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A basketball career marked by championships, trailblazing catwalks, and a role in a blockbuster film all began for Charde Houston when she caught a pass at Mid-City Gym.
Houston is set to be inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame on Monday alongside Padres Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy and All-Star Adrian Gonzalez. With her recognition at the San Diego Sports Association’s Salute to the Champions event at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla, Houston will join an exclusive club that includes legends Tony Gwynn and Bill Walton as well as fellow women’s basketball star Candice Wiggins.
With Houston shattering records at San Diego High School and Wiggins starring at La Jolla Country Day, the two made America’s Finest City the nation’s premier destination for women’s college basketball recruiters in 2004.
Houston had grown up fast from her adolescent days at Mid-City, where she said she was often the last player picked for teams when playing with adult men.
“It was so hard because they would run fast, they would jump high, they would throw behind-the-back passes, no-look passes, and I wouldn’t catch any of them because these were some of my first times playing the game,” Houston said.
Houston resolved to catch one of those passes.
“And when I did, my eyes got big — my eyes are already big, so they got even bigger,” she added with a laugh. “And I actually caught it, and I made the layup. And then I was just like, ‘Wow, so I really can do this.’”
Not only could Houston play with the guys at Mid-City Gym, but she could score like few others in San Diego County high school hoops history.
Houston scored 3,873 career points between 2000 and 2004, surpassing the 3,446-point mark set by Basketball Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller at Riverside Poly.
Houston set a Southern California regional record with 43 points in San Diego High’s win over Long Beach Poly. With Houston leading the way, the Cavers advanced to the 2004 CIF Division I state championship game,
Her exploits in the San Diego Section and beyond garnered interest from every top-tier college program in the country. Houston ultimately signed to play at powerhouse Connectcut.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma, the all-time coaching wins leader in men’s or women’s basketball, is known for demanding excellence from his teams. While the bitterly cold winters in Storrs, Conn., were a difficult transition for Houston coming from San Diego, she adjusted smoothly to therigors of representing UConn.
She had experience playing for fiery coaches.
Marlon Wells took over the San Diego program during Houston’s freshman year, much to the high schooler’s initial trepidation.
“When he coached Rising Stars, I remember always just seeing his hard practices. After one at the high school gym, I said, ‘Whew, I’m glad he’s not my coach,’” Houston laughed, recalling how she tempted fate.
But Wells’ arrival ultimately became a catalyst for Houston’s transcendent career.
“One day, he sat me down and said, ‘If you get serious about the game, you could do really great things. You could become a pro,’” Houston said. “And I just channeled all of that — the positive words and the energy — and it just seemed like everything changed for me right there.”
Wells proved prophetic. Houston moved on to the WNBA after four seasons at UConn. She spent seven seasons in the professional league, becoming a 2009 All-Star for the Minnesota Lynx; in 2011, she won a championship with the team.
Houston’s personal flair and love for fashion showed through in her pro days as well. Her pregame and postgame style set the stage for the tunnel walks that have become popular on social media in the present-day WNBA.
“Back in our day, we didn’t have the same platform, but the mindset was the same,” Houston said. “Women who play basketball arebeautiful. We are hard-nosed on the court, but we’re able to change it up.”
Houston and her Minnesota teammates even strutted their stuff for a good cause, launching the Catwalk for a Cause event. The fashion show raised money for breast cancer research and was among the off-court initiatives that earned Houston the WNBA’s Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award in 2011.
Basketball gave Houston a profession, allowed her to show off her stylish side, provided an avenue to help others, and even took her to the cosmos — figuratively.
The SDHS graduate performed stunts for current WNBA All-Star Nneka Ogwumike in 2021’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” starring LeBron James.
Giving life to an intergalactic game with a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player is worlds away from playing pickup at Mid-City Gym.
But for Houston, all that went into her out-of-this-world, Hall of Fame career on the hardwood would not have been possible without that first caughtpass.
What: 77th Salute to the Champions
Honorees: Former Padres stars Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez and former WNBA standout Charde Houston
When: 5:30 p.m. Monday
Where: Hyatt Regency La Jolla
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