(Monday, December 19; Sioux Center, Iowa) Stella Charleston, a senior at Southeast Polk High School (Iowa), has announced her intention to attend Dordt University and join the Defender basketball program. 

"Stella is an awesome individual that will certainly make an impact on our campus community!  She has had a great high school career at Southeast Polk high school and has been challenged in one of the toughest conferences in the state of Iowa.  We are looking forward to watching Stella develop as a player and as a person during her time at Dordt University," said Dordt women's basketball coach Bill Harmsen.  

Charleston averaged 10.7 points per game with 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season and she converted 40 percent of her three-point field goals in 2021-22.  She's a two-year captain and holds her school record for three-point shots made in a game with 10 and she made 67 three-point baskets last season. Charleston is listed as a 5-8 shooting guard, and she also played for the Pure Prep club. 

"I chose Dordt because of the Christ-centered education/atmosphere and the relationships I formed with Coach Harmsen and Coach Bernbeck," said Charleston. 

Stella is the daughter of David and Rhonda Charleston of Pleasant Hill, Iowa. She plans to study English and enter the pre-legal program. 

Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa, is a comprehensive Christian college rooted in the Reformed tradition. The Defender athletic program is a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA).

U.S. News & World Report, Money Magazine, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review all list Dordt on their best colleges lists. Dordt is home to approximately 1,500 students.