-c305f3bbf65e.html |website=Technician |access-date=March 31, 2024 |date=March 9, 2024}} As a junior, James entered a leading role and was named first-team All-ACC. She helped NC State reach the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA tournament, its first appearance since 1998, and earned most outstanding player honors for the Portland 4 Regional.{{cite web |last1=Philppou |first1=Alexa |title=MOP Aziaha James, NC State rout Texas, reach Final Four |url=https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39848513/mvp-aziaha-james-nc-state-rout-texas-reach-final-four |publisher=ESPN |access-date=March 31, 2024 |date=March 31, 2024}}

James' older brother, Ashley "AJ" James, committed to play college basketball for Missouri State but died in an accidental shooting in 2020, before entering college.{{cite web |last1=Pyrtle |first1=Bryan |title=NC State's Aziaha James fueled by tragedy, unfinished business in breakout season |url=https://247sports.com/college/north-carolina-state/article/nc-state-wolfpack-womens-basketball-aziaha-james-career-breakout-season-raleigh-virginia-beach-community-acc-228069061/ |publisher=247Sports |access-date=March 31, 2024 |date=March 6, 2024}}

In April 2024, James attended Kelsey Plum's second annual Dawg Class, a 3-day camp with the purpose of helping top women college athletes transition from collegiate to professional basketball.{{cite web|title=(Dawg) Class Is Back in Session |url=https://about.underarmour.com/en/stories/2024/04/-dawg--class-is-back-in-session---.html |website=Under Armour |date=April 19, 2024 |access-date=April 20, 2024}} The 2024 camp was held at the IMG Academy and sponsored by Under Armour.

{{WNBA player statistics legend}}

{{WNBA player statistics start}}

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22

| style="text-align:left;"| NC State

|25||0||9.5||42.6||29.3||38.1||1.6||0.6||0.6||0.1||0.5||4.2

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23

| style="text-align:left;"| NC State

|32||6||18.8||40.7||28.8||63.6||2.9||2.3||1.2||0.3||1.3||6.8

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24

| style="text-align:left;"| NC State

|38||38||31.8||41.6||34.2||78.1||4.6||2.9||1.0||0.2||2.2||16.8

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2024–25

| style="text-align:left;"| NC State

|35||34||31.1||44.5||33.3||75.0||4.9||2.6||1.1||0.3||2.0||17.9

|- class="sortbottom"

|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career

|130||78||24.1||42.6||32.8||72.0||3.7||2.2||1.0||0.2||1.6||12.2

|- class="sortbottom"

|style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/aziaha-james-1.html|title=Aziaha James College Stats|publisher=Sports-Reference|accessdate=April 11, 2024}}

{{S-end}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://gopack.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aziaha-james/12297 NC State Wolfpack bio]

{{2025 WNBA draft}}

Category:Living people

Category:American women's basketball players

Category:Basketball players from Virginia Beach, Virginia

Category:Dallas Wings draft picks

Category:Princess Anne High School alumni

Category:NC State Wolfpack women's basketball players

Category:Guards (basketball)

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)