Who is Dijonai Carrington? Closer look at Connecticut Sun player

The Connecticut Sun probably knew all along that Dijonai Carrington had more to her than what she previously showed in two seasons with them. Losing Jonquel Jones to the New York Liberty before the 2023 season started and Brionna Jones to an injury could have doomed the Sun. Nevertheless, they still advanced to the second round of the WNBA playoffs before losing to New York.

Along the way, Carrington made a case as the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year by putting together a season that Stephanie White proudly acknowledged. She started 32 games as part of the bench mob and finished 2023 with 8.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 1.3 APG.

Carrington exemplified the Sun’s no-nonsense defense, and her 37.1% shooting from deep made her even more valuable.

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Dijonai Carrington was probably underrated in college

Dijonai Carrington was the prototype of a 3-and-D player even when she was in college.

Four years in Stanford, which included two Pac-12 championships, and a season with Baylor, prepared her for the rigors of the WNBA. She was the Connecticut Sun’s first pick in the 2021 draft, where she was taken No. 20 overall.

Behind stars, Jonquel Jones, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones, the Sun went on top of the East with a 26-6 record. They were booted, though, by the Chicago Sky in the semis, with Carrington hardly seeing a minute of action in the postseason.

Connecticut went a step further the following year but was dispatched in four games by the two-time defending champs Las Vegas Aces. They avenged their loss to Chicago but were undone by A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Becky Hammon’s star-studded unit.

Dijonai Carrington had an unsung role in Connecticut’s run to the title series. Despite Jones leaving in the offseason and the other Jones down with an injury, the Sun remained in the title hunt. Carrington had been such a key part of White’s engine on both ends of the court.

The versatile guard/forward’s on-ball defense was already elite, but it was her work off the action that made her invaluable. She was a pest for New York throughout the playoffs.

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Dijonai Carrington will have an even bigger role to play in 2024 for Connecticut

Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones will likely get the opponents’ attention on defense. But Dijonai Carrington is a name opposing teams will have to start taking seriously. When she isn’t making life difficult for shooters, she's punishing them on the other end.

Connecticut host the Indiana Fever on Tuesday in front of a sold-out crowd at the Mohegan Sun.

Expect her to shadow highly touted rookie Caitlin Clark for most of the night. She may be underrated, but Connecticut knows it needs her to be at her best this season to make another deep playoff run.