Charles Hinkle

Charles Phillip Hinkle (born March 11, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who plays for Franca Basquetebol Clube of the Novo Basquete Brasil. Born in the Los Angeles area, he played high school basketball at Los Alamitos High School before moving to Hebron Academy. He then joined Vanderbilt University to play for the Commodores and redshirted his freshman season. After receiving limited playing time, he transferred to the American Eagles for his final two years and was one of the top NCAA Division I scorers as a senior.

Immediately following his college career, Hinkle played for İstanbulspor in Turkey and Soproni KC in Hungary. In 2013–14, he spent time with the Israel club Hapoel Kiryat Tivon/Megido and in the Drew League. Hinkle was picked by the Los Angeles D-Fenders at the 2014 NBA Development League Draft and subsequently competed in the D-League for the D-Fenders and Idaho Stampede. In 2015, he began playing in Japan with Niigata Albirex and then Bambitious Nara. In 2018, he earned All-NBL Canada Second Team honors for the St. John's Edge.

Early life and career Hinkle was born in the Los Angeles area on March 11, 1988, to Terry and Carol Hinkle. He first attended Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California, where he started alongside future National Basketball Association (NBA) player Landry Fields. As a senior, Hinkle averaged 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, leading the team to a 29–5 record, its first California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) sectional championship, and an appearance at the California state semifinals. He earned All-Sunset League honors two times. After receiving no offers from NCAA Division I programs, he chose to play a postgraduate season at Hebron Academy in the remote town of Hebron, Maine.

College career Vanderbilt Early in his recruiting process, Hinkle drew strong interest from Virginia Tech, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Portland. He eventually committed to Vanderbilt over Iowa State and American. He spent the following months in rehabilitation and weight training, significantly improving his strength. At the 2008 Cancún Challenge, he played increased minutes due to the absences of Andre Walker and Festus Ezeli and won the championship.

Hinkle started his redshirt sophomore season at Vanderbilt by playing four minutes, recording no statistics, in a 95–73 victory over Lipscomb on November 16, 2009. He played a season-high 10 minutes off the bench on December 5 against DePaul, contributing two points, four rebounds, and two assists in a 67–54 win. His best scoring effort as a sophomore came in his final game on December 21, when he posted four points versus Mercer. Hinkle played only 10 games in the season, and he averaged 1.4 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.2 assists in 4.7 minutes per game.

American For the 2009–10 season, Hinkle chose to transfer to American. He became eligible to play for the team following the first semester. The program was already familiar with him because they had attempted to recruit him previously. He joined the team with hopes of playing more minutes, but he received little time playing behind Vlad Moldoveanu. In the following game, a loss to Northwestern, he played a career-high 24 minutes in which he posted nine points and five rebounds. Without starting in any of his 23 games as a redshirt junior, he averaged 4.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 0.5 steals in 13.1 minutes per game.

Professional career After going undrafted in 2012 NBA draft, Hinkle joined İstanbulspor of the Turkish Basketball Second League. He left İstanbulspor averaging 16.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. In January 2013, he signed with Soproni KC of the Hungarian League for the remainder of the season. In 10 games for Soproni, Hinkle averaged 11.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.

At the 2014 NBA Development League Draft, Hinkle was selected in the fourth round with the 71st overall pick by the Los Angeles D-Fenders. He produced a season-high performance in his final game for the D-Fenders on December 13, 2014, recording three points, three rebounds, and one assist in a 134–123 win over the Idaho Stampede. He then suffered an injury that sidelined him for several months. He scored a season-best 16 points on March 28 in an 86–106 defeat to the Sioux Falls Skyforce. In his last appearance for Idaho, on April 4, Hinkle notched 12 points, seven rebounds, and four assists off the bench to lead his team to a victory over the Texas Legends.

On August 27, 2015, Hinkle signed with the Japanese club Niigata Albirex of the bj league. In eight games with Albirex, he averaged 22.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He posted a team-high 22 points in a 99–79 win over Kagawa Five Arrows. As the season came to a close, he was averaging 15.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in 34 appearances. In his debut on November 19, he scored a team-best 21 points in a victory, 97–96, over the Island Storm. On December 13, he scored 53 points in a 103–99 win over the Windsor Express, three points shy of the league single-game record. Hinkle was named to the Second Team All-NBLC.

In November 2018, Hinkle signed with Club Biguá de Villa Biarritz of the Liga Uruguaya de Basketball.

In November 2021, Hinkle signed with Nacional to play both in the Uruguayan League and in the 2021–22 BCL Americas.

Career statistics Domestic leagues Regular season 2012–13

2012–13

2014–15

2014–15