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WSU alum Charlisse Leger-Walker part of historic WNBA draft class
TL;DR
Charlisse Leger-Walker, a Washington State alum, was drafted No. 18 overall by the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA, making her the first player from New Zealand to enter the league. She is part of a historic draft class that includes six UCLA seniors.
Apr. 14—Two Sundays ago, they scored all 79 points in the UCLA Bruins' national championship victory.
On Monday, six UCLA seniors heard their names called within the first 18 picks of the WNBA draft at Manhattan's Hudson Yards in New York City.
And Washington State alum Charlisse Leger-Walker was among them — the first player from New Zealand to be drafted to the WNBA.
The Connecticut Sun, who are moving to Houston after the 2026 season, drafted Leger-Walker with the No. 18th overall pick.
Leger-Walker joins UCLA teammates Lauren Betts (No. 4, Washington), Gabriela Jaquez (No. 5, Chicago), Kiki Rice (No. 6, Toronto), Angela Dugalic (No. 9, Washington) and Gianna Kneepkens (No. 15, Connecticut) as part of a historic draft class.
No school has had more players selected in a single WNBA draft than UCLA, which also joined the 2016 UConn Huskies as the only schools to have had three consecutive alumni selected.
Three of Leger-Walker's fellow Bruin draftees also started their careers at other schools before transferring to UCLA.
Betts started her career at Stanford, Dugalic was an Oregon Duck and Kneepkens played for Utah before they each found their way to Westwood.
Leger-Walker called the group "The Pac-12 Avengers," and together they turned in a 37-1 record, won the Big Ten Conference regular season and tournament championships and ran the table in the NCAA Tournament, beating Texas — the only team to have defeated them this past season — in the Final Four, followed by a runaway win over South Carolina in the national championship.
Before her national championship campaign with UCLA, Leger-Walker cemented herself as perhaps the best player in WSU women's basketball history with a remarkably efficient three-and-a-half-year playing career.
Leger-Walker led WSU to three straight NCAA Tournaments during her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons and climbed the Cougar record books to be third in scoring with 1,743 career points, while also ascending to second in made threes (199), third in career minutes played (3,794), fourth in career scoring average (16.6), fourth in field goals made (607), fourth in assists (389), fifth in made free throws (330) and ninth in career starts (105) by the time her playing career came to a close.
Her 105th career start came at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, where WSU held a 16-point lead over then-No. 2 UCLA in the third quarter.
On a routine layup, Leger-Walker suffered a knee injury. The Cougars won the game, 85-82, but sputtered out of the NCAA Tournament picture the rest of the season.
Leger-Walker averaged 13.2 points per game for 21 games her senior year and totaled 137 rebounds, 107 assists and 36 steals.
She earned three All-American awards while at WSU and was an Anne Meyers Drysdale Award finalist. In 2020-21, Leger-Walker was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
"My goal was always to finish four years here and really try and help turn this program around," Leger-Walker told WSU's student paper, the Daily Evergreen, in a 2024 article.
Leger-Walker chose to transfer to UCLA, the school where her Cougar career ended. She recovered from her injury and sat out the 2024-25 season.
This season, she returned and took a backseat scoring-wise with five WNBA draft picks in front of her, however, she made herself valuable in other ways, dishing out a team-best 213 assists.
She averaged 8.4 points, 5.6 assists and four rebounds per game for UCLA.
"Charlisse is one of the highest-IQ players I've ever been around," said WSU coach Kamie Ethridge, who recruited and mentored Charlisse Leger-Walker and her sister, Krystal Leger-Walker. "She knows her strengths, and she knows those around her strengths. And I just think she's playing at an unbelievably high level and making other people better on the floor, which is one of her God-given skills that she has."
UCLA coach Cori Close predicted that Leger-Walker would be the steal of the draft.
Now, the former Bruin and Coug will have the chance to prove her coaches right.
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, staylor@lmtribune.com, or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Q&A
Who is Charlisse Leger-Walker and what is her significance in the WNBA draft?
Charlisse Leger-Walker is a Washington State alum and the first player from New Zealand to be drafted into the WNBA, selected No. 18 overall by the Connecticut Sun.
What team drafted Charlisse Leger-Walker in the WNBA?
Charlisse Leger-Walker was drafted by the Connecticut Sun with the No. 18 overall pick in the WNBA draft.
Which other players were part of the historic WNBA draft class alongside Leger-Walker?
Leger-Walker was drafted alongside her UCLA teammates Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, Angela Dugalic, and Gianna Kneepkens.
What is the future of the Connecticut Sun after drafting Charlisse Leger-Walker?
The Connecticut Sun, who drafted Leger-Walker, are set to move to Houston after the 2026 season.
