DiJonai Carrington, the WNBA player who bashed Sophie Cunningham in the face and then accused the league of “white privilege” when she was handed a flagrant foul, was born to a privileged family and grew up attending extremely expensive private schools.
The Chicago Sky player was handed her punishment after delivering a clothesline flagrant foul against Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham on August 8. After being handed her foul judgment, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” in an August 9 social media post. Clearly, Carrington was claiming that her punishment was a result of Cunningham’s “white privilege,” and not a just punishment for her own actions.
So, who is DiJonai Carrington? Born in San Diego, California, the 28-year-old shooting guard is the daughter of former San Diego Chargers player Darren Carrington. She was drafted by the Connecticut Sun in the 2021 WNBA draft before being traded twice in the same season, moving from the Dallas Wings to the Minnesota Lynx in 2025. By 2026, she moved on once again, this time to the Chicago Sky. But before all that, Carrington was a child of privilege herself.
Carrington attended Horizon Christian Academy in San Diego, where she became a standout basketball player for the high school’s team. Horizon Christian Academy is a private school that charges nearly $16,000 a year in tuition.
After graduating from Horizon, she declared for Stanford University, where tuition is upwards of $90,000 a year. After four seasons, she moved to Baylor for one final season. Baylor charges around $65,000 in annual tuition.
Looking at her high-priced education, it certainly does appear that DiJonai Carrington also comes from a place of status and privilege.
On the other hand, Sophie Cunningham attended a public high school in Columbia, Missouri, before attending a state college, the University of Missouri, which charges a mere $16,000 a year in tuition. So, in the end, Sophie Cunningham didn’t pay as much for her entire college education as Carrington paid for just one year at Stanford.
So, the question is, exactly who had the “privilege” between them?
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