Natalie Chou: Parents, WNBA, Transfer & UCLA

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“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” 

Natalie chou brought a change to the perspective of people on how they view Asian American girls. Chou is an American college basketball player for UCLA Bruins of the past-12 conference.

She achieved many things in life at the young age of 23, including McDonald’s All-American as a high school senior.

Before moving to UCLA, Natalie got engaged to Baylor lady bears. She played two seasons of college ball for the team.

The young Chou is the recipient of many awards and medals, including a world champion title in 2015.

natalie-chou
Natalie Chou

Having said that, Natalie has yet to achieve and see her highest, and we wish her all the best.

Before going into the deep waters about all the ins and outs of her life. Here are some quick facts about Chou.

Natalie Chou | Quick Facts

Full Name Natalie Chou
Date Of Birth December 22, 1997
Place Of Birth Beaumont, Texas
Nick/Pet Name Unknown
Religion Unknown
Nationality Asian-American
Ethnic Belonging Asian
Father’s Name Joseph Chou
Mother’s Name Quanli Li
Number Of Siblings 1
Education UCLA
Zodiac Sign Capricorn
Age 26 years old
Height ‎6’1″ (1.85 m)
Weight Unavailable
Eye color Brown
Hair color Black
Shoe Size Unavailable
Body Measurement Unknown
Figure Athletic
Marital Status Unmarried
Boyfriend No
Children No
Occupation Shooting Guard
Net worth Unavailable
Salary Unavailable
Active Since 2016
Pets Unknown
Current works UCLA
Social Handle Instagram, Twitter
UCLA Bruins’ Merch  Women’s Tshirt, Jersey, Hoodie
Last Update March, 2024

Natalie Chou | Age, Height, and Measurements 

The Bruins’ shooting guard, Chou, was born in the year 1997, on December 22. It makes her 26 years old as of 2024. 

Likewise, her zodiac sign happens to be Capricorn, and they are known for their hard-working trait. 

She crushed the stereotype about Asian women being short and standing at the glorious height of 6’1″. It is an above-average height for Asian women.

As for the other information, Chou hails from Asian American ethnicity.

Natalie Chou height
Natalie Chou stands at 6’1″ (source: Asian Players)

Natalie’s current weight is unknown; however, it is clear that she has an athletic body judging from the image.

It seems that Chou’s height-to-weight ratio is perfectly balanced.

Moreover, Natalie has a gorgeous and flawless Asian complexion that everybody strives for in the beauty industry. Her deep brown eyes and straight, silky hair add to her natural beauty.

Chou has achieved so much in so little time and age. There’s no doubt that this young woman is absolutely gorgeous, but fans love her for her amazing basketball skills.

Natalie has gained fans far and wide due to her basketball playoffs and won several tournaments and awards.

Natalie Chou | Parents and Basketball 

Chou was born to a proud father, Joseph Chou, and a loving, athletic mother, Quan Li. Her parents raise her in Beaumont, Texas.

Her mom Quan Li grew up in China when Cultural Revolution was taking place. Chou’s mother was also an active member of the Beijing National Basketball Team.

However, her basketball career ended once Li moved to the states with her husband, Joseph. Chou was born three years after their marriage. 

Other than her parents, Natalie has an older sister named, Tingting. Chou’s mother both of her daughters from a young age. 

But as time passed, Natalie began showing good athlete skills while her sister got more interested in academics.

Amidst all this, her parents’ relationship deteriorated, and they decided to go separate ways.

Still, Chou continued her everyday training session with her mom and played on the AAU team throughout ninth grade.

Likewise, Chou was first discovered by Jason Terry, a then-NBA player, and girl’s Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) coach.

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Early Career

Raised in Plano, Natalie went to Plano West high and received a three-time ALL-state player. Not only that, but she bagged McDonald’s All-American in her senior year at high school.

But her achievements didn’t stop there; she was in the final five for Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year.

After that, ESPN’s hoopgurlz ranked her number 8 and a five-star recruit in the nation. 

Natalie Chou Highlights
Natalie Chou in the court

With all this attention from everywhere, it took no time for Chinese media to cover the story. They even named her the female Jeremy Lin.

But Terry has other things to say and said that Chou’s play was not as flashy as Jeremy and she always sticks to the fundamentals.

Natalie Chou | Major Incidents at Baylor

Chou went to Baylor University for her higher studies, where her rival Lauren Cox joined and as a top recruit. 

Natalie had an impressive opening in the freshman years as she played all 37 games and had an amazing score while averaging and rebounding.

The team was called Lady Bears, and due to the amazing performance by Nat and the team, it reached Elite Eight in 2017.

Not only that, but Chou contributed a lot to the university by bringing it to a three-point goal percentage, ranking sixth in BIG12 Conference.

Natalie showed that she was a trailblazer and a one-person army named Big 12 Freshman of the week. She even made some career-high points during the remaining game.

Moreover, Nat opened with yet another season-high score of 22 points and eight rebounds with six assists in the next year’s season. It led her team to win easily.

After that, Chou played against Iowa State, in which she showed a groundbreaking performance and got many praises for the playoff.

However, a sad incident took place as she underwent surgery for a broken bone in her non-shooting left wrist.

She took a lot of rest and couldn’t make a solid comeback after missing seven games in total.

Natalie desperately wanted to change the scenario, so she left Baylor and transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles.

Chou also said that the main reason behind this was the change of dynamics of many relationships and unwanted pressure.

Read about – Sabrina Ionescu Bio: Basketball, WNBA, Family & Net Worth >>

Natalie Chou | UCLA and National Team Debut

At UCLA, Natalie wasn’t immediately placed on the main team. Chou served a season as a redshirt and in a practice squad for the early season.

After she got her eligibility to play, Natalie had many expectations and responsibilities on her shoulder.

But Chou did it without hesitating for a bit. She made a season-high four 3- 3-pointers and scored eighteen points in a career-high 33 minutes. The team eventually won over Washington.

Natalie Chou UCLA
Natalie Chou transferred to UCLA in 2018-19

Likewise, Chou never failed to amaze the coaches, team, and her fans. She was a part-time starter throughout the season and came off with amazing scores.

Due to Natalie, UCLA was able to finish in 26-5 and ranked 10th nationwide. 

But thanks to the pandemic, the season ended way sooner than scheduled. 

Nonetheless, Natalie won gold and silver in national-level cups held in America: all under 17 and 18. 

Not to mention, she made the whole Chou family proud by achieving honors at the national level.

Stats

Year PTS OR DR REB AST STL BLK TO FG FG%
Career 892 122 267 389 213 158 56 89 321-810 39.6

Learn more about her scouting report, recruiting, and game log on ESPN.

Natalie Chou | Net Worth and Salary

As chou is yet to have a grand career in professional basketball, we couldn’t extract her net worth and salary in detail; just yet. 

As soon as we get the updates, we will fill this section with information relating to her earnings. However, she is known to have a net worth of approx. $1.5 million. 

Natalie Chou | Activism and Personal Life

We know that Natalie is a beast when on the court. But it so happens that she is the same outside as well.

During the 2020 COVID pandemic, Chou protested against the rise in hatred towards Asian Americans and Chinese people.

As the virus was first spotted in China, people’s attitudes and behavior towards Asians grew. As a result, it made her scared to even walk out of her own home in Dallas, just like every other Asian. 

Moreover, Chou mentioned that she received hateful looks from locals.

Chou felt safer when walking out of the home with UCLA-named T-shirts.

The main reason behind this was to ease people’s attitude towards her by showing that she was a basketball player.

Added to that, Natalie didn’t want to be the Chinese person that everyone needed to stay away from.

Chou even posted on her own Twitter account about this incident and experience, followed by some news.

Natalie didn’t like how her own president termed the virus as the ‘Chinese virus,’ which she said was very hurtful and racist.

She also stated that it created unnecessary xenophobia towards Asian American people.

Chou also actively said that it takes no effort to call the virus by its correct name, and people must stop the hatred towards one ethnicity and ethnic group.

Check – Jalen McDaniels Bio: Basketball Career, Brother & Salary >>

‘Pac- 12 Network’ Interview Highlights

On May 6, 2020, the stunning UCLA prospect Natalie Chou joined sportscaster Mike Yam for an interview with the Pac- 12 Networks

  • Natalie Chou credits her mother for every success she has achieved, both on and off the court. 
  • Chou witnessed the racism and prejudiced her mother, Li, faced as a Chinese basketball coach. This made her more than determined to work hard and prove herself. 
  • Growing up, many of her family members and even family commented on Chou to focus on activities other than basketball. 
  • Jeremy Lin inspired Natalie as a young child. 
  • As for her message to Asian girls, Chou really did not want her message to be one-dimensional. And wanted them to follow their dream even if it’s unconventional. 

Natalie Chou | Documentary

In Natalie Chou’s documentary ‘Our Stories’ extended cut: ‘The Story of Natalie Chou,’ she explores and showcases her basketball journey.

Natalie Chou | Social Media Presence 

As an active sports personality, Chou is active on social media, mostly on Instagram and then Twitter.

Her Instagram has about 10k followers, with a verified tick by Instagram itself.

Chou has 108 posts as of currently, and most of the post is related to basketball. Her social media pictures show her bubbly nature and happy-go-lucky personality.

Natalie has gorgeous features, and she is not afraid to flaunt them online.

The cuteness, yet her boldness, is reflected in the pictures. There are a lot of pictures where she is seen to be taking a vacation.

Her twitter mostly consists of retweeting women basketball players’ tweets and being grateful for their existence of them.

There are some personal tweets regarding her activism as well, but it is very few.

It’s time to have a look yourself.

Instagram – 11.7k Followers 

Twitter2704 Followers 

Natalie Chou | FAQs

Where can one find Natalie Chou’s injury report?

One can find Natalie’s injury report on UCLA‘s page.

What is Natalie Chou’s wingspan?

The athlete has an approximate wingspan of 6 feet 4 inches. 

Does Natalie Chou have a gold medal?

Yes, the basketballer won a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship.

Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah is an engineer and content writer passionate about sports and athletics. With a background in engineering and a love for all things active, Sanjib brings a unique perspective to the world of sports writing. Whether he is covering the latest trends in sports technology or sharing tips on improving your game, Sanjib's words are always rooted in a deep appreciation for players' hard work and dedication everywhere. In his free time, you can find him hitting the courts or hitting the trails, always looking for new ways to challenge himself and improve his skills.

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