Biography of Skylar Diggins-Smith[Age, Height, Wife, Kids, Family, Salary, Award & Net worth ]

Skylar Diggins-Smith is a four-time Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star and two times All-WNBA First Team honoree, among other titles.

She is an American basketball player and an advocate for equal pay among WNBA and NBA.

Making the list of 30 Under 30 – Sports 2019, Skylar, without a doubt, is one of the greatest players in the WNBA. Moreover, she was also the recipient of the WNBA Most Improved Player in 2014.

She was quick to get people’s attention by the time she was in her second year with the college team. Leading the numbers for the team, she was becoming a household name.

Before looking more into Smith’s life, let us have a look at quick facts.

Quick Facts

Full Name	Skylar Kierra Diggins-Smith
Birth Date	August 2, 1990
Birth Place	South Bend, Indiana
Age	32 Years Old
Nick Name	Skylar
Religion	Christianity
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	Mixed
Alma Mater	University of Notre Dame Washington High School
Horoscope	Leo
Father’s Name	Tige Diggins
Mother’s Name	Renee Scott
Siblings	Tige, Destyn, Maurice and, Hanneaf
Height	5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters)
Weight	64 kg (141 lbs)
Profession	Professional basketball player
Position	Point guard
Relationship	Married
Husband	Daniel Smith
Affiliations	Tusla Shock / Dallas Wings Phoenix Mercury
Net Worth	$400 thousand
Merch	Trading Cards
Social Media	Facebook, Twitter
Last Update	August 2022

Body Measurements

Skylar Diggins is a gorgeous lady with a toned athletic body and figure. As for her appearance, she is tan-skinned with curly black hair with eyes of similar color.

Furthermore, Diggins rocks her body, standing at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters) while weighing 64 kg (141 lbs).

Apparently, Diggins works quite hard and strictly to keep her fitness at this level. Some of her workout routines include using giant tires, ropes, and sledgehammers. As a result, this helps her with strength and quicker agility.

Amidst the variety of workout procedures, Diggins love high-intensity workouts such as drills with high repetitions and minimal rest.

Alongside her tiring workout comes her balanced and strict maintenance of the diet.

To illustrate, her heavy days include a high intake of carbohydrates while light and usual days don’t.

As for her typical and get-to-go meal, she has oatmeal for breakfast. Followed by chicken or fish with vegetables and sweet potatoes or quinoa for the afternoon.

The last and the most important key is hydration; thus, her favorite drink is BODYARMOR. Altogether, Diggins believes in sound rest; therewith, she only trains for five days a week and rests the other.

Skylar Diggins – Smith | Early Life, Family, and Education

This talented and outspoken basketball player was born in South Bend, Indiana. Her parents Renee Scott and Tige Diggins gave birth to Skylar on August 2, 1990.

She was raised by her parents and her younger siblings, Tige Jr., Destyn, Maurice, and Hanneaf.

Skylar is not the only athletic person in the family. Her mother, Tige, is a gymnast. Her mother realized she was “more into the dirt than into dolls at a young age.”

Thus, Tige signed Skylar for different sports such as cheerleading, tumbling, gymnastics, and later basketball.

At the age of 6, she played basketball with all boys at the YMCA and recalls nobody would pass the ball to her for being a girl.

When she finally had the chance to catch the ball, she scored a layup. As the love for basketball only grew, she realized that she was actually good at it and could do it forever.

High School Career

While growing up, she attended Washington High School in South Bend. During her time there, she played four-year varsity basketball. She finished her high school basketball career with 2,790 points.

Thus, with an average of 25.9 points per game, she became the third-highest girl scorer in Indiana history.

While maintaining scores in basketball, she also has her CGPA in her school. Having a GPA of 3.93, she graduated fifth in her class.

Not only is she an excellent basketball player, but she also participated in volleyball.

Diggins-Smith led the Panthers to state championships, one including the title-winning season in 2007. In 2007,2008, and 2009 she was named all-state first team.

Skylar rose to fame at a very young age compared to other players. She is the recipient of Gatorade National Player of the Year.

College Career

She attended Notre Dame and earned her bachelor’s degree in Management-Entrepreneurship.

Skylar was the fourth Indiana native to join Irish Roaster.

She continued to shine on the court during her college days and is the only player in Notre Dame basketball history to register 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 steals, and 500 assists, that too of either gender!

During her freshman season, she created a record of the only Notre Dame player to score 400 points in a debut season. Moreover, she was one of the three Miss Basketball honorees for the year 2009-10.

During her sophomore season, she led her team to win the second NCAA championship of school history, ten years after their first win in 2001.

For her excellent performance on the court, she was selected as the 2011 Third Team All-American by the Associated Press.

For her junior season, Diggins-Smiths scored her career-high of 16.8 points alongside 5.7 assists and 2.6 steals.

By the end of the season, she was named Big East Player of the Year and Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year, being the first Notre Dame player to win.

In her final year of college, she appeared in all 37 games scoring her career-high 17.1 points.

She ended her college career with NCAA women’s basketball final four with Big East rival. Although they lost the game, Skylar was named Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year for the second consecutive year.

You may also be interested in Marina Mabrey, who is also a Notre Dame alumni.

Professional Career

Skylar was drafted in the 2013 WNBA Draft by the Tulsa Shock in third overall. In 2013, she scored her career-high of 22 points and was named WNBA All-Rookie Team.

2014 was a breakout year for Skylar as she was named WNBA All-Star and won the 2014 WNBA Most Improved Player Award.

In 2015, she suffered from a torn ACL during a game against the Seattle Storm. She played for nine games with 17.8 points on average per game.

Despite missing the rest of the season, she was named WNBA All-Star for the second consecutive year.

In 2016, she was named one of the finalists for the U.S Olympic team but couldn’t play due to a torn ACL. She returned to the court four weeks after the team was chosen.

Skylar signed a multi-year contract with Tulsa Shock, now named Dallas Wings, in 2016, where she played 27 games upon her return.

She scored an average of 13.1 points per game on average throughout the season.

In 2017, she played all 34 games of the season with an average of 18.5 points per game, leading the team in number 7 seed in the league.

Skylar set her new career-high of 35 points against the Indiana Fever. She was later voted 2018 WNBA All-Star Game for the fourth time.

The same year in 2018, Skylar took a hard hit on her chin which affected a part of her head. Many stated that she might have faced a concussion; however, they confirmed that she only had dizziness.

In 2020, it was announced that Diggin-Smith was traded to the Phoenix Mercury.

Off Seasons

Skylar has been affiliated with ESPN for quite some time now. It first began as her summer internship in college.

During her offseasons, she appears as a commentator during the WNBA playoffs and as a guest host.

She was an executive producer for Little Ballers Indiana, which is a documentary series on Nickelodeon.

Along with her husband, Skylar illustrated a children’s book, the Middle School Rules of Skylar Diggins.

Skylar Diggins | Injury

Diggins has always been that fiery girl with a determined attitude. Young and competent, she is pretty conscious about her fitness and hasn’t got involved in illness much as others do.

Having said Diggins did have her share of injury back in 2015, in her third season with the Tulsa Shock. As their team was leading the match and the clock only showed 44 seconds till the end of the match.

Right at the moment, Diggins dropped the 31 points and was chasing down a ball.

However, she collapsed and tore the ACL in her right knee. Indeed, it counts as the foremost major injury of Diggins, which kept her away for the rest of the season.

“THAT WAS THE FIRST MAJOR INJURY I’VE HAD. IT DEFINITELY TAUGHT ME A LOT ABOUT MY BODY AND HOW I SHOULD’VE, OR SHOULD FROM NOW ON, TAKE CARE OF IT. INJURIES AREN’T AN ANOMALY. YOU PLAY SPORTS, AND THINGS HAPPEN. I KNEW IT WASN’T ANYTHING I COULD CONTROL.”
-SKYLAR DIGGINS

Achievements

• 4× WNBA All-Star (2014, 2015, 2017 & 2018)
• 2× All-WNBA First Team (2014 & 2017)
• 2× All-WNBA Second Team (2018 & 2020)
• WNBA All-Rookie Team (2013)
• 2× Nancy Lieberman Award winner (2012 & 2013)
• 2× First-team All-American – AP (2012 & 2013)
• Third-team All-American – AP (2011)
• 2× Big East Player of the Year (2012 & 2013)
• McDonald’s All-American (2009)
• Indiana Miss Basketball (2009)
• Gatorade National Player of the Year (2009)

Net Worth

Diggins- Smith is one of the highest-paid basketball players in the WNBA.

In February 2020, Phoenix Mercury signed Skylar for four years under WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement will pay her a $215,000 base salary this year.

Skylar had previously negotiated with her last team to receive a full salary while on maternity leave, as many players are paid only half.

According to celebritynetworth.com, Sklyar’s net worth is estimated at $400 thousand.

Besides her salary, Diggins-Smith has endorsement deals; for instance, in 2013, she signed with Roc Nation Sports, the first female athlete to do so. She also has dealt with Nike, Puma, and BodyArmor.

Fun fact: she starred in a commercial for Bodyarmor directed by Kobe Bryant. 

Skylar Diggins-Smith | Husband

In 2016, Skylar announced her engagement with Daniel Smith. The couple first met while attending Notre Dame.

Smith is a former Notre Dame wide receiver. In 2017, the couple tied the knot on April 29, 2017. Their wedding was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

After getting married to Daniel, she changed her jersey name to Diggins- Smith on the court.

In 2019, Skylar gave birth to her son, Seven. The couple chose the name for biblical reasons. She tries to keep her son away from the limelight and paparazzi and has not disclosed her son’s identity.

However, she was pregnant without telling a single soul. Later, she stated that she took two full months away from basketball during this year’s WNBA season due to postpartum depression.

Diggins-Smith on Unequal Pay

Skylar is one of the few players to talk about sensitive yet essential issues in basketball openly.

In a series called “Money Diaries” by Wealthsimple Magazine, she wrote about WNBA’s salary discrepancy compared to their NBA counterparts.

She accepts that she is one of the highest-paid players on the Dallas Wings, yet her salary is nothing compared to Harrison Barnes, whose stats are much lower than hers.

Moreover, she also disclosed that NBA players earn 50% of the league’s annual revenue compared to the WNBA’s 22% revenue.

Personality

Skylar Diggins-Smith is known to be a persistent and dedicated athlete. A natural leader since birth, she is known to make rational and quick decisions in court. Sklar is a hardworking, passionate woman.

She played the entire 2018 season being pregnant, with no one knowing about it. Although it was very tiring, she was responsible for keeping the energy up as a team captain.

Skylar does not hesitate to speak her mind. Being a mother isn’t an easy job, but mothers who need to travel frequently face many hurdles. For instance, Skylar was accused of abandoning her team.

Skylar went through post-partum depression after giving birth to his son and has been vocal about her struggle.

Moreover, she has also described her struggles as a new mom and the difficulties faced to keep up with the game.

Skylar has openly called out WNBA to provide resources such as the right to have a private room to pump and nurse the baby for new mothers.

Moreover, many athletic mothers have shared their struggles. For instance, Sanya Richards-Ross, Allyson Felix, and Serena Williams have also shared their struggles.

Skylar describes herself as a homebody. She loves spending quality time with her family. Skylar’s life mantra is, “You don’t have to be the best, but you have to be the best version of yourself.”

Fun Fact

It won’t ever be a surprise to see Skylar Diggins as a fashion icon and as a model if it’s ever gonna happen.

Apparently, she has been titled the “most fashionable athlete.” As described by herself, Diggins believes her style is tomboy chic: all about comfy and trendy.

Additionally, she is quite playful with style and showers her love for Zendaya.

Apart from this, Diggins is quite a genius with Connect four, and she admits it herself.

Skylar Diggins-Smith | Social Media Presence

Like other athletes, Skylar is active on social media and frequently updates her fan through social media. For further personal closeness with the athlete, you can check her personal accounts.

Consequently, Diggins goes by the Facebook name Skylar Diggins-Smith (@skylardiggins), where she has 4.6k followers.

Last but not least, her Twitter account depicts 569.2k followers under the name Skylar Diggins-Smith (@SkyDigg4).

FAQs

What is the jersey number of Skylar Diggins?

Skylar Diggins features in jersey number 4 for the Phoenix Mercury.

What is Skylar Diggins known for apart from basketball?

Apart from basketball, Skylar Diggins is known for working as an executive producer on a Nickelodeon documentary series Little Ballers Indiana.

Additionally, she is also a subject in a children’s book, The Middle School Rules of Skylar Diggins.

What does Skylar Diggins-Smith love?

Skylar Diggins-Smith is an avid music lover and can often be seen in the concerts of Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, and Bruno Mars.