After successful their first NCAA championship, the UCLA Bruins made historical past once more on the 2026 WNBA Draft.
The Bruins turned the primary program in draft historical past to have 5 gamers drafted within the first spherical in the identical class, with Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, Angela Dugalić, and Gianna Kneepkens all listening to their names referred to as earlier than the opening spherical ended. Charlisse Leger-Walker was subsequent off the board within the second spherical, giving UCLA six whole gamers drafted, setting one other all-time document.
Natty title to Draft Night time 🙌
All six UCLA seniors heard their identify referred to as final evening, etching @UCLAWBB into #WNBADraft historical past! pic.twitter.com/QLkd2nj8Rd
— WNBA (@WNBA) April 14, 2026
The historic haul shattered the earlier benchmark set by the 2002 UConn workforce, which landed 4 gamers within the first spherical after a 39-0 season. Sue Chicken went No. 1 total, adopted by Swin Money at No. 2, Asjha Jones at No. 4, and Tamika Williams at No. 6. That class had stood because the gold normal in girls’s school basketball for almost 1 / 4 century.
UCLA’s 2025-26 squad went 37-1 and gained this system’s first modern-era nationwide title.
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Document-Breaking Night time, Decide by Decide
Betts, a 6-foot-7 heart, went fourth total to the Washington Mystics, the best number of any Bruin on the evening. Jaquez adopted instantly at No. 5, heading to the Chicago Sky, and Rice was taken sixth total by growth franchise Toronto Tempo to finish a shocking three-pick run on the high of the draft.
Lauren Betts is headed to the Washington Mystics with the 4th total decide.#WNBADraft pic.twitter.com/uyXJ2pUAST
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 13, 2026
Dugalić joined Betts in Washington, chosen ninth total by the Mystics. Then, with the fifteenth and last decide of the primary spherical, the Connecticut Solar drafted Kneepkens to formally cement UCLA’s place within the document books.
Leger-Walker then went 18th total, additionally to the Connecticut Solar, making her the primary New Zealand-born participant ever drafted into the WNBA.
A Workforce-First System That Paid Off
The chemistry that powered UCLA’s championship run was evident lengthy earlier than draft evening. Whereas celebrating with Kiki Rice at an occasion hosted by Elevating Cane’s in Los Angeles earlier than the draft, Betts mirrored on what set this group aside from the soar.
Gabriela Jaquez is the fifth total decide and headed to the Chicago Sky!#WNBADraft pic.twitter.com/0ZFmbk6ARx
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 13, 2026
„I feel simply the enjoyment that we had and the love that we had for one another,“ Betts stated. „It is actually superb to see a workforce that may compete at such a excessive stage and win a nationwide championship, however nonetheless have a lot love and pleasure and simply get pleasure from one another’s firm. I feel that is going to be one thing that folks keep in mind for a very long time.“
Rice pointed to a selected shift within the workforce’s id because the second every part clicked.
„When our workforce turned player-led versus coach-led, that is after we took the most important flip,“ Rice stated. „As gamers, us taking duty to be leaders and take management of the workforce and the room was enormous for us.“
The Loss That Modified Every thing
UCLA’s lone blemish — a regular-season defeat to Texas — proved to be a defining second somewhat than a setback.
„Our loss to Texas was a extremely large turning level for our workforce,“ Betts stated. „We realized so much about how we have to come out, how we have to begin video games, and the mentality that we have to have, being aggressive from the very starting. As soon as we performed them once more, we weren’t going to take it straightforward on them from the very starting.“
Standing Alongside the Biggest Lessons in Historical past
Tennessee (1999, 2008), Notre Dame (2019), and South Carolina (2023) all had 5 gamers chosen in single drafts, however none positioned all 5 within the first spherical. UCLA’s class now stands alone.
The comparability to the 2002 UConn workforce carries actual weight. That group helped outline a technology of girls’s basketball and launched Corridor of Fame careers. Regardless of not having a prospect chosen within the high three, the Bruins‘ 2026 class will likely be measured in opposition to that normal for years to return.
„I take a ton of delight in being simply, ‚I am one of the best teammate.'“
Kiki Rice tells @sportsiren about how hyped she is to get to work in Toronto 👏🔥 pic.twitter.com/fnYUrCRMFC
— espnW (@espnW) April 13, 2026
Rice sees the second as a part of one thing a lot greater than one program.
„To see the expansion of girls’s basketball and ladies’s sports activities over these previous few years has been actually implausible,“ Rice stated. „If you put money into girls’s sports activities, you get an awesome turnout.“
Betts shared that very same sense of gratitude for individuals who got here earlier than them.
„We do not take that with no consideration,“ Betts stated. „They’re setting the stage for folks like us to have superb alternatives and to set ourselves up for all times.“
