How UCLA made historical past on the 2026 WNBA Draft – NBC Los Angeles

It has been a whirlwind few weeks for the UCLA girls’s basketball group.

Recent off profitable this system’s first ever championship in a rout over South Carolina, the Bruins have been the spotlight of the 2026 WNBA Draft.

The Bruins’ 2026 class featured six gamers: Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, Gianna Kneepkens, Angela Dugalic and Charlisse Leger-Walker.

All six have been drafted, which means UCLA made historical past with probably the most alternatives for a single faculty in a single WNBA draft. 5 of these got here within the first spherical to set one other mark.

Betts, a dominant 6-foot-7 heart, went first from the group at No. 4 total to the Washington Mystics. Jaquez, a wing, adopted up a breakout championship recreation by going proper after at No. 5, touchdown with the Chicago Sky.

Then got here the back-to-back-to-back decide, as guard Kiki Rice went No. 6 to new enlargement group Toronto Tempo.

Gianna Kneepkens, one other versatile wing, rounded out the primary spherical by going No. 15 to the Connecticut Solar. Leger-Walker was the sixth and closing UCLA decide, touchdown at No. 18 total to hitch Kneepkens in Connecticut (for one season earlier than the franchise relocates to Houston).

UCLA went 37-1 en path to profitable the nationwide title, and now its key gamers get rewarded by dominating the early phases of the draft.

Three faculties beforehand had 5 gamers go in a single draft: Tennessee (1999, 2008), Notre Dame (2019) and South Carolina (2023).

UCLA acquired huge video games from Gabriela Jaquez and Lauren Betts to win its first NCAA match title.