Charlisse Trinity Leger-Walker (born 15 September 2001) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Houston Comets of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was the youngest person to play on the New Zealand women's national basketball team when she debuted with the Tall Ferns at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She played college basketball in the United States for the Washington State Cougars and UCLA Bruins. With the Bruins, she won the 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game, the first Kiwi to do so.NCAA basketball: UCLA’s Charlisse Leger-Walker becomes first Kiwi to win women’s national championship New Zealand Herald, April 6, 2026 She is the first New Zealander to be drafted into the WNBA Soper, Alice - Charlisse Leger-Walker WNBA draft pick a milestone for Kiwi basketball. New Zealand Herald, April 15, 2026 and the second to play in the league after Megan Compain.Tunnicliffe, Bridget - 'Proud moment': Megan Compain hails Charlisse Leger-Walker’s historic WNBA draft. Radio New Zealand (RNZ via msn.com), April 14, 2026.

High school Leger-Walker won New Zealand junior titles with both St Peter's School, Cambridge and Waikato Basketball. Her teams appeared in the Grand Final at Schick Secondary Schools Nationals in all five years in high school, winning the championship on four occasions. She won a record four MVP trophies in the Nationals.10 takes from the Schick Championships Secondary Schools Nationals . Basketball New Zealand, October 9, 2019 She was head girl at St. Peter's in her senior year.The rollercoaster of school and elite sport continues for Tall Fern Charlisse Leger-Walker. Basketball New Zealand, November 6, 2019

College career During her college career, Ledger-Walker was on the roster for four years at Washington State and two years at UCLA. She was granted two years of extra eligibility. All NCAA athletes were given an extra year of eligibility in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic impact to the 2020 season.Hosick, Michelle Brutlag - Division I Council extends eligibility for student-athletes impacted by COVID-19. NCAA (ncaa.org), March 30, 2020 For her medical redshirt season due to injury, she also was granted an extra year of eligibility.UCLA transfer guard Charlisse Leger-Walker takes medical redshirt and will return for 2025-26 season. AP News, December 26, 2024

Washington State As a freshman at Washington State, Leger-Walker averaged 18.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. She was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and made the all-conference team. In her sophomore season, Leger-Walker repeated as an All-Pac-12 selection, averaging 16.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. On 11 December 2022, she scored a career-high 40 points in an 82–66 loss to Washington. Leger-Walker led No. 7 seed Washington State to the 2023 Pac-12 tournament title, the first in program history, and was named most outstanding player. She finished her junior season averaging 17.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game, and earned All-Pac-12 honors.

In her fourth season, on 23 November 2023, Leger-Walker became the second Washington State player to record a triple-double, with 11 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists in an 87–67 win over Maryland. In a January 28, 2024 game at against the number 2 ranked UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, Leger-Walker suffered a knee injury as the Cougars won 85-82 against the highest-ranked opponent in WSU basketball history.Reedy, Joe - WSU knocks off No. 2 UCLA 85-82 despite injury to Leger-Walker. Seattle Sports (AP), January 28, 2024 Leger-Walker missed the last 11 games of the season with a torn ACL.Charlisse Leger-Walker to Miss Remainder of 2023-24 Season. wsucougars.com, January 31, 2024WSU star Charlisse Leger-Walker out for season with ACL injury. Seattle Sports (AP), January 31, 2024 As a senior, she was named All-Pac-12 for a fourth time and averaged 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. Leger-Walker’s 1,743 career points ranked third in school history. She ranked second in 3-point baskets (199), third in minutes played (3,794) and fourth in scoring average (16.6), total baskets (607) and assists (389).

UCLA Leger-Walker transferred to UCLA for her fifth season of eligibility, granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Voepel, Michael - Charlisse Leger-Walker says she'll join UCLA in transfer from WSU, ESPN, April 26, 2024 This was the first season that UCLA competed in the Big Ten conference. On December 6, 2024, UCLA announced that Leger-Walker would redshirt the 2024–25 season to fully rehabilitate her ACL injury.UCLA transfer guard Charlisse Leger-Walker takes medical redshirt and will return for 2025-26 season. Associated Press (AP), December 6, 2024

She was a starter on the 2025-26 team that went 37-1, and won the Big Ten conference and Big Ten tournament championships. In the 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, the Bruins were the number 2 seed overall and number one in the Sacramento region.Ingemi, Marissa and Felicia Keller - 'We know what it takes to get there.'; No. 1 UCLA ready to begin NCAA title chase. Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2026 Reaching the final four, the Bruins won the re-match with the Texas Longhorns, the one loss they experienced all season.Raynor, Grace - UCLA takes down Texas, advances to program’s first NCAA national championship game. New York Times, April 3, 2026 In a dominating performance, UCLA defeated South Carolina 79-51 in the national championship game.Robinson, Cameron Teague - UCLA clobbers South Carolina for first NCAA national title in program history. New York Times, April 5, 2026

Professional career WNBA Leger-Walker was drafted 18th overall by the Connecticut Sun in the 2026 WNBA draft. Her UCLA teammate and roommate, Gianna Kneepkens, was also drafted by the Sun. UCLA set the WNBA draft record for most players from one class drafted with six players.

Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa (New Zealand League) In August 2026, Leger-Walker and her sister Krystal announced that they will be joining the Tokomanawa Queens in September 2026.https://pmn.co.nz/read/sports/wnba-star-charlisse-leger-walker-coming-home-to-join-sister-at-tokomanawa-queens

National team career Leger-Walker made her debut for the New Zealand women's national basketball team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. At age 16, she became the youngest player to play for the senior national team. She averaged 11.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, helping New Zealand win the bronze medal. Leger-Walker won a silver medal at the 2019 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup, the first medal by a New Zealand women's team at a FIBA world tournament, and was named to the all-tournament team.

Personal life Leger-Walker is of Māori (Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Porou), Samoan and Tongan descent. Her mother Leanne Walker, played for the New Zealand women's national basketball team; she competed in the Summer Olympics in 2000 and 2004. Leger-Walker's older sister, Krystal, played basketball for Northern Colorado and was her teammate at Washington State before turning professional.

Career statistics

College

| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21 | style="text-align:left;"| Washington State |24||24||37.8||35.3||32.8||78.6||5.3||3.1||2.3||0.7||2.7||18.8

| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22 | style="text-align:left;"| Washington State |30||30||36.0||37.7||27.2||76.0||5.2||2.8||1.6||0.8||2.7||16.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23 | style="text-align:left;"| Washington State ||30||30||36.8||40.3||34.9||83.3||5.5||4.1||1.3||0.6||3.2||17.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24 | style="text-align:left;"| Washington State |21||21||33.3||40.6||23.7||81.7||6.5||5.1||1.7||0.3||3.2||13.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2024–25 | style="text-align:left;"| UCLA |style="text-align:center;" colspan="12"|Did not play due to injury |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2025–26 | style="text-align:left;"| UCLA |38||38||28.0||45.7||35.5||64.1||4.0||5.6||1.6||0.3||2.2||8.4 |- class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career |143||143||34.0||39.3||31.4||78.4||5.1||4.2||1.7||0.6||2.7||14.4 |- class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.

References

External links

Basketball New Zealand bio Washington State Cougars bio UCLA Bruins bio