WNBA\u2019s all-time leading rebounder and its second-leading scorer<\/a>.<\/p>\nAsked what she\u2019s most proud of, Charles said, \u201cJust the woman that I am before you, my giving-back nature, the experiences I was able to have. I was able to travel the world. It’s not about the wins and losses for me. It’s the people you meet along the way and who you become. I’m just proud of the woman I became in basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles said retirement took some getting used to \u2014 waking up feeling like you need to work out, when you really don\u2019t, for instance. But she had already started making moves toward the formation of 78 Brewing Co. She loves a good IPA and she wanted the flavor profile of this one to tell a story.<\/p>\n
\u201cCitrus, tropical,\u201d she said of choosing Mosaic, Simcoe and Citra hops. \u201cA nod to my Caribbean roots.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Charles\u2019 mother, Angella, is from Jamaica. Her father, Rawlston, is from Trinidad and Tobago. Her mother was in attendance Friday. So, too, were many members of the UConn family, including former teammates Heather Buck and Kalana Greene.<\/p>\n
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Former UConn women’s basketball and WNBA star Tina Charles, third from left, launches her new craft beer 78-0 Hazy IPA with former UConn players, Heather Buck, left, Kalana Greene, second from left, along with Head Coach Geno Auriemma at East Rock Brewing in New Haven Conn., Friday, July 17, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dave Zajac\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Auriemma joined Charles for a 15-minute panel discussion before mixing into the bar scene. He had no comment on the hiring of an assistant coach to replace Jamelle Elliott \u2014 almost certain to be a former\u00a0UConn national champion and WNBA player.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s nights like Friday, occasions like this, that enable Auriemma to reflect on what his program does in addition to piling up Final Four runs and national championships.<\/p>\n
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Sipping one of the beers, he said, \u201cI hope that at\u00a0UConn, we\u2019re all about giving people opportunities. Here\u2019s an opportunity for Tina coming out of New York, coming to UConn, to make a name for yourself on the basketball court, win championships, make a name for yourself in the WNBA \u2014 and then see where else you can make a name for yourself. But it all starts with getting an opportunity. Luckily, we\u2019re at a place where, if you\u2019re successful at\u00a0UConn, those other opportunities are going to present themselves. And that\u2019s what I\u2019m most proud of. We\u2019ll give you the opportunity. They\u2019re going to present themselves because of where you are. Now it\u2019s up to you to take it and run with it. And that\u2019s what all of my players have done.\u201d<\/p>\n
So many former UConn players \u2014 whether it be\u00a0Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart launching the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league, Jessica Moore climbing the corporate ladder at Nike or Maya Moore\u2019s social justice initiatives \u2014 have parlayed their college and basketball experiences into something bigger.<\/p>\n
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Former UConn women’s basketball and WNBA star Tina Charles launches her new craft beer 78-0 Hazy IPA with UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma at East Rock Brewing in New Haven Conn., Friday, July 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Dave Zajac\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
\u201cHe probably just sees us as his daughters, just very proud to look back at what we’ve all been able to accomplish not only on the court but off the court,\u201d Charles said. \u201cSo I just hope that I’m making him proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Charles is just at the outset of her next chapter. She said there will be more beers, telling more stories, honoring other iconic players and franchises.<\/p>\n
The 78-0 Hazy IPA will be available this summer at selected retail locations in Connecticut, at UConn home games in Storrs and Hartford, and at Connecticut Sun games (in a special edition \u201cSunset\u201d can). The Sun, the team Charles spent her first four seasons with and returned to for her final WNBA season in 2025, are relocating to Houston after the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s definitely bittersweet,\u201d Charles said. \u201cI’ve had so many moments \u2014 a lot of firsts for me were in the state of Connecticut, in college and then being drafted. A lot of memories. At times, businesses have to move on. I think the fans will cherish the time … that the team was in the state, and Houston will definitely take care of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While playing for the Sun last season, Charles befriended Alisa Bowens-Mercado, the founder of the Rhythm Brewing Co. in New Haven. Bowens-Mercado, known as \u201cLady Lager,\u201d is the first Black woman to own a brewery in Connecticut. Bowens-Mercado, who attended Friday\u2019s event, mentored Charles through the brewery process.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI never knew that Tina really was into that aspect of it, wanting to expand with it and do something with it, the whole ownership thing, the entrepreneurship thing, the under-represented people. She did a lot of homework on this. She put in the time, put the whole thing together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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Former UConn women’s basketball and WNBA star Tina Charles shares smiles while launching her new craft beer 78-0 Hazy IPA at East Rock Brewing in New Haven Conn., Friday, July 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Dave Zajac\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Charles hasn’t dribbled at basketball since April 6, the day of her final game in China.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“That’s all she wrote,” she said. “I think it’s good. Sort of like an ex. You’ve got to keep moving forward.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Charles spent 15 years in the WNBA after leading UConn to those perfect seasons. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI get emotional,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was just such a fun time. I don’t know if we all cherished it the way that we should have. Around that time, the conversation was that we were bad for women’s basketball, because we were so dominant. I don’t know if a lot of people remember that. But then people catch up and now it’s like an even playing field, a bit. For us, we were just keeping our head down, knew what we wanted to accomplish, which was a championship. Coach made the practices harder than the games and I think that’s why we were able to be dominant and receptive to his coaching style.\u201d<\/p>\n
What did she dream of and hope for upon arriving at UConn?<\/p>\n
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\u201cI hoped to win,\u201d Charles said. \u201cI hoped to be a player of the year. I hoped to be an All-American. All of the things I was able to achieve, those were major goals. That’s why Coach and [Chris Dailey\u2019s] approach was what it was for me. They knew what it would take for me to rise to the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former UConn women’s basketball and WNBA star Tina Charles smiles during the launching of her new craft beer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[226156,64,63,726,283639,85],"class_list":["post-808337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-all-daily-sites","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-ct-insider","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}