UCLA players could make WNBA history without even playing a single game

When the 2026 WNBA Draft will take place is still very much up in the air. Even the number-one pick is still uncertain. What isn’t uncertain is the talent that UCLA will send to the WNBA. The Bruins’ six most productive players are seniors, and at least five of them have a good chance of hearing their names called in the first round. That would be WNBA history. 

No other team has ever produced five first-round picks in the same draft. UConn holds the current record with four. In 2002, the Storm selected Sue Bird with the first overall pick, Swin Cash went second to Detroit, Asjha Jones was the fourth pick for the Washington Mystics, and the Lynx picked Tamika Williams sixth. That same year, Oklahoma also sent three players to the W as first-round picks. Stacey Dales-Schuman was selected third by the Mystics, LaNeishea Caufield went 14th to the Utah Starzz, and Rosalind Ross was selected with the final pick in the first-round but never played. 

The only other programs to have at least three first-round picks in the same year are UConn, South Carolina, Notre Dame, and Oregon. 

UConn did it in 2016 with Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck, who were the top three picks. South Carolina saw three players picked in the first round in 2017 when Alaina Coates, Allisha Gray, and Kaela Davis were all drafted in the first round, and in 2023 with Aliyah Boston, Laeticia Amihere, and Zia Cooke. Notre Dame sent Jackie Young, Arike Ogunbowale, and Bri Turner to the W as first-round picks in 2019. In 2020, Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally, and Ruthy Hebard all left Oregon as top picks. 

UCLA has a ton of senior talent 

UCLA is one of the best teams in college basketball with a 24-1 record. Their group of seniors is the main reason for that success. Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, Gianna Kneepkens, Charlisse Leger-Walker, and Angela Dugalić lead the team in every statistical category on both ends of the floor. Most of them have already played their way into a possible first-round selection. 

Lauren Betts should hear her name called in the lottery, going either to the Wings, Lynx, or Mystics. Gianna Kneepkens is the best 3-point shooter in the draft class except for Azzi Fudd. Gabriela Jaquez is also a good 3-point shooter and efficient overall scorer. Kiki Rice can do anything a WNBA team could want from a young guard: defend, score, crash the boards, and make plays for her teammates. Charlisse Leger-Walker can do the same, even though she hasn’t had to score much for UCLA so far. 

All five of them have the talent to be first-round picks. The Athletic’s Sabreena Merchant included all of them in her recent mock draft.