WNBA Draft 2026: Lauren Betts at No. 4 leads record 6 players selected from UCLA's NCAA title team

Fresh off its first national championship, UCLA women’s basketball is setting records in the WNBA.

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The Bruins had six players selected in the first round of Monday’s WNBA Draft, the most ever by one school in a single draft. Five went in the first round, which was also a WNBA Draft record.

Two-time All-American and Final Four MOP Lauren Betts was the first Bruin off the board at No. 4 to the Washington Mystics. Betts’ selection started a run of three straight Bruins picks. Her UCLA teammate Angela Dugalić then joined her on the Mystics at No. 9.

Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker will also be teammates on the Connecticut Sun.

No. 4: Lauren Betts, Washington Mystics
No. 5: Gabriela Jaquez, Chicago Sky
No. 6: Kiki Rice, Toronto Tempo
No. 9: Angela Dugalić, Washington Mystics
No. 15: Gianna Kneepkens, Connecticut Sun
No. 18: Charlisse Leger-Walker, Connecticut Sun

Four teams previously had five total players selected in the same draft: 2023 South Carolina, 2019 Notre Dame and Tennessee twice (1999 and 2008).

UCLA matched that in the first round then claimed the record as its own when the Sun selected Charlisse Leger-Walker with the third pick of the second round.

Lauren Betts was the first of six UCLA players selected in Monday's WNBA Draft.IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / REUTERS

That draft success arrives eight days after the Bruins won the NCAA championship. UCLA beat fellow No. 1 seed Texas, 51-44 in the national semifinal, then beat No. 1 seed South Carolina, 79-51 in last Sunday’s title game. The Bruins dominated both games to cap a 37-1 season.

The six seniors drafted Monday not only anchored UCLA’s dominant championship team — they scored all 130 combined UCLA points in the Bruins’ Final Four and championship game wins.

UCLA and head coach Cori Close are obviously facing a significant rebuild after losing their entire core. But they have plenty to continue to celebrate from a historic season in Westwood.

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