Following the UCLA Bruins’ 2026 national championship, all six of the team’s star seniors were selected in the WNBA Draft. That set a record for most players from one school being taken in a single draft, with five of them going in the first round. The sixth, Charlisse Leger-Walker, was taken in the second round by the Connecticut Sun, and the crafty point guard has been among the better rookies in the WNBA.
Flashback to one year ago, and Leger-Walker was preparing for her UCLA debut after being sidelined for an entire season due to injury recovery. The Bruins were coming off a disappointing Final Four appearance in which they were humiliated by the UConn Huskies.
Early WNBA mock drafts did not project all six of UCLA’s seniors being drafted, and certainly did not have five of them being chosen in the first round. But as the Bruins’ rolled through a dominant regular season, losing only one game heading into the NCAA Tournament, perception began to shift.
Amongst the Bruins themselves, it really didn’t sink in. While it made for some competitive practices, the focus was solely on the task in front of them, which was winning a national championship. Only after the objective was completed did any of them begin realize what a special group that was.
“Obviously we’re all in the league now, so it was basically like playing with a WNBA team,” Leger-Walker told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “I think just being able to push each other to a certain level every single day, it prepared us really well to come into our respective training camps and our respective teams. And obviously they’re all doing really well. So I’m glad to see kind of the transference from school to the WNBA. It’s from being in an environment when you’re around elite players.”
The adjustment to the WNBA can be a tough one. Brutal and unforgiving for incoming rookies. The league has often prided itself on its physicality albeit the shift in officiating this year to protect freedom of movement. It’s a tough change in any case for players accustomed to the daily life of being a college player.
But for Leger-Walker, it wasn’t the basketball experience that hit her first when she came into the WNBA. Back in college, everyone is the same age and has similar life experiences. That’s not the case in the WNBA. That was the first adjustment that Leger-Walker had to adapt to. The basketball came second.
“I think just when you go to the pro level, obviously everything is a bit more independent, professional. Everyone has their own thing going on outside of basketball. Some people have kids. So I think the cultural difference is a little bit more obvious,” Leger-Walker said. “I think in terms of basketball, just the speed of the game and the physicality of the game are definitely things you have to adjust to. But overall I think we were prepared pretty well coming from school and the people I was playing around.”
Charlisse Leger-Walker’s WNBA transition with Sun
Charlisse Leger-Walker is arguably having the most impact overall with the Sun compared to the rest of UCLA’s 2026 WNBA draftees. The New Zealand native began the year alternating between a starting role and coming off the bench amid fluctuating playing time, but has since settled in as the team’s point guard.
And that’s not an easy position to master. In Leger-Walker’s case, that also includes navigating being a rookie point guard while tasked with getting the Sun veterans organized. It’s arguably the hardest position to master in the WNBA and it’s forced her to step out of her comfort zone a bit.
Article Continues Below“I think it’s definitely a big role to take on because as a point guard, you have so much of the leadership and responsibilities and often times you have to be very vocal and very assertive and get your team to play a certain way,” Leger-Walker said. “As a rookie, doing that to veteran players who have been in the league for 10-plus years, that could be very intimidating at first. So for me, it was kind of really trying to find my confidence in having that vocal ability to lead and really try to help out this team.”
For the first 17 games of the season, Leger-Walker split time as a starter and being a part of the second unit. It wasn’t until June 22, during a Sun win against the Chicago Sky, that she moved into the starting five permanently.
With the regular season coming to a close, she appeared in all 44 games as a rookie with 32 starts at a little over 23 minutes. She averaged 7.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 33.3 percent from the 3-point line. Right before the FIBA break, she reached her career high in scoring with 17 points, a feat she accomplished twice.
Her career high in assists is eight, which she also reached twice this season. The first came in late July against the Washington Mystics and the second came right before the end of the season on Sept. 20 against the league-leading Minnesota Lynx. For her, it’s about finding that balance between scoring and playmaking as a lead decision-maker.
“I think I’ve adjusted to that really well. And then also just being one of the primary decision-makers out on the floor, that’s always going to be the biggest challenge for a point guard,” Leger-Walker said. “But I think just from my experience in playing international basketball really helped me. Definitely a challenge for sure, but I feel like I was pretty prepared.”
The Sun did not make the playoffs this season, and they are relocating next season to Houston where they will rebrand as the Comets. Leger-Walker is on a rookie scale deal, and presumably will be debuting in Houston as she is under contract with the team albeit unprotected.
For a team immersed in a rebuild and moving to a new city, she is a solid young piece to have on the roster. Earlier in the season amid fluctuating playing time and roster shuffling, she kept her confidence and stayed grounded, and it’s paid off. And the Sun scouting staff is looking rather genius.
“I think it’s just staying with it and just being confident in my own game. I knew we had a lot of different pieces moving around in the start of the season … we had a couple people in and out and so for me, it was just every time I got an opportunity to get out there and step on the floor, just being ready to do whatever that was or what was needed from me in that role,” Leger-Walker said.
“Whether it was being a secondary ball-handler, making decisions, coming in and being an aggressive scorer, being a good defender. I think my mindset is the biggest thing because a lot of what basketball is, is confidence. And if you don’t continue to try and have that, it can be really difficult to keep going.”